baseball

Cards, Nats force Game 5s

MINNEAPOLIS, Oct 8, (RTRS): Gleyber Torres homered and doubled twice, and Cameron Maybin also hit a home run as the New York Yankees completed a three-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins in the American League Division Series with a 5-1 victory.

Didi Gregorius had two hits and two RBIs, and Brett Gardner added an RBI single for New York, which became the first team to sweep a 100-win team in a division series.

The Yankees will face the winner of the Houston Astros-Tampa Bay Rays series in the American League Championship Series starting on Saturday.

Including the playoffs, Gregorius has 30 RBIs in 13 games vs. the Twins since the start of 2018.

Chad Green (1-0), one of six pitchers used by New York on Monday, picked up the win with 1 1/3 shutout innings of relief. Aroldis Chapman recorded the final five outs to get the save, striking Nelson Cruz out looking with runners on first and second to end the game.

Cardinals 5, Braves 4 (10 innings)

In St. Louis, Yadier Molina’s 10thinning sacrifice fly lifted St. Louis to a victory over visiting Atlanta and sent the National League Division Series to a decisive fifth game. The series will conclude Wednesday in Atlanta, with the winner advancing to meet the Los Angeles Dodgers or the Washington Nationals in the NL Championship Series.

Molina tied the game 4-4 with his eighth-inning RBI single, then decided it in the 10th by driving home Kolten Wong from third base with his fly ball to left field.

Miles Mikolas (1-0), the eighth Cardinals pitcher, pitched one scoreless inning for the victory. Julio Teheran (0-1), the seventh Braves pitcher, took the loss by allowing one run in twothirds of an inning.

Nationals 6, Dodgers 1

In Washington, Ryan Zimmerman hit a three-run homer, Anthony Rendon drove in three runs, and Washington pulled away for a win over visiting Los Angeles in Game 4 of the NL Division Series.

Washington evened the best-offive series at 2-2 and forced a decisive Game 5 on Wednesday night in Los Angeles. Both teams have won one game at home and one game on the road.

Max Scherzer (1-0) stymied the Dodgers over seven quality innings on short rest. He gave up one run on four hits while walking three and striking out seven. Dodgers reliever Julio Urias (0-1) gave up three runs on three hits while recording only two outs.

Rays 10, Astros 3

In St. Petersburg, Florida, Charlie Morton overcame an early home run by Jose Altuve to pitch five effective innings, and Kevin Kiermaier gave Tampa Bay the lead for good with a three-run homer, helping them stay alive in the American League Division Series with a win over Houston.

The Rays narrowed the Astros’ lead in the best-of-five series to 2-1, with Game 4 also scheduled for the Rays’ home field on Tuesday.

Coming off a win at Oakland in the AL wild-card game last Wednesday, Morton served up a homer to Altuve on his eighth pitch Monday. Morton didn’t give up another run, and he yielded three hits and two walks while striking out nine. Ji-Man Choi, Brandon Lowe and Willy Adames hit solo homers for Tampa Bay, which pounded Astros starter Zack Greinke for six runs in 3 2/3 innings.

New York Yankees’ Didi Gregorius hits an RBI single during the ninth inning in Game 3 of a baseball American League Division Series against the Minnesota Twins, on Oct 7, in Minneapolis. (AP) B

Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Charlie Morton (50) throws during the first inning of Game 3 of a baseball American League Division Series against the Houston Astros, on Oct 7, in St Petersburg, Florida. (AP)

St. Louis Cardinals’ Tommy Edman (19) slides back into first as Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman (5) waits for the throw from Nick Markakis during the ninth inning in Game 4 of a baseball National League Division Series, on Oct 7 in St Louis. (AP)