Dodgers make Scully’s last call dramatic
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched their fourth-straight NL West title, winning the crown in Vin Scully’s final home game when Charlie Culberson homered with two outs in the 10th inning to beat the Colorado Rockies 4-3 Sunday.
Culberson’s first homer of the season and just sixth of his career landed in the lower left-field seats, touching off wild cheers and a raucous celebration at home plate. The Dodgers charged out of their dugout and surrounded Culberson, jumping up and down. They donned championship T-shirts and hats from carts wheeled on the field.
The Dodgers took off their caps, turned toward Scully’s broadcasting booth and held them in a salute to the 88-year-old Hall of Famer, who has just three games at San Francisco next weekend before ending his 67-year career.
Under first-year manager Dave Roberts, the Dodgers became the first NL West team to win four straight division titles.
Scully began with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1950 and is the longest tenured broadcaster with a single team in professional sports. He was nattily attired in his usual long-sleeved shirt and tie despite the 95-degree heat.
Joe Blanton (7-2) pitched the 10th to get the victory.
Astros 4, Angels 1
HOUSTON — Joe Musgrove pitched seven strong innings, Evan Gattis, Tony Kemp and Tyler White homered, and the Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Angels to snap a three-game slide and keep their playoff hopes alive.
Houston began the day three games behind Baltimore for the second AL wildcard spot.
Musgrove (4-4, 4.06 ERA) allowed one run on seven hits while striking out four.
Carlos Correa put the Astros on the board in the first inning with a two-out single down the left-field line that scored Jose Altuve.
An inning later, Gattis homered off a fastball by Daniel Wright, connecting for the 31st time this season.
Kemp and White added solo shots in the fifth and seventh innings.
Athletics 7, Rangers 1
OAKLAND, Calif. — Jharel Cotton pitched seven crisp innings and the Oakland Athletics beat the Texas Rangers to avoid a series sweep.
Ryon Healy had three hits, including a two-run homer, and Stephen Vogt drove in three runs to help the A’s win after being shut out in back-to-back games.
Adrian Beltre hit his 32nd home run for Texas.
The Rangers, who clinched the AL West on Friday, fell into a tie with the Boston Red Sox for home-field advantage in the playoffs. Texas (92-64) holds a slight tiebreaking advantage based on division record.
Red Sox 3, Rays 2 (11)
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Dustin Pedroia used nifty baserunning to score from first base on David Ortiz’s double in the 10th inning and the AL East-leading Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays for their 11th consecutive win.
Pedroia singled off Eddie Gamboa (0-1) to start the inning. The relay throw on Ortiz’s hit to right center beat Pedroia to plate but he avoided Luke Maile’s first tag. Pedroia’s momentum carried him past the plate and when he went back to touch it Maile was charged with an error when the ball dropped out his glove on another tag try.
Pedroia hit a solo homer and Mookie Betts extended his hitting streak to 11 games with an RBI single for the Red Sox, who secured at least an AL wild-card spot Saturday night. Boston’s magic number to clinch the division title dropped to two.
Joe Kelly (4-0) went 2 2/3 scoreless innings for the win.
Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez struck out a career-high 13 in 5 1/3 innings. The left-hander and Heath Hembree combined to strikeout 11 consecutive batters to establish a major league-record. The New York Mets held the previous mark when Tom Seaver struck out 10 in a row against San Diego on Apr. 22, 1970.
Boston also set a club record by striking out 21 through nine. Kelly added two more in the 10th.
Royals 12, Tigers 9
DETROIT — Salvador Perez homered to cap a cycle by Kansas City’s first four batters of the game, and the Royals went deep three more times to beat Detroit and drop the Tigers in the AL wild-card race.
The defending World Series champions avoided elimination from this year’s postseason race by chasing Detroit starter Matt Boyd (6-5) before he retired a hitter. Kansas City started the game with a single, a triple and a double before Perez’s two-run homer made it 4-0.
The Tigers fell 1½ games behind Baltimore for the second wild-card spot. The loss cut Cleveland’s magic number to clinch the AL Central to one — the Indians start a four-game series in Detroit tonight.
Orioles 2, D’backs 1
BALTIMORE — Hyun Soo Kim hit his fifth home run, a two-run shot in the second inning, and the Baltimore Orioles completed a three-game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Baltimore entered the day a half-game ahead of Detroit for the second AL wild card and remained 1 1/2 games behind Toronto for the top spot. The Orioles begin a crucial three-game series at the Blue Jays on Tuesday.
Baltimore finished the regular season 50-31 at Camden Yards. Arizona has been swept 13 times this season, including six on the road.
Orioles rookie Dylan Bundy (10-6) allowed the one run on three hits with five strikeouts over five innings. Bundy hasn’t gone past the sixth inning in his past six starts.
Baltimore’s Zach Britton picked up his American League-leading 46th save in as many chances. Manny Machado went 2 for 4 for his team-high 54th multihit game.
Blue Jays 4, Yankees 3
TORONTO — Ezequiel Carrera drove in the tying run with a squeeze bunt in the ninth inning, Edwin Encarnacion hit a winning single and the Toronto Blue Jays held their AL wild-card lead, rallying past the New York Yankees.
Toronto leads Baltimore by 1½ games for the top AL wild-card spot. The Blue Jays have won a team-record eight straight at home against the Yankees.
New York ended its 33-inning scoreless streak, but lost for the 11th time in 14 games.
Padres 4, Giants 3
SAN DIEGO - Rookie Manuel Margot tripled in the seventh inning and scored the go-ahead run on Wil Myers’ single as San Diego dropped San Francisco a game behind the New York Mets in the NL wild-card race.
A few minutes before this game ended, the Los Angeles Dodgers beat Colorado in 10 innings to win the NL West title. The Dodgers came into Sunday seven games ahead of the Giants.
Margot, called up Wednesday from Pacific Coast League champion El Paso, tripled to right center off Cory Gearrin (32) with one out in the seventh and scored on Myers’ single to right.
Margot doubled in the first and hit an RBI single in the second, both off rookie Ty Blach, who was making his first big league start, in place of the injured Johnny Cueto.
Brandon Morrow (1-0) got two outs for the victory. Brad Hand got the last five outs for his first save.
Mets 17, Phillies 0
NEW YORK — The Mets left Citi Field smiling after a record-setting rout. They hope to return home for more games this year.
In the largest shutout victory in team history, Asdrubal Cabrera hit a grand slam, Jose drove in four runs and New York overwhelmed the Philadelphia Phillies to maintain the NL wild-card lead.
On an afternoon when batters circled the bases like the cartoon Gashouse Gorillas, Reyes batted four straight times with the bases loaded, and Cabrera hit his 23rd home run this season.
Curtis Granderson reached 30 home runs for the first time since 2012, and rookie Robert Gsellman (3-2) allowed three hits over seven innings.
New York’s previous high for runs in a shutout was 14, against the Chicago Cubs in 1965 and Cincinnati in 1998. New York scored 25 unanswered runs after falling behind 10-0 in the fourth inning Saturday night.
Wearing 1986 commemorative uniforms for perhaps the last time this year, New York began the day tied with San Francisco for the NL’s two wild cards, a half-game ahead of St. Louis.
Hoping for their first consecutive postseason appearances since 1999-2000, the Mets close with three games each at Miami and Philadelphia after finishing 44-37 at home.