Dodgers clinch 12th NL West title in 13 years with 8-0 win over Diamondbacks

PHOENIX (AP) — Shohei Ohtani matched his career high with his 54th home run, Freddie Freeman went deep twice and the Los Angeles Dodgers clinched their 12th NL West title in 13 years by beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-0 Thursday.

Ohtani’s homer splashed into Chase Field’s swimming pool behind the right-center wall for a 6-0 lead in the fourth inning. The two-run shot gave him 101 RBIs for the season and matched his career-best home run total with the World Series champion Dodgers last year. He has scored a big league-high 144 runs.

Los Angeles, which clinched a postseason berth last week, won its fourth straight division title.

Arizona (80-79) fell 1 1/2 games behind the New York Mets (81-77) for the final NL wild card spot and also is one game back of Cincinnati (81-78). The Diamondbacks close with three games at San Diego.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto (12-8) allowed four hits in six innings and struck out seven to finish with 201. His 2.49 ERA ranked second in the NL behind the 1.97 ERA of Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes.

Three relievers finished a five-hitter in the Dodgers’ 10th shutout.

ORIOLES 6, RAYS 5

BALTIMORE (AP) — Dylan Beavers homered on the first pitch of the bottom of the ninth inning, giving Baltimore a victory over Tampa in its home finale.

The Orioles — who would have been assured of a last-place finish in the AL East with a loss — rallied from a 5-2, eighth-inning deficit and guaranteed the Rays consecutive losing seasons for first time since four straight from 2014-17. Coby Mayo tied it with a two-run homer in the eighth.

Keegan Akin (5-4) worked the ninth. Kevin Kelly (2-5) allowed the homers to Mayo and Beavers, each on the first pitch of the at-bat.

Jesse Scholtens struck out nine in 5 1/3 innings of relief for the Rays. His final pitch was a swinging third strike by Colton Cowser in the eighth, but the ball got away for a wild pitch that allowed a run to score. Mayo then greeted Kelly with a two-run shot.

Tampa Bay’s Christopher Morel opened the scoring with a bases-loaded double in the third that made it 2-0. Richie Palacios followed with a sacrifice fly.

Ryan Mountcastle hit a solo homer in the third and an RBI single in the fifth to pull the Orioles within one. The Rays answered with two runs in the sixth on back-to-back RBI doubles by Tristan Gray and Bob Seymour.

REDS 2, PIRATES 1

CINCINNATI (AP) — Noelvi Marté robbed Bryan Reynolds of a tying home run in the ninth inning, and Cincinnati beat Pittsburgh to remain one game behind the New York Mets for the final NL wild card.

Nick Lodolo tied his career high with 12 strikeouts before leaving with a right groin injury in the seventh.

Marté and Gavin Lux drove in runs, and the Reds (81-78) stayed just behind the Mets (82-77) and one game ahead of Arizona (80-79).

Marté used his 6-foot-2 height when he jumped at the 8-foot right-field wall and reached back above the first-row of seats to catch Reynolds’ 348-foot drive for the second out of the ninth. Marté had all three putouts as Emilio Pagán got three straight outs for his career-high 30th save in 36 chances.

Lodolo (9-8) got 27 swings and misses, including 15 on curveballs. He allowed two hits and walked one, leaving due to the injury after 6 1/3 innings and 81 pitches. Lodolo also struck out 12 at Philadelphia on April 8, 2023.

Braxton Ashcraft (4-4) gave up two runs and a career-high eight hits in 4 1/3 innings. Nick Yorke had an RBI grounder in the eighth.

ASTROS 11, ATHLETICS 5

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Christian Walker homered and drove in three runs to back a strong start from Framber Valdez and Houston beat the Athletics to snap a five-game losing streak.

Houston avoided a sweep and ended a seven-game losing streak to the Athletics and remained one game behind Detroit for the final AL wild card with the Tigers owning the tiebreaker. Detroit beat Cleveland 4-2 later Thursday.

Nick Kurtz homered twice and drove in the three runs for the Athletics. He hit a shot off Valdez in the sixth and a two-run shot against Enyel De Los Santos in the eighth. Kurtz’s 35 home runs are the second-most by an A’s rookie — trailing only Mark McGwire’s 49 in 1987. He hit nine homers in 11 games against Houston, tied for fourth-most against the Astros in a single season.

Valdez (13-11) gave up a run and seven hits in seven innings, striking out 10 and walking two in his 31st start. He was 1-7 with a 6.80 ERA in his previous nine outings.

TWINS 4, RANGERS 0

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Byron Buxton hit two home runs including a second-straight leadoff homer, Bailey Ober threw six innings with five strikeouts and two hits, and Minnesota beat Texas.

The Twins (69-90) outhit the Rangers (80-79) 10-3, with Buxton, Trevor Larnach, Royce Lewis, Edouard Julien and Christian Vázquez each recording two hits.

Ober (6-9) tied a season-low in hits allowed and did not allow a run for the first time this year. His last scoreless outing was Sept. 7, 2024, against Kansas City.

Holding onto a one-run lead in the fifth inning with one on and no outs, the Twins converted on a strikeout double play as Kyle Higashioka went down swinging and Alejandro Osuna was caught stealing second.

Kody Funderburk threw a hitless seventh with two strikeouts, and Cole Sands struck out one in the ninth.

Tyler Mahle (6-4) threw five innings with five hits, one run, and four strikeouts.

TIGERS 4, GUARDIANS 2

CLEVELAND (AP) — Jahmai Jones led off the game with a home run and Detroit snapped an eight-game losing streak, beating Cleveland to move back into a tie with the Guardians for the AL Central lead.

Detroit and Cleveland are 86-73 with three games left to play. The Guardians hold the tiebreaker after going 8-5 in the season series.

The Tigers head to Boston, where the Red Sox have a one-game lead for the AL’s second wild card. The Guardians will host Texas, which has lost nine of 10.

Wenceel Pérez and Riley Greene also homered off Cleveland starter Parker Messick (3-1).

Brant Hurter (4-3) got the win, and Will Vest picked up his 22nd save in 29 opportunities.

Troy Melton allowed one run in 3 2/3 innings in what was a bullpen game for the Tigers.

PHILLIES 1, MARLINS 0

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Walker Buehler pitched five scoreless innings and Philadelphia beat Miami, eliminating the Marlins from the wild-card race.

After hitting a team-record eight homers Wednesday night in an 11-1 victory that wrapped up a first-round bye, the Phillies scored the lone run on Alec Bohm’s first-inning groundout.

Buehler (10-7) allowed three hits and three walks and hit a batter. Taijuan Walker followed with two innings of relief, Matt Strahm pitched the eighth and, after an hour-long rain delay, 40-year-old David Robertson finished for his second save.

Janson Junk (6-4) took the loss.

BLUE JAYS 6, RED SOX 1

TORONTO (AP) — Daulton Varsho hit his fifth career grand slam, George Springer added a two-run homer and Toronto beat Boston to maintain a tie for the AL East lead with the New York Yankees.

Toronto (91-68), which had lost six of seven, closes with three games at home against Tampa Bay.

Boston (87-72) was prevented from clinching a postseason berth. The Red Sox are in position for the second AL wild card, one game ahead of Detroit (86-73) and two games in front of Houston (85-74) with three games left. The Red Sox finish at home against the Tigers.

Three Blue Jays combined for six perfect innings before Jarren Duran doubled off Braydon Fisher starting the seventh and scored on Trevor Story’s single.

Toronto opener Louis Varland struck out three of six batters, and Eric Lauer retire 10 straight.

YANKEES 5, WHITE SOX 3

NEW YORK (AP) — Giancarlo Stanton grounded a go-ahead, three-run double and New York beat Chicago to remain tied with Toronto atop the AL East going into the final three games of the regular season.

Carlos Rodón (18-9) pitched six steady innings and Austin Wells added an RBI double off the right-center fence in the seventh as the playoff-bound Yankees finished a three-game sweep to move a season-high 23 games above .500.

New York, which has won five straight and eight of nine, is assured home-field advantage in the Wild Card Series if it can’t edge the Blue Jays for the division title. The teams share the best record in the American League at 91-68.

Toronto topped Boston 6-1 on Thursday night and holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Yankees after winning the season series 8-5.

METS 8, CUBS 5

CHICAGO (AP) — Francisco Lindor homered to reach the 30-30 milestone for the second time, Brett Baty went deep and New York beat Chicago to remain in position for the final National League wild card.

The Mets built a six-run lead and withstood a shaky outing by rookie Nolan McLean (5-1). They remained a game ahead of Cincinnati in the playoff race, with the Reds beating Pittsburgh 2-1.

Chicago’s Shota Imanaga (9-8) got tagged for a season-high eight runs in 5 2/3 innings. Seiya Suzuki homered twice and Dansby Swanson also connected for the Cubs, who have lost six of seven.

Chicago leads San Diego by two games with three to play for the top wild card and home-field advantage in the opening round of the playoffs. Those two teams will meet in Game 1 on Tuesday.

The Mets led 2-0 in the third when Lindor connected against Imanaga, sending a solo drive beyond the left-field bleachers to Waveland Avenue. That gave him 30 homers to go with 31 steals. The five-time All-Star had 31 homers and 31 steals for New York in 2023.

Though he struck out a personal-best 11, McLean gave up a season-high five runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings. Edwin Díaz worked the ninth for his 28th save in 31 chances.

ROYALS 9, ANGELS 4

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Vinnie Pasquantino homered and drove in three runs, Bobby Witt Jr. had four hits and Kansas City beat the Los Angeles.

Michael Lorenzen (7-11) gave up two earned runs and five hits with a season-high nine strikeouts and no walks in 5 2/3 innings for the Royals.

Jo Adell, Nolan Schanuel and Mike Trout each homered for the Angels. Trout’s two-run shot — his 23rd of the season and 401st of his career — cut Kansas City’s lead to 5-4 in eighth.

However, the Royals scored four in the top of the ninth, a rally highlighted by Salvador Perez’s two-out, three-run double off Angels reliever Sam Bachman, to pull away.

Mitch Farris (1-3) gave up four earned runs and five hits in five innings, striking out five and walking two, for the Angels, who have lost 11 of 13 games.

MARINERS 6, ROCKIES 2

SEATTLE (AP) — Eugenio Suárez matched his career high with his 49th homer, leading the AL West champion Seattle over Colorado for their 17th win in 18 games.

A day after clinching their first division title since 2001, the Mariners were assured a first-round bye and home-field advantage in the AL Division Series when Cleveland lost to Detroit earlier Thursday.

Suárez connected on a hanging slider from Bradley Blalock (2-6) for a two-run homer in the second and Seattle never trailed as it won its seventh straight. Suárez, also hit 49 homers for Cincinnati in 2019, addded a run-scoring single in the fifth that raised his career-best RBIs total to 117.

Colorado dropped to 4-17 in September and its 116th defeat are the most in the NL since the 1962 New York Mets lost 120.