Mauricio Dubon and Jose Altuve hit back-to-back home runs on two different occasions to help power the Houston Astros to a 13-6 rout of the Texas Rangers in Monday's opener of a pivotal three-game series between American League West rivals.
Yanier Diaz added a three-run homer, part of a 16-hit barrage that enabled the defending World Series champions to bounce back after being swept at home by the New York Yankees in a three-game series over the weekend.
The win moved the Astros in a virtual tie with Seattle for first place in the AL West after the Mariners lost at Cincinnati on Monday. Texas, which is in the midst of a 4-13 stretch since mid-August, is one game back in the standings.
Houston trailed 3-0 after four innings before scoring three times in the fifth, highlighted by Alex Bregman's game-tying two-run single. After the Rangers went back ahead in the bottom of the inning on Corey Seager's second home run of the game, Dubon and Altuve each homered off Glenn Otto in the sixth to give the Astros a 5-4 edge.
Texas drew back even in the bottom of the sixth on Mitch Garver's solo homer, but the Astros scored six runs in the seventh to put the game out of reach.
After Seager's error allowed two runs to score to put Houston up 8-5, Diaz launched his 21st homer of the season to extend the margin to six runs.
Dubon and Altuve again went back-to-back in the ninth. The hit was Altuve's fourth of the day and he finished with three runs scored.
Seager ended 3 for 5 with three RBIs and Garver went 2 for 3 with two RBIs for Texas, which also got a solo homer from Josh Smith.
Steer's three-run homer helps Reds down Mariners
The Astros got help in their chase for the AL West lead from the Cincinnati Reds, who scored five early runs en route to a 6-3 win over the Seattle Mariners.
Spencer Steer delivered the big blow for Cincinnati with a three-run homer off Bryan Woo in the second inning that staked the Reds to a 5-0 lead. Elly De La Cruz and Hunter Renfroe drove in the first two runs with RBI singles in the first.
While Seattle lost sole possession of first place in the AL West with its third loss in four games, the Reds moved into a tie with Arizona for the National League's final wild card spot. The Diamondbacks kept pace with a 4-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies behind 12 strikeouts from starting pitcher Merrill Kelly.
Renfroe and Tyler Stephenson each had two hits and an RBI to help Cincinnati withstand solo homers from Julio Rodriguez and Mike Ford.
Woo was handed the loss after surrendering five runs over a five-inning stint in which he walked three batters and hit three others.
Steele dominates Giants as Cubs gain ground in NL Central
Justin Steele allowed just two hits over eight scoreless innings to earn his 16th win of the season and lead the Chicago Cubs to a 5-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants in the opener of another key September three-game series.
Steele (16-3) struck out a career-high 12 while issuing only two walks to win his seventh straight decision and tie Atlanta's Spencer Strider for the major league lead in victories.
The left-hander's show-stopping performance also enabled the Cubs to pull within 2 1/2 games of first-place Milwaukee in the NL Central after the Brewers were dealt a 4-2 loss by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Seiya Suzuki supplied the offence for Chicago with a solo homer in the second inning, an RBI double in the seventh and a run-scoring fielder's choice in the eighth.
Slumping San Francisco was shut out for a second straight game and has now lost four in a row to fall out of a tie for the NL's final wild card spot. The Giants now trail both Cincinnati and Arizona by one game.
Giants starter Logan Webb lasted 6 2/3 innings but lost a third straight start after being charged with three runs on five hits.
Ohtani, Judge both unanimous picks for MVP awards
Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani were both unanimously selected to win Most Valuable Player Awards in their respective leagues on Thursday.
Judge collected all 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. garnered all 30 second-place votes.
Yankees outfielder Juan Soto finished third with 21 third-place votes.
Ohtani was an unanimous MVP for the third time, receiving all 30 first-place votes and 420 points in voting by the BWAA. New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor was second with 263 points and Arizona second baseman Ketel Marte third with 229.
It is the second AL MVP award of Judge's career after he also won the award in 2022.
Judge led the major leagues with 58 homers, 144 RBIs and 133 walks while hitting .322. He also drew a league-high 133 walks and posted a spectacular 1.159 OPS.
Witt topped the big leagues with a .332 average, hitting 32 homers with 109 RBIs.
With two MVP Awards to his name, Judge is the seventh player in Yankees history to win multiple MVPs. He joins Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Alex Rodriguez.
There was an extended stretch over the summer where Judge was on a pace to reach and possibly break his own single-season home run record (62 in 2022). The same goes for a bid at a Triple Crown.
The stretch that truly defined his season began on April 27. Judge entered play on that day in Milwaukee with a .178 batting average and .674 OPS on the season. He had only four home runs with 35 strikeouts across 27 games.
Over his next 100 games, through August 23, Judge hit .378 with 45 home runs. It was the first time in MLB history a player batted higher than .375 with 45-plus homers in a stretch of 100 games within a single season.
Ohtani was unanimously voted AL MVP in 2021 and 2023 as a two-way star for the Los Angeles Angels and finished second to Judge in 2022 voting. He didn’t pitch in 2024 following elbow surgery and signed a record $700 million, 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers last December.
Ohtani hit .310, stole 59 bases and led the NL with 54 homers and 130 RBIs exclusively as a designated hitter, becoming the first player with 50 or more homers and 50 or more stolen bases in a season. He helped the Dodgers to the World Series title, playing the final three games with a torn labrum in his left shoulder.
Ohtani is the first primary DH to win an MVP. He joins Frank Robinson for Cincinnati in 1961 and Baltimore in 1966 as the only players to win the MVP award in both leagues.
The Japanese sensation is the 12th player with three or more MVPs, joining Barry Bonds (seven) and Jimmie Foxx, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Roy Campanella, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Mike Schmidt, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols and Mike Trout (three each).
Sale, Skubal win MLB's Cy Young Awards
Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal and Atlanta Braves lefty Chris Sale were each named the winner of their respective league’s Cy Young Award on Wednesday.
The announcement was hardly a surprise after each ace won their league's pitching triple crown during the 2024 regular season.
This is the first Cy Young for both pitchers.
Skubal, who turned 28 on Wednesday, enjoyed a break-out year in his fourth full MLB season, and was a unanimous winner, receiving all 30 first-place votes in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. The Kansas City Royals' Seth Lugo finished second and Cleveland Guardians relief pitcher Emmanuel Clase finished third in the balloting, which was completed before the play-offs.
Sale received 26 of 30 first-place votes, while Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler finished second, ahead of Pittsburgh Pirates righty Paul Skenes, who was selected as the National League Rookie of the Year on Monday.
The 35-year-old Sale has come close to winning the award before, finishing as runner-up to Cleveland's Corey Kluber in 2017, with five other top-five finishes in voting since his first full season in the majors in 2011.
Since the inception of the Cy Young Award in 1956, there have been 16 pitchers to win his league's pitching crown. And now, every one of them has also won that year's Cy Young.
Skubal and Sale each won an MLB-best 18 games, while Skubal led all pitchers with 228 strikeouts – three more than Sale. Sale's ERA of 2.38 was just a tick better than Skubal's 2.39.
Both were dominant down the stretch in leading their teams to the play-offs, with Sale permitting two earned runs or fewer in each of his final 18 regular-season starts, though he was unable to pitch in the season final or the Braves' NL Wild-Card series loss to the San Diego Padres because of a back injury.
Skubal posted a 1.94 ERA in his final nine outings, and then threw 13 shutout innings in his first two play-off starts in helping the Tigers surprisingly reach the American League Division Series. He ended up going 1-1 with a 2.37 ERA in three post-season starts.
Skubal became the fifth Tiger to win the Cy Young trophy – and first since Max Scherzer in 2017 – and Sale is the fifth Brave to earn the award – and first since Hall of Famer Tom Glavine in 1998.
Despite several close calls in Cy Young voting for Sale, he has dealt with injuries for the past five seasons, and was limited to a total of 151 innings over the past three years for the Boston Red Sox.
In his first season with the Braves, however, he threw 177 2/3 innings and was awarded the NL Comeback Player of the Year Award last Thursday.
Dodgers erase 5-run deficit, beat Yankees to win World Series
The Los Angeles Dodgers won their second World Series championship in five seasons, overcoming a five-run deficit with the help of three Yankees defensive miscues and rallying on sacrifice flies from Gavin Lux and Mookie Betts in the eighth inning to beat New York 7-6 in Game 5 on Wednesday night.
Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning, Alex Verdugo’s RBI single chased Jack Flaherty in the second and Giancarlo Stanton’s third-inning homer against Ryan Brasier built a 5-0 Yankees lead.
But errors by Judge in center and Anthony Volpe at shortstop, combined with pitcher Gerrit Cole failing to cover first on Betts' grounder, helped Los Angeles score five unearned runs in the fifth.
After Stanton’s sixth-inning sacrifice fly put the Yankees back ahead 6-5, the Dodgers loaded the bases against loser Tommy Kahnle in the eighth before the sacrifice flies off Luke Weaver.
Winner Blake Treinen escaped a two-on, one-out jam in the bottom half by retiring Stanton on a flyout and striking out Anthony Rizzo.
Walker Buehler, making his first relief appearance since his rookie season in 2018, pitched a perfect ninth for the save.
Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers’ record-setting $700 million signing and baseball’s first 50-homer, 50-steal player, went 2 for 19 with no RBIs and had one single after separating his shoulder during a stolen base attempt in Game 2.
Freddie Freeman hit a two-run single to tie the Series record of 12 RBIs, set by Bobby Richardson over seven games in 1960. With the Dodgers one out from losing Friday’s opener, Freeman hit a game-ending grand slam reminiscent of Kirk Gibson’s homer off Oakland’s Dennis Eckersley in 1988’s Game 1 that sparked Los Angeles to the title.
The Dodgers earned their eighth championship and seventh since leaving Brooklyn for Los Angeles - their first in a non-shortened season since 1988. They won a neutral-site World Series against Tampa Bay in 2020 after a 60-game regular season and couldn’t have a parade because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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