Sonny Gray and five relievers combined on a shutout and the Minnesota Twins advanced in the postseason for the first time in 21 years with a 2-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday.
Minnesota, which ended an 18-game playoff losing streak with a 3-1 win in Game 1, completed the sweep and moved on to face the defending World Series champion Astros in the best-of-five AL Division Series, starting Saturday in Houston.
The Twins snapped a nine-round losing streak that started with an ALCS defeat to the Angels in 2002. The Atlanta Braves (2001-2019) and Chicago Cubs (1910-1998) share the all-time mark with 10 consecutive series lost.
The Blue Jays lost their seventh straight playoff game, leaving nine runners on base in each game.
All the game’s offense came in the bottom of the fourth.
Royce Lewis drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on Max Kepler’s infield single against reliever Yusei Kikuchi.
After pinch-hitter Donovan Solano walked to load the bases, Carlos Correa singled home a run. Willi Castro then hit into a double play to make it 2-0.
Gray allowed five hits over five innings with two walks and six strikeouts.
Brock Stewart and Griffin Jax each worked one inning and Jhoan Duran struck out the side in the ninth to trigger the celebration.
Gallen, Diamondbacks complete sweep of Brewers
Ketel Marte highlighted a four-run sixth with a two-run single and the Arizona Diamondbacks finished a sweep of the NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers with a 5-2 victory.
Two years after losing 110 games, the Diamondbacks advanced to the NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Zac Gallen allowed two first-inning runs but settled down to toss six solid innings before Arizona’s bullpen finished with three scoreless frames, the final three outs coming from Paul Sewald.
Milwaukee has lost nine of its last 10 playoff games, a stretch that started with a Game 7 home loss to the Dodgers in the 2018 NLCS.
Freddy Peralta held Arizona hitless for 4 2/3 innings before Alek Thomas homered to make it 2-1.
The Diamondbacks knocked out Peralta and grabbed a 5-2 lead with four runs in the sixth.
After Marte singled home a pair of runs, the Diamondbacks got another run on Abner Uribe’s wild pitch and extended the advantage on Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s RBI single.
Stott hits slam as Phillies sweep
Bryson Stott hit the second grand slam in Phillies postseason history and Aaron Nola was masterful on the mound as Philadelphia rolled to a 7-1 win over the Miami Marlins for a two-game sweep.
J.T. Realmuto also went deep, and the Phillies will face the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS for the second straight season after last year’s series win in four games.
Nola limited Miami to three hits over seven scoreless innings, getting an inning-ending double play in the fifth.
Already leading 3-0, Stott’s blast off Andrew Nardi in the sixth all but assured the Phillies of advancing.
Rangers finish sweep of punchless Rays
Adolis Garcia and rookie Evan Carter homered to back Nathan Eovaldi’s stellar start as the Texas Rangers secured a spot in the AL Division Series with a 7-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Rangers outscored the Rays 11-1 in a pair of wins and won a postseason series for the first time since 2011, when they reached the World Series.
Texas will open the ALDS on Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles.
Eovaldi gave up six hits over 6 2/3 innings while walking none with eight strikeouts to beat Tampa Bay for the third time this season.
The Rays’ postseason losing streak reached seven straight, as they were bounced in the Wild Card Series for the second consecutive year.
Garcia led off the fourth with a home run against Zach Eflin, igniting a four-run inning.
Leody Tavares singled with two outs, stole second and scored on Josh Jung’s triple. The 20-year-old Carter followed with a home run to right for a 4-0 lead.
MLB: Christopher Morel’s HR in 9th rallies Cubs over Mets
Christopher Morel hit a go-ahead home run off Edwin Diaz with two outs in the ninth inning, and the Chicago Cubs rallied to a 3-1 win over the New York Mets on Monday.
Morel’s heroics came an inning after Michael Busch scored the tying run on a fielder’s choice.
Mets starter Luis Severino carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning, when Dansby Swanson singled to left center with no outs.
Making his sixth start for the Mets, Severino threw eight innings and allowed one run with five strikeouts.
Jameson Taillon was nearly as good for the Cubs. After giving up a lead-off home run to Brandon Nimmo to open the game, Taillon allowed four hits in 7 1/3 innings.
Cubs closer Hector Neris walked two batters in the bottom of the ninth but finished the game with back-to-back strikeouts for his fourth save of the year.
Twins extend winning streak to 8 games
Max Kepler hit an RBI single in the ninth inning, lifting the Minnesota Twins to a 3-2 win over the White Sox as their winning streak reached eight games.
After the White Sox scored two runs in the first inning, Minnesota’s Carlos Santana tied the game with a home run in the second off of Chicago starter Garrett Crochet.
The teams played six scoreless innings before Byron Buxton scored from second on Kepler’s single off John Brebbia.
The White Sox got the tying run to third base in the bottom of the ninth, but Caleb Thielbar punched out Korey Lee to seal the Minnesota win.
After a rough start to the season, the Twins’ current win streak has them at 15-13, one game back of the surprising Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers.
Garver’s walk-off lifts M’s over Braves
Mitch Garver hit a two-run, walk-off home run in the ninth inning to lift the Seattle Mariners over the Atlanta Braves 2-1.
The Mariners had only four hits in a game dominated by excellent pitching, but two of those hits came in the ninth against A.J. Minter, including Garver’s game-winning blast.
The Braves carried a combined no-hitter into the eighth inning that was broken up by a Josh Rojas single. Atlanta starter Max Fried went six innings, walking two and striking out seven.
Seattle starter Bryce Miller pitched seven strong innings, allowing two hits and one run with 10 strikeouts.
Twins pound out 17 hits again, beat struggling Angels to push win streak to seven
For the second straight day, the Minnesota Twins roughed up the Los Angeles Angles.
The latest rout helped the defending AL Central champions move over .500 for the first time since the first week of the season.
The Twins again racked up 17 hits in an 11-5 victory over the Angels on Sunday to extend their winning streak to seven games.
Minnesota is now 14-13, moving back over .500 for the first time since it was 3-2 on April 3.
The Twins have notched at least 10 hits in each game of the win streak, the first time they've won at least seven consecutive games while tallying 10 or more hits in each since an eight-game run from July 14-21, 2006.
Minnesota completed the weekend sweep as Ryan Jeffers, Jose Miranda, Christian Vázquez and Willi Castro each had three hits, while Austin Martin and Alex Kiriloff drove in two runs apiece.
The Twins pounded out a season-high six doubles one day after recording four doubles as part of a 17-hit attack in a 16-5 rout.
This is the first time Minnesota has totaled 17 or more hits in consecutive games since July 2010, when it did it in three games in a row.
While the Twins are on a roll, the Angels (10-18) have lost four straight games and nine of 10.
Blue Jays end Dodgers' six-game win streak
Kevin Gausman earned his first victory of the season, throwing seven innings of one-run ball in the Toronto Blue Jays' 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Gausman, who won 12 games for the Blue Jays last year, struck out five and allowed five hits without a walk to help the Blue Jays (14-15) end a five-game losing streak.
The NL West-leading Dodgers (18-12) had won six straight games before going 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position in the series finale.
Los Angeles' lone run came on a Freddie Freeman home run - just his second of the season and first since March 28.
Freeman is batting .444 with 11 RBIs during an eight-game hitting streak.
Toronto's Alejandro Kirk hit his first homer of the season and finished with three hits after entering the day mired in an 0-for-11 slump.
Yankees break out bats in rout of Brewers
Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo and Anthony Volpe all homered in the New York Yankees' 15-5 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.
Rizzo went 4 for 4 and his homer was the 300th of his career, while Judge had three hits and three RBIs.
The AL East-leading Yankees (19-10) tallied 18 hits one day after registering 19 hits in a 15-3 win over the NL Central-leading Brewers (17-10).
This is the first time New York has scored 15 runs in consecutive games since July 21 and 22, 2007.
The game was tied at 4 before New York scored seven runs in the sixth inning. All the runs came with two outs and came after a controversial play at second base.
With no outs and Judge on first base, Alex Verdugo hit a ball to second baseman Brice Turang, who fielded it and threw to shortstop Willy Adames at second base to force out Judge.
Adames then threw to first to try to turn the double play, but his throw bounced off Judge's hand as the slugger raised his left arm while sliding into second base.
The Brewers argued that Judge should have been called out for interference but the umpires allowed Verdugo to remain safe at first.
After the game, umpire crew chief Andy Fletcher admitted the runner should've been ruled out for interference.
MLB: Ohtani has career-high 3 doubles in Dodgers' 20-hit attack
Shohei Ohtani had a career-high three doubles and the Los Angeles Dodgers collected 20 hits in an 11-2 rout of the Washington Nationals on Wednesday.
Ohtani went 3 for 6 with RBI doubles in the eighth and ninth innings. He leads the majors in batting average (.371), slugging (.695), OPS (1.128), extra-base hits (21) and doubles (14).
Mookie Betts and Will Smith each had four hits and rookie Andy Pages homered as the Dodgers won their third straight following a three-game skid.
Landon Knack earned his first win in his second career start, allowing two runs and three hits in six innings. He retired his last 13 batters and struck out five.
Nick Senzel homered for the Nationals, who didn’t have a baserunner after the second inning.
Trout hits MLB-leading 10th home run in loss
Mike Trout became the first player in the majors to reach 10 home runs this season, but Gunnar Henderson had three hits and three RBIs as the Baltimore Orioles held off the Los Angeles Angels, 6-5.
Trout got the Angels on the board with a solo shot off starter Dean Kremer in the sixth inning. This is the third time in the past seven seasons that Trout has been the first in MLB to reach double digits in homers.
Los Angeles rallied back from a 6-0 deficit and had the tying run on first in the ninth, but Jo Adell was caught stealing to end the game.
Henderson homered for the second straight game and added a two-run single in Baltimore’s four-run sixth. He is 9 for 20 in the past five games and 18 for 40 with five home runs and 11 RBIs in his last 10 games, helping the Orioles win eight.
Kremer struck out 10 over 5 2/3 innings and allowed two runs and three hits for his first win of the season.
Surging Braves win in 10 innings
Michael Harris II doubled home Ronald Acuna Jr. in the 10th inning and the red-hot Atlanta Braves topped the Miami Marlins, 4-3, after blowing a two-run lead in the ninth.
The Marlins scored twice in the ninth off Braves closer Raisel Iglesias to tie it but failed to score in the top of the 10th.
Harris led off the bottom half with a single to center to score the winning run and send Atlanta to its ninth win in 10 games.
Harris went 3 for 5 and Marcell Ozuna had three hits and two RBIs, giving him an MLB-best 29.
The Marlins were swept for the third time this season and dropped to an NL-worst 6-20.
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