The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants produced an MLB first as a controversial end to the latest series in their historic rivalry left ejected manager Dave Roberts apoplectic.
Dodgers manager Roberts sprinted to confront first-base umpire Ed Hickox in the ninth inning after he ruled Darin Ruf did not swing on a pitch outside the strike zone on a full 3-2 count with two men out and the bases loaded, awarding the Giants a walk that tied the game at 3-3.
Los Angeles thought the game was over moments earlier when Jason Vosler was ruled to have been thrown out at second base, only for the umpires to rule him safe on review, with Sheldon Neuse unable to keep his foot on the bag as he caught Chris Taylor's throw, meaning Thairo Estrada's groundball trimmed the Dodgers' lead to 3-2.
Hickox's contentious decision followed, setting up LaMonte Wade Jr to give the Giants a 5-3 lead with the next at-bat with a two-run single to right field.
The Giants held on to that advantage to take a three-game lead over the Dodgers in the National League West, with Los Angeles left to pick up the pieces after a third successive blown save from closer Kenley Jansen and his second in as many nights against San Francisco.
San Francisco prevailed 3-1 in the four-game series, which is the first in the modern era to have three games in which the team trailing in the ninth inning scored three runs to win, according to Stats Perform data. The Dodgers scored three runs in the last to emerge victorious on Tuesday, before the Giants scored three on Wednesday and four on Thursday to solidify their grip on the division.
But that piece of league history will have been of no interest to a furious Roberts.
"There's no doubt in my mind that he went [around and swung] and the game should have been over," Roberts said. "Eddie's a very good umpire, been around a long time. But in that spot, two contending teams, you just can't miss that call.
"The game should have been over and there's no other way to look at it.
"There's a lot of people that are really p****d off and I'm leading the way. We should have won that game. It's a game we really wanted, we had and we didn't. The game should have been over, man. I don't think the blame should be all on Kenley at all.
"I thought that play at second base, if we stretch, he's out and the game's over. The checked swing, the game's over and we're not having this conversation. I'm not reconsidering his [Jansen's] role."
Ruf, meanwhile, was able to reflect on the turning point with a smile.
"At that point, I'm just trying to have a good at-bat," Ruf said. "The 2-0 pitch was probably outside, but those things happen throughout the course of an at-bat. You just have to move on.
"After I got to 2-2, I just really wanted to see a pitch in the middle. He has three pretty good pitches and luckily I laid off the 2-2. The 3-2 was kind of a high backup cutter and luckily that call went our way.
"I'm just thinking, 'Please say I didn't go [and swing]. I think at full speed it was really, really close.
"Luckily that call went our way tonight and then LaMonte came up huge."
MLB: Pirates rally from 9-run deficit for first time in 133-season history, stun Reds
The Pittsburgh Pirates erased a nine-run deficit for the first time in their 133-season history in a wild 13-12 victory over the playoff-hopeful Cincinnati Reds on Saturday.
The Reds built a 9-0 lead with three runs in the first, five in the second and one in the third before the Pirates scored the next 13 runs.
Cincinnati rallied to get within one but stranded the potential tying run at third in the ninth.
It was the fourth straight loss for the Reds, who dropped 2 ½ games behind the final NL wild-card spot with six games remaining.
Cincinnati squandered a nine-run lead for the first time since a 10-9 loss at Milwaukee on April 28, 2004.
Pittsburgh’s Alfonso Rivas tied a career high with five RBIs, including a three-run double in the seventh that tied the score at 9.
The Pirates scored four runs in the eighth against closer Alexis Diaz when Jack Suwinski and Rivas hit run-scoring singles and Ji Hwan Bae followed with a two-run double.
Christian Encanacion-Strand, Tyler Stephenson and TJ Friedl homered off Pirates starter Bailey Falter, who allowed eight runs and nine hits in two innings.
Montgomery pitches Rangers past Mariners
Jordan Montgomery pitched seven scoreless innings for the second time in three starts and Jonah Heim drove in another run to lead the Texas Rangers to their fourth straight win, 2-0 over the Seattle Mariners.
Montgomery scattered five hits, struck out six and walked two to improve to 4-2 in 10 starts since joining Texas in a trade with St. Louis.
The Rangers extended their AL West lead to 1 ½ games over Houston, which lost to Kansas City.
Mitch Garver had an RBI single in the second inning and Heim singled home a run in the fourth.
Heim has seven RBIs in his last four games and 15 in his past 11.
Seattle remained a half-game behind the Astros in the West and in the wild-card race.
Rays rally late again, beat Blue Jays
Josh Lowe hit a three-run homer and a walk-off single to cap a two-run ninth inning as the Tampa Bay Rays got past the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-6.
Toronto entered the bottom of the ninth with a 6-5 lead but Yandy Diaz had a leadoff double, took thirde on Harold Ramirez’s single and scored on Curtis Mead’s hit.
After Isaac Paredes struck out, Junior Caminero – in his big league debut - grounded into what appeared to be an inning-ending double play.
But the call was reversed in a video review and Lowe ended it with an opposite-field single down the left-field line.
The Rays remained 1 ½ games behind AL East-leading Baltimore, while Toronto, which rallied from a 5-0 deficit, holds the second wild card, one game ahead of Houston.
MLB: Acuna hits 40th home run to join exclusive 40-40 club in Braves' win
Ronald Acuna Jr. joined an exclusive club with his 40th homer of the season and the Atlanta Braves defeated the Washington Nationals 9-6 on Friday.
Acuna’s 40th home run came off starter Patrick Corbin in the first inning for the 34th leadoff homer of his career and eighth this season.
He joins Alphonso Soriano (2006), Alex Rodriguez (1998), Barry Bonds (1996) and Jose Canseco (1988) as the only players with 40 homers and 40 stolen bases in a single season.
The Atlanta superstar has hit safely in 14 of his last 15 games, with eight homers and 15 RBIs during that span.
Braves starter Charlie Morton walked the two batters in the first inning and left due to right index finger discomfort after throwing 24 pitches.
He will have an MRI on Saturday but hopes to be ready for the postseason.
Austin Riley hit a two-run homer and Marcell Ozuna added a three-run shot to increase the Braves’ major league-leading home run total to 296.
Twins hold off Angels to clinch AL Central
The Minnesota Twins clinched their third AL Central title in five seasons with an 8-6 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.
Alex Kirillof homered and Pablo Lopez pitched six strong innings as Minnesota held on in the ninth for their 82nd win, assuring it of being a division champion with an over .500 record.
The Twins locked up their 15th trip to the postseason since the Washington Senators moved to Minnesota in 1961 and became the Twins.
The Twins have lost 18 straight playoff games since their last win in 2004.
Judge hits 3 home runs in Yankees’ win
Aaron Judge became the first Yankees player to hit three home runs in a game twice in one season in a 7-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Judge hit a three-run homer in the third, a two-run shot in the fifth inning off starter Brandon Pfaadt and went deep again in the seventh off Slade Cecconi.
Judge, who had his first career three-homer game against Washington on August 23, is the sixth player in franchise history with multiple three-home run games.
The others are Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Alex Rodriguez, Tony Lazzeri and Bobby Murcer.
'The numbers don't lie' – Djokovic hailed as greatest of all time by Lopez
Novak Djokovic is just one grand slam away from becoming the most decorated player in history and Feliciano Lopez believes "the numbers don't lie" when it comes to debating tennis' greatest.
Serbia's Djokovic equalled Margaret Court's record of 24 grand slam triumphs after defeating Daniil Medvedev in straight sets at the US Open earlier in September.
That made the world number one, aged 36 years and 111 days at the time, the oldest winner of the men's singles title at the US Open.
It was also Djokovic's third major crown of 2023, winning a trio of grand slams in a calendar year for the fourth time in his career,
Davis Cup tournament director Lopez, who had previously hailed Djokovic for featuring at the "unique" competition, suggested no one in history compares with the 36-year-old.
Asked by Stats Perform if Djokovic was the GOAT – greatest of all time – Lopez said: "According to the numbers, yes. The numbers don't lie.
"If you look at the stats, Novak is the best. So, I mean, what can I say?
"I think the numbers are very clear, not only by the fact that he's won 24 slams, but also there are other numbers and other statistics that clearly show he's the best player who ever played the sport.
"According to the numbers, I cannot say anything different."
Djokovic triumphed at the Australian Open, French Open and US Open, only missing out on a clean sweep of the majors after losing the Wimbledon final to Carlos Alcaraz.
As for Djokovic's chances for more major success going forward, Lopez believes the sky is still the limit.
"It's very difficult to predict honestly, but as long as he's feeling physically strong I think it's clear that his will in the last three or four years is to keep winning grand slams," Lopez added.
"If he is able to sustain his physical condition for the next two years, I can fairly say that he can win, I don't know, two, three or four, but it's very difficult to say one number because this year, for example, he could have won all four.
"He won in Australia, he won in Paris, he was very close to winning Wimbledon because of that second-set tie-break, and he just won the US Open.
"You ask me how many grand slams you think he will win in the future when he just won three of them in the same year!
"I don't know, maybe three or four more is fair to say, but it's very difficult to predict."
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