Shohei Ohtani's major league-leading 11th home run of the season helped make Walker Buehler's return to the mound a winning one for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who posted a 6-3 victory over the Miami Marlins on Monday.

The Dodgers homered four times in all to take the opener of this three-game series and extend their winning streak to five games. Ohtani and James Outman delivered two-run blasts, while Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernandez had solo shots for the reigning National League West champions.

Making his first MLB start since June 2022 after recovering from the second Tommy John surgery of his career, Buehler did not factor in the decision while allowing three runs on six hits with four strikeouts in four innings.

Buehler's return began in a rocky way, as Jazz Chisholm Jr. opened the game with a single before stealing second and scoring on Bryan De La Cruz's base hit. De La Cruz later scored on Jesus Sanchez's single for a 2-0 Miami lead.

The Dodgers quickly pulled even, as Ohtani followed a lead-off walk to Mookie Betts in the bottom of the first with his fourth homer in three games. Two pitches later, Freeman connected off Miami starter Roddery Munoz to put Los Angeles in front.

Nick Gordon's solo homer off Buehler in the second tied the score once again, but Outman sent Los Angeles back ahead in the bottom of the inning with his blast to center that followed a walk to Gavin Lux.

Hernandez's ninth homer of the season increased the lead to 6-3 in the third, and relievers Ryan Yarbrough, Blake Treinen and Alex Vesia combined for five scoreless innings to protect Los Angeles' advantage.

Chisholm and Sanchez each had two hits for the Marlins. Munoz allowed all six Los Angeles runs in 4 2/3 innings of work.

Wheeler, Harper help scorching Phillies finish sweep of Giants

Zack Wheeler struck out 11 over seven innings, Bryce Harper belted a three-run homer for a second consecutive game, and the torrid Philadelphia Phillies completed a four-game sweep of the San Francisco Giants with a 6-1 victory.

Wheeler allowed one unearned run and four hits in a dominant effort that gave Philadelphia its sixth straight win and 10th in a row at home. The Phillies have now won 10 of their last 11 overall and improved to 17-3 since April 15.

The Phillies did have one streak end, however, as Alec Bohm went 0 for 4 to end a run of 18 straight games with at least one hit.

Giants starter Mason Black, making his major league debut, kept the Phillies off the board until the rookie issued back-to-back walks in the fourth inning and gave up a run-scoring single to Whit Merrifield.

Black ran into greater trouble in the fifth, as Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto began Philadelphia's half of the inning with singles before Harper launched a pitch into the left field seats for a 4-0 lead.

The Giants got their only run in the sixth when Thairo Estrada reached on an error, moved to third on LaMonte Wade Jr.'s single and scored on Wilmer Flores's sacrifice fly.

Schwarber capped the scoring with a solo homer off reliever Tyler Rogers in the eighth.

Black lasted 4 1/3 innings and permitted five runs on eight hits while walking three. 

Twins bounce back, win series opener against Mariners

Simeon Woods Richardson allowed just one hit over six scoreless innings for the Minnesota Twins, who scored twice in the seventh inning to earn a 3-1 win over the Seattle Mariners to open a four-game series.

Carlos Correa went 2 for 4 with an RBI double to help Minnesota get back on track following Sunday's 9-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox, which ended the Twins' 12-game winning streak.

Seattle's Luis Castillo held the Twins to one run through six innings, but was touched for two in the seventh as Minnesota broke a 1-1 tie.

Castillo walked Max Kepler to start the Twins' half of the inning and Correa followed with his second double of the night to put two on. Correa advanced to third on a fielder's choice grounder as Kepler was thrown out at the plate, then scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly from Christian Vasquez.

Manuel Margot then greeted reliever Trent Thornton with a run-scoring single that extended the lead to 3-1.

Woods Richardson recorded a career-high eight strikeouts while yielding just a third-inning single to Mitch Garver and a walk to Cal Raleigh in the fifth. The right-hander exited with a 1-0 lead, but reliever Griffin Jax surrendered two hits and a walk in the seventh before Garver got Seattle on the board with a sac fly that plated former Twin Jorge Polanco.

The Twins had gone ahead in the fifth on back-to-back doubles from Kepler and Correa, the first hits Castillo surrendered during the game.

Castillo allowed just three hits overall in 6 2/3 innings, but did walk three and was charged with three runs - two earned - to take the loss.

The Los Angeles Dodgers already knew they would not have Walker Buehler available to pitch this season, and now it appears he will have to sit out all of their 2023 campaign as well. 

Buehler, 28, underwent Tommy John surgery and a repair to his flexor tendon on Tuesday and is unlikely to pitch next season. The news comes after the Dodgers announced in June that the right-hander would undergo an elbow procedure that would end his 2022 season. 

This is the second Tommy John surgery for Buehler, who also had the operation done not long after he was selected in the first round of the 2015 draft. He missed the remainder of that season and virtually all the following year in recovery, making three brief appearances late in his first full pro season. 

Tommy John recoveries typically take upwards of 14 months, and Buehler’s rehab could take longer due to his personal injury history, as the second Tommy John procedure is known to be a slower recovery process. 

Buehler was 6-3 with a 4.02 ERA in 12 starts over 65 innings this season, and made his final appearance at San Francisco on June 10.  

He went 16-4 with a 2.47 ERA last season and finished fourth in voting for the NL Cy Young Award. 

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Walker Buehler will undergo season-ending elbow surgery, the team announced Monday.  

Buehler last pitched on June 10, but the Dodgers had previously hoped that the 28-year-old flamethrower could return from the injury in his right elbow, originally called a flexor strain. The procedure will be performed on August 23.  

Making 12 starts, Buehler finished the 2022 season with a 6-3 record and 4.02 ERA.  

Even with Buehler on the shelf, the Dodgers entered play Monday with an MLB-best record of 79-34. Los Angeles starters have a 2.74 ERA this season, best in the majors.  

Buehler was a workhorse and a breakout star in 2021, making his second All-Star team with a 2.47 ERA and pitching 207.2 innings over his 33 starts.  

The Los Angeles Dodgers have a roster filled with All-Stars, but they will be down a big one for the foreseeable future.

Right-hander Walker Buehler will be shut down for six to eight weeks after he was diagnosed with a flexor strain in his right arm.

An MRI revealed the strain on Saturday, and he won’t be allowed to throw for six to eight weeks. Even if Buehler can start throwing in six weeks, he would have to build up arm strength and throw bullpens and batting practice before a likely minor-league assignment.

While the team expects the two-time All-Star to pitch again this season, the earliest Buehler could return would be late August or early September, with this recent setback coinciding with Clayton Kershaw's return from the injured list.

''He's our opening day starter, so to lose him in any capacity is a blow,'' manager Dave Roberts said. ''Hopefully, we'll get him back sooner than later.''

Buehler, who had Tommy John surgery soon after being drafted in 2015, hasn’t been as effective this season, going 6-3 with a 4.02 ERA in 12 starts.

He went 16-4 with a 2.47 ERA in 33 starts last season and finished fourth in the NL Cy Young Award voting.

''When you lose one of the best pitchers in the game, it's a big blow to anybody,'' Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman said of Buehler's absence.

Buehler was forced to leave Friday night’s start at San Francisco after four innings and 70 pitches with elbow trouble. After the game, Buehler said he's dealt with occasional soreness in his elbow in recent years, and he expressed concern.

As the National League Championship Series unfolded, it became clear to the Los Angeles Dodgers that they had to find a way to stop Eddie Rosario. 

Maybe that would have happened if the series had gone seven games, but Rosario made sure it did not, hitting his third home run of the NLCS to give the Atlanta Braves a 4-2 win Saturday and secure MVP honours. 

As the Braves advance to their first World Series since 1999, they can thank a man who did not make his first start for Atlanta until August 29 but has become indispensable. 

Rosario went 14 for 25 in the series for a staggering .560 batting average, driving in nine runs and scoring six himself. 

"We just couldn't figure him out," said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. "He beat us the other way. He beat us to the pull side. He got hits off lefties, off righties. We tried to spin him. We went hard.

"We just didn't have an answer for him and when you've got that big guy [Freddie Freeman] looming behind him it's just kind of tough to pitch around him, who was clearly hot. But, yeah, we just didn't have an answer for him."

Rosario tied an MLB record for the most hits in a postseason series, but he could lay claim to owning it outright.

The four men he shares the mark with – Marco Scutaro (2012 NLCS), Kevin Youkilis (2007 ALCS), Albert Pujols (2004 NLCS) and Hideki Matsui (2004 ALCS) – all needed seven games to reach 14 hits. 

"It's just amazing how locked-in he is," Braves manager Brian Snitker said of Rosario. "It's been something else."

Atlanta acquired Rosario from the Cleveland Indians on July 30, just under three weeks after losing star outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. for the season with a knee injury, but they knew they would have to wait for the newcomer to join the lineup. 

Rosario had been out since July 5 with an abdominal strain and would not become a regular fixture in the Braves lineup until mid-September, but no one is taking him out now. 

Though the 30-year-old has postseason experience from his time with the Minnesota Twins, he has never experienced anything like the last week or so. 

"This is obviously my greatest accomplishment of my career so far, this [MVP] trophy and this award, so it's something to definitely be proud of," Rosario said. 

"It's truly a great moment, not just in my career, but in my life as well, but I want more. I want to win the World Series."

The Atlanta Braves are headed to the World Series for the first time since 1999 after their hottest hitter led them past the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2 in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series. 

Eddie Rosario's two-out, three-run homer off Walker Buehler in the fourth inning proved the difference for Atlanta, who ended the Dodgers' hopes of second successive title after Los Angeles won 106 games to Atlanta's 88 during the regular season. 

It was sweet revenge for the Braves after they blew a 3-1 series lead against the Dodgers in last year's NLCS. Los Angeles had won seven straight postseason elimination games before Saturday, four of them against the Braves. 

Austin Riley drove in the other Atlanta run with a first-inning double that scored Ozzie Albies and the Braves left the rest to their pitching staff. 

Starter Ian Anderson worked four strong innings but Atlanta manager Brian Snitker pinch-hit for him as part of the sequence that led to Rosario's game-changing homer. 

Relievers AJ Minter and Tyler Matzek did their part with two perfect innings each, striking out eight total batters around another rough outing from Luke Jackson, who allowed an A.J. Pollock RBI single in the seventh. 

Will Smith came on to close it out in the ninth before a roaring sellout crowd of 43,060 at Truist Park, where the Braves have won 10 of their last 11 games, and got Pollock to ground out to shortstop Dansby Swanson for the final out. 

Atlanta will face the American League champion Houston Astros for the title, with Game 1 set for Tuesday at Minute Maid Park. 

The Braves were swept by the New York Yankees in their last World Series appearance 22 years ago, a disappointment that came four years after the franchise won its only title in 1995. 

Walker Buehler was hailed by his team-mate Mookie Betts and manager Dave Roberts after playing a crucial role in the Los Angeles Dodgers' win over the San Francisco Giants.

The Giants had the chance to book their spot in the NL Championship Series (NLCS) on Tuesday, but they were instead blown away by the Dodgers.

Buehler, coming in off three days' rest for the first time, was at his best, giving up just one run on three hits while striking out four batters in 4.1 innings.

Betts and Will Smith both homered in a convincing 7-2 win that sets up a winner-takes-all finale at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Thursday.

"I just know when our backs are against the wall that we have a guy named Walker Buehler that ends up getting us out of it," Betts told reporters. 

"He did it again today, but we got one more game. Julio [Urias] has to bring us home."

Roberts added: "I told [Buehler] after he came out, I was like, this is something now, you've checked a box.

"You've pitched in big games, elimination games, Game 163, and all this other kind of stuff, but never pitched on short rest. And a box was checked, and you came out ahead."

Buehler himself lauded the spirit and grit the Dodgers showed to level the series at 2-2 and keep their hopes alive.

"Tonight's a great example of 26 guys coming together and figuring out a way to survive," he said.