The New York Yankees won the AL East title for a first-round bye in the playoffs, rolling to a 10-1 rout of the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday night behind Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Gerrit Cole.
Judge hit his major league-leading 58th homer, going deep for the fifth straight game and increasing his RBIs total to 144, the most in the big leagues since Ryan Howard’s 146 in 2008. Stanton hit his 27th homer and had four RBIs, and Cole pitched 6 2/3 innings of two-hit ball.
Judge and Stanton homered in the same game for the 14th time this year, tying Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris in 1961 for the most in Yankees history.
When Cedric Mullins hit a game-ending groundout to shortstop Anthony Volpe, the Yankees came out of the dugout and formed a brief jumping huddle between the mound and second base.
New York improved to 93-66 and will open its 59th postseason at home Oct. 5 in a best-of-five Division Series against a winner of next week’s wild-card round. The Yankees will have five days off following Sunday’s regular-season finale.
Orioles ace Corbin Burnes allowed two hits in five innings with one walk and nine strikeouts. He came out after 69 pitches and is likely to start Baltimore’s postseason opener on Tuesday. Burnes had a 1.20 ERA in five September starts.
The Orioles, who failed to sweep the three-game series, hold a three-game lead in the race for the top wild card.
Trying to hold off AL Central champion Cleveland for home-field advantage throughout the AL playoffs, the Yankees have a one-game lead and hold the tiebreaker over the Guardians.
Dodgers rally past Padres to secure NL West
Will Smith hit a tying, two-run homer and the Los Angeles Dodgers scored three more runs in the seventh to beat the San Diego Padres 7-2 and clinch the NL West title.
The rally was dampened by an apparent injury to All-Star slugger Freddie Freeman, who left the game after awkwardly colliding with Luis Arráez and the first base bag trying to avoid being tagged for the second out of the inning. Freeman grabbed at his lower right leg before hobbling off the field.
The Dodgers (95-64) had not clinched at home since the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, when cardboard cutouts replaced fans. The last time fans were on hand for a clincher at home was 2018.
A sellout crowd of 52,433 packed Dodger Stadium for the finale of the crucial series between the top two teams in the NL West. Both teams had already clinched postseason berths.
The Padres led 2-0 as Joe Musgrove pitched six shutout innings.
But the Dodgers got to him in the seventh. Musgrove gave up a leadoff walk to Max Muncy. Smith followed with a 426-foot blast to center, tying the game at 2-2. It was the Dodgers’ first home run of the three-game series.
Pinch-hitter Kiké Hernández singled and took second when Andy Pages reached on catcher’s interference by Kyle Higashioka. Shohei Ohtani singled and Hernández scored on an error, while Ohtani was safe at second on Fernando Tatis Jr.’s throwing error.
Pages and Ohtani scored on Mookie Betts’ single, making it 5-2, and Pages added a two-run, two-strike, two-out homer in the eighth.
Athletics win final game in Oakland
JJ Bleday hit an RBI single and made a highlight-reel catch in center field, Shea Langeliers had a sacrifice fly, and the Oakland Athletics went out winning in their final scheduled game at the Coliseum by beating the Texas Rangers 3-2 on Thursday.
¶Bleday and Zack Gelof delivered defensive gems to delight a sellout crowd of 46,889 under a cloudless blue September sky. Fans alternated chants of “Sell the team!” and “Let’s go Oakland!” amid the mixed emotions and nostalgia at the Coliseum, where the A’s have played since 1968 and enjoyed so many memorable moments.
The ninth inning featured two fans jumping the fences to run onto the grass, bottles being thrown into center field and smoke bombs set off and tossed into right. Toilet paper and other debris also came down before manager Mark Kotsay took the microphone after the game with a heartfelt thank you to the fans and one last round of “Let’s go Oakland!”
The A’s plan to play the next three years in Sacramento with hopes of opening a new ballpark in Las Vegas ahead of the 2028 season.
Green “SELL” banners hung from the outfield railings as fans were treated to a trip down memory lane. Former left-hander Barry Zito sang the national anthem to huge applause, while Rickey Henderson and Dave Stewart tossed out ceremonial first pitches.
The current A’s entertained, too.
Bleday made a diving catch on his right side to rob Carson Kelly of a hit on his line drive in the seventh. And the hometown fans got one more chance to see flame-throwing closer Mason Miller on the mound.
A’s starter J.T. Ginn left to a loud standing ovation after allowing two runs on five hits over 5 1/3 innings, and the pitcher then applauded right back by clapping his glove.
Oakland’s bullpen followed him with 3 2/3 scoreless innings, with Miller recording the final four outs for his 28th save, which leads all major league rookies. He has converted his last 16 opportunities dating to June 18.
