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Red Sox win 3rd straight title
MLB

NEW YORK (AP) — Mookie Betts and the Boston Red Sox won their third consecutive AL East championship Thursday night, clinching on enemy turf with an 11-6 victory over the rival New York Yankees.

Betts homered, doubled twice and drove in five runs, finishing with four hits as the Red Sox overcame Giancarlo Stanton’s go-ahead grand slam in the fourth inning. Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a tying home run in the seventh and Xander Bogaerts put Boston ahead with a sacrifice fly.

With the best record in baseball and a playoff berth already secured, Boston (104-49) closed out a once-tight division race with nine games to spare. J.D. Martinez and the Red Sox, alone in first place since July 2, will open the postseason at home on Oct. 5 against an opponent to be determined.

BRAVES 8, PHILLIES 3

ATLANTA (AP) — Luca Duda’s pinch-hit double drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh, and Atlantatook an important step toward winning the NL East by beating Philadelphia.

Atlanta leads the second-place Phillies by 6 1/2 games following the opening game of the four-game series. The teams close the season with three games at Philadelphia, but the Phillies need to win at least three of four in Atlanta to retain hope of making the final series meaningful. The Braves have a magic number of four over Philadelphia to clinch their first division title since 2013.

BLUE JAYS 9, RAYS 8

TORONTO (AP) — Justin Smoak homered with two outs in the ninth inning to lift Toronto past Tampa Bay, dealing a blow to the Rays’ wild-card playoff hopes.

Smoak hit his 25th homer of the season and third career walk-off blast. Sergio Romo (3-4) blew his eighth save in 30 opportunities. David Paulino (1-0) pitched an inning for the victory as Toronto won for the fourth time in its past five.

Trailing 8-2 to begin the ninth, the Blue Jays roared back to snap Tampa Bay’s five-game winning streak. Tellez hit an RBI double and Danny Jansen chased Jamie Schultz with a three-run homer. Romo came on and struck out Richard Urena, but pinch hitter Kendrys Morales singled and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. tied it with a two-run homer to left. Smoak followed with a first pitch drive to right.

WHITE SOX 5,

INDIANS 4, 11 INNINGS

CLEVELAND (AP) — Matt Davidson hit a run-scoring single with two out in the 11th inning to lift Chicago past Cleveland for the White Sox’s first victory at Progressive Field this season.

The White Sox were outscored 58-19 in dropping their first eight games in Cleveland, including a 4-1 loss Wednesday when Jason Kipnis hit a grand slam in the ninth.

Yolmer Sanchez doubled off Adam Cimber (0-3) to start the 11th and moved to third on a groundout. After Avisail Garcia was intentionally walked, Ryan Cordell struck out before Davidson singled to right.

TIGERS 11, ROYALS 8

DETROIT (AP) — Christin Stewart hit his first two big league homers and drove in six runs, leading Detroit past Kansas City.

Stewart, a September call-up playing in his 11th game, became the first Tigers rookie to drive in six runs in a game since Ryan Raburn had seven against the White Sox on July 25, 2007.

Six Tigers had at least two hits and Detroit snapped a seven-game home losing streak. Kansas City has lost five in a row. Zac Reininger (1-0), the second of seven Detroit pitchers, picked up his first major league victory. Nicholas Castellanos also homered for Detroit.

METS 5, NATIONALS 4, 12 INNINGS

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jose Lobaton hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly against his former team in the 12th inning and New Yorks beat Washington.

Lobaton, who spent the previous four years in Washington before signing with the Mets in December, lofted a one-out fly ball off Jefry Rodriguez (3-3) with the bases loaded to score Amed Rosario.

Jacob Rhame (1-2) worked two scoreless innings, and Paul Sewald pitched the 12th for his second save.

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper was ejected in the 12th for arguing home plate umpire D.J. Reyburn’s called third strike.

REDS 4, MARLINS 2

MIAMI (AP) — Cody Reed won for the first time as a starter in the majors, and Scooter Gennett homered and doubled to lead Cincinnati past Miami.

Reed (1-2) allowed five hits and struck out six in six shutout innings. The left-hander joined the starting rotation Aug. 30 and has thrown 11 consecutive scoreless innings.

Gennett’s two-run home run in the seventh gave Cincinnati a 4-0 lead.

Jeff Brigham (0-3) was the loser.