Major league roundup
Unchallenged for months, the Cleveland Indians clinched their third straight AL Central title Saturday with a 15-0 blowout of the Detroit Tigers, who made four errors and managed only two hits.
Francisco Lindor and Michael Brantley connected for back-to-back homers in the first inning off Michael Fulmer (3-12), Jose Ramirez had three hits and the Indians built an 11-0 lead after two on the way to becoming the first team to clinch a division championship.
It’s the initial step toward an October when Cleveland will try to win its first World Series since 1948 – the longest drought in the majors. After so many close calls, the Indians believe this is their year.
Cleveland’s current three-year reign in the Central is the club’s longest since winning five straight from 1995-99. The Indians became the first team this year to clinch a division and the second assured of the postseason after Boston, which will be no worse than a wild card.
Toronto 8, N.Y. Yankees 7: CC Sabathia got clocked early and the New York Yankees, despite hitting four home runs during a furious rally, kept wobbling toward a playoff spot with an 8-7 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.
Didi Gregorius hit a solo homer with the Yankees down 5-0 in the sixth inning. It was 8-1 in the seventh before Gregorius and Giancarlo Stanton homered and Miguel Andujar launched a grand slam.
National League
L.A. Dodgers 17, St. Louis 4: Yasiel Puig homered three times and had a career-high seven RBIs, giving him five homers in two games, and the Los Angeles Dodgers routed St. Louis 17-4 to move ahead of the Cardinals into sole possession of the second National League wild card.
Puig hit a solo homer in the fourth off John Gant (7-6) and three-run drives in the fifth against Mike Mayers and in the seventh versus Luke Weaver. Puig raised his season total to 21 homers with the first three-homer game of his major league career. He became the fourth Dodgers hitter since 2000 with consecutive multihomer games after Cody Bellinger, Adrian Beltre, and Shawn Green.
Bellinger hit a three-run homer in the ninth off Luke Weaver and had a career-high six RBIs. The defending NL champions have won four consecutive games and nine of their last 14.
Rich Hill (9-5) allowed four runs, two hits and four walks in five innings, improving to 3-1 in seven starts against the Cardinals.
Washington 7, Atlanta 1: Washington 19-year-old rookie Juan Soto become the youngest player to steal three bases in a game, had an RBI single and scored the tiebreaking run, helping the Nationals stop the Atlanta Braves’ season-best, six-game winning streak with a 7-1 victory.
Soto hit an RBI single in the first inning and stole second, then walked in the fourth, stole two bases and came home on a bases-loaded walk for a 2-1 lead. He surpassed the mark set by Oakland’s Rickey Henderson at 20 years, 241 days on Aug. 23, 1979, against Cleveland.
Soto also extended his on-base streak to 20 consecutive games, one night after joining Hall of Famers Mel Ott, Mickey Mantle and Al Kaline as the only teenagers to reach safely in 19 straight.
Chicago Cubs 1, Cincinnati 0: Jon Lester allowed two hits over seven innings with a season-high nine strikeouts, Willson Contreras hit a run-scoring single in the sixth inning and the Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 1-0 to maintain their NL Central lead.
Interleague
Boston 5, N.Y. Mets 4: Pinch-hitter Brock Holt drove a tiebreaking double off the Green Monster on the first pitch after Jackie Bradley Jr. hit one off the very top of the left-field wall, helping the Boston Red Sox beat the New York Mets 5-3 to lower their magic number to five.