NATIONAL LEAGUE
BREWERS 5, CUBS 4
CHICAGO -- Scooter Gennett hit a tiebreaking, two-run double in the seventh inning, and the Milwaukee Brewers spoiled the Chicago Cubs' first opportunity to clinch the NL Central title with a 5-4 victory Thursday night.
Chicago (93-53) was hoping to begin a 10-game homestand with a boozy celebration of its first division title since 2008. Despite their loss, the Cubs clinched the title when St. Louis lost later Thursday night at San Francisco.
Jorge Soler hit a two-run home run for the Cubs, who had won three of four. Mike Montgomery pitched six solid innings and helped himself with a tying single in the fourth for his first career hit.
Justin Grimm (1-1) replaced Montgomery in the seventh and the Brewers put runners on first and third with one out. Gennett, batting for Jimmy Nelson (8-14), blooped an 0-2 pitch into the corner in left for a 5-3 Milwaukee lead.
The Cubs got one back on Jason Heyward's RBI double in the eighth, but Tyler Thornburg threw a called third strike past pinch-hitter Willson Contreras with runners at the corners to end the inning.
Thornburg also worked the ninth for his 10th save in 15 chances.
Nelson won for only the second time in his last 11 starts as Milwaukee (66-81) improved to 4-4 on an 11-game trip. The right-hander allowed 8 hits, struck out 7 and walked 2.
After running roughshod over the rest of their opponents for most of the season, Anthony Rizzo and Co. are trying to end the franchise's famous championship drought, going all the way back to when the Cubs beat the Tigers in the 1908 World Series.
"We've got a lot ahead of us. We really do," president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said before the loss. "It kind of all boils down to how you perform in October."
GIANTS 6, CARDINALS 2 Fist-pumping Johnny Cueto pitched a five-hitter and retired his final 17 batters, and host San Francisco gained ground in the playoff race with a victory over St. Louis. The Cardinals' loss clinched the NL Central title for the Chicago Cubs.
PIRATES 15, PHILLIES 2 Andrew McCutchen hit two solo home runs, Chad Kuhl pitched six effective innings and Pittsburgh beat Philadelphia. Jordy Mercer hit a three-run home run and John Jaso and Sean Rodriguez also went deep to help the Pirates split a four-game series. Kuhl (4-3) allowed 2 runs and 4 hits, striking out 5.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
RED SOX 7, YANKEES 5 Hanley Ramirez hit a three-run home run with two outs in the ninth inning to finish off a five-run rally as host Boston came back to beat New York and open a two-game lead in the AL East. New York took a four-run lead after three innings and still led 5-1 when David Ortiz hit a solo home run in the eighth, the 537th of his career, passing Yankees Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle for 17th on baseball's all-time list.
ATHLETICS 14, ROYALS 5 Stephen Vogt drove in five runs, Ryon Healy hit a mammoth three-run home run and visiting Oakland routed Kansas City. The A's continued to wreak havoc on the Royals' diminishing playoff chances, sweeping a four-game road series at Kansas City for the first time in their history.
TWINS 5, TIGERS 1 Brian Dozier's two-run single highlighted a four-run second inning and visiting Minnesota handed Detroit a crucial loss. The Tigers were only able to split four games with the lowly Twins, hurting them in the crowded AL wild-card race. Hector Santiago (12-8) got the victory, holding the Tigers to 1 run on 6 hits in 5 2/3 innings.
WHITE SOX 2, INDIANS 1 Jose Abreu continued his torrid streak with a home run and single and Carlos Sanchez drove in the winning run in the ninth inning in host Chicago's victory over Cleveland. The White Sox took three of four games in the series to conclude a 6-4 homestead against three playoff hopefuls. The first-place Indians remained six games ahead of the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central.
RAYS 7, ORIOLES 6 Evan Longoria homered and drove in five runs, and visiting Tampa Bay again played the spoiler's role in a victory over Baltimore. The loss stalled the Orioles' bid to enhance their position in the playoff picture. Longoria hit his career high-tying 33rd home run with two on in the first inning and added a two-run single in the fourth to increase his team-high RBI total to 91.
Sports on 09/16/2016