DENVER (AP) — Shohei Ohtani went 1 for 4 and fell short in his bid to become the National League’s first Triple Crown winner since 1937, stealing his 59th base to help the Los Angeles Dodgers rally past the Colorado Rockies 2-1 on Sunday in Charlie Blackmon’s final game.
Ohtani finished the regular season leading the NL in homers (54) and RBIs (130). His .310 average trailed San Diego’s Luis Arráez (.314) in the batting race.
The charter member of the 50-50 club, Ohtani swiped his 59th base during the eighth-inning rally.
The last NL Triple Crown winner was St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Joe Medwick in 1937. In the AL, Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera won the Triple Crown in 2012.
Chris Taylor tied the game in the eighth with his first homer since July 7. Soon after Austin Barnes swiped third as part of a double steal with Ohtani. Rockies reliever Seth Halvorsen appeared to get his cleat caught in the dirt in his delivery and stopped. He was called for a balk to bring home Barnes.
Evan Phillips (5-1) earned the win and Edgardo Henriquez closed out the ninth for his first career save, among 14 Dodgers with saves this season.
RED SOX 3, RAYS 1
BOSTON (AP) — Vaughn Grissom had an RBI double and scored a run to help Boston beat Tampa Bay in the teams’ season finales, earning the Red Sox third place ahead of the Rays in the AL East.
The Red Sox finished the season with a record of 81-81, missing the playoffs for the third straight year for the first time since 2010-12. Boston was 78-84 in each of the past two seasons.
The Rays ended the year at 80-82, halting a stretch of five consecutive seasons going to the postseason. They went 99-63 in 2023.
Making his 26th start, Rays 27-year-old righty Ryan Pepiot (8-8) gave up two runs, one earned, in four innings. It was his 13th straight start allowing three or fewer runs.
Grissom doubled in the third and scored from third on Triston Casas’ grounder to first, sliding in to make it 2-0.
CARDINALS 6, GIANTS 1
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Brendan Donovan hit a solo homer in the third and followed it up with an RBI single two innings later and Alec Burleson drove in three runs, leading St. Louis past San Francisco.
José Fermín hit an RBI single in the sixth as the Cardinals backed rookie righty Michael McGreevy (3-0), who stuck out six with no walks while allowing one run on five hits over eight impressive innings.
Giants rookie right-hander Hayden Birdsong (5-6) struck out 10 of the initial 15 Cardinals hitters and finished with 11 Ks in his 16th start for San Francisco — one off his career high. It marked Birdsong’s second career double-digit strikeout game after fanning 12 at Colorado on July 21.
He gave way to Taylor Rogers after back-to-back RBI singles by Donovan and Burleson in the fifth. Burleson also had a two-run single in the sixth.
RANGERS 8, ANGELS 0
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Nathan Eovaldi pitched seven scoreless innings, Dustin Harris had a homer and two-run double in his second MLB game and the defending champion Texas closed out their season with a victory over Los Angeles.
Nathaniel Lowe also homered and Josh Smith drove in two runs for the Rangers, who were eliminated from postseason contention Sept. 20. Texas finished the season with its first sweep of a three-game series since late August, against the Chicago White Sox.
The Rangers finished 78-84, one season after going 90-72 and charging through the postseason on the way to their first World Series title in franchise history.
Angels rookie starter Jack Kochanowicz (2-6) gave up three runs on six hits over seven innings in the 11th start of his career after making his big league debut July 11. The Angels finished with the most losses in franchise history at 63-99 after going 73-89 last season.
ORIOLES 6, TWINS 2
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — James McCann hit a three-homer and Heston Kjerstad went deep to launch Baltimore into the postseason with a victory over the Minnesota that completed a three-game sweep.
Albert Suárez (9-7) pitched six smooth innings to end a rough September on a better note, allowing solo home runs to Carlos Santana and DaShawn Keirsey Jr. among four hits with one walk and four strikeouts.
Jordan Westburg added a two-run single for the Orioles, who finished 91-71 for the first of three American League wild-card spots and will face either Detroit or Kansas City in the first round of the playoffs.
MARINERS 6, ATHLETICS 4
SEATTLE (AP) — Logan Gilbert took a perfect game into the sixth inning to cap the best season of his career and Cal Raleigh hit a record-setting two-run homer as Seattle beat Oakland.
That was it for Gilbert, who struck out seven and finished the season with 208 2/3 innings pitched, becoming the first Seattle pitcher to lead baseball in innings for a season. Gilbert (9-12) finished with 220 strikeouts and lowered his ERA to 3.23.
The homer also gave Raleigh 100 RBIs, the first catcher in franchise history to reach that mark.
Raleigh’s two-run homer to cap Seattle’s four-run fifth inning came on the final pitch from A’s starter Mitch Spence (8-10). Raleigh’s homer was the 93rd in his career, passing Mike Piazza for the most home runs by a catcher in their first four seasons.
MARLINS 3, BLUE JAYS 1
TORONTO (AP) — Jonah Bride reached base three times and drove in two runs, Otto Lopez had two hits and an RBI against his former team and Miami completed a three-game sweep of Toronto.
Ryan Weathers (5-6) allowed one run and three hits in 6 1/3 innings to win his second straight start. Weathers walked two and struck out six. He retired 16 straight batters between the second and seventh innings.
Anthony Bender got the final four outs for his first save in five chances as Miami swept a series for the second time.
PHILLIES 6, NATIONALS 3
WASHINGTON (AP) — Kyle Schwarber and Weston Wilson each drove in two runs, Aaron Nola earned his 14th victory and the NL East champion Philadelphia avoided a series sweep and closed out the regular season with a win over Washington.
Philadelphia finished 95-67, the second-best record in the National League behind the Los Angeles Dodgers (98-64), and were five games better than last season. The Phillies’ victory total was the team’s highest since winning 102 games in 2011 --- the last time they won the division.
Luis García Jr. homered in the first inning for Washington, which went 71-91 for the second straight season.
Nola (14-8) allowed three runs in five-plus innings and struck out seven. A day after teammate Zack Wheeler ended his regular season with 200 innings pitched, Nola came within two outs of matching the feat. The 31-yeare-old right-hander was lifted after giving up a leadoff triple to Dylan Crews in the sixth.
WHITE SOX 9, TIGERS 5
DETROIT (AP) — Lenyn Sosa hit a three-run homer in the third inning to give Chicago a five-run lead as they went on to beat the playoff-bound Detroit.
Kerry Carpenter’s grand slam in the fifth inning pulled Detroit within a run, but it couldn’t get closer. Bryan Ramos’ two-run single in a four-run seventh inning restored Chicago’s comfortable cushion.
Detroit earned an American League wild card with a win over the White Sox on Friday night to end a decade-long playoff drought and will play at Houston on Tuesday.
The Tigers finished 86-76, an eight-game improvement over last year, for their first winning season since 2016.
The White Sox wrapped up with 121 losses, breaking the post-1900 record of most losses held for more than a half-century by the 1962 New York Mets.
METS 5, BREWERS 0
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Francisco Lindor homered and drove in two runs, David Peterson pitched seven brilliant innings and New York moved within one win of a playoff berth with a victory over Milwaukee.
Francisco Alvarez also had two RBIs for the Mets, who now head to Atlanta needing at least a doubleheader split Monday against the rivals Braves to secure a National League wild card.
New York (88-72) could have clinched a postseason spot with a win and an Arizona loss, but the Diamondbacks (89-73) routed San Diego at home to complete their regular season.
DIAMONDBACKS 11, PADRES 2
PHOENIX (AP) — Ketel Marte’s two-run homer capped a six-run fourth inning and Arizona stayed alive in the National League wild card race with a rout of the playoff-bound San Diego in their regular-season finale.
Arizona finished 89-73 and won’t know if it reaches the postseason until a makeup doubleheader Monday between the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves, who are both 88-72. If either team sweeps, the Diamondbacks reach the playoffs but if the doubleheader is split, the Mets and Braves advance and Arizona is out.
Luis Arraez of the Padres doubled in the sixth inning to finish 1 for 3 and move to the verge of his third consecutive batting title at .314. He would be the first since 1900 to win three batting titles with three different teams.
Brandon Pfaadt (11-10) allowed two runs and three hits in 5 1/3 innings with nine strikeouts for the Diamondbacks, who had lost five of six.
YANKEES 6, PIRATES 4
NEW YORK (AP) — Alex Verdugo hit a go-ahead two-run single with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth inning and New York ended the regular season with a victory over Pittsburgh.
Struggling for most of the second half, Verdugo snapped a 4-4 tie by hitting a fastball from Carmen Mlodzinski into right field to score Austin Wells and Jasson Domínguez. Wells was hit by a pitch from Colin Holderman (3-6) and Domínguez walked.
Following a walk by Jon Berti, Verdugo delivered his fourth hit in 24 at-bats with the bases loaded. Acquired from Boston in December, Verdugo batted .233 in his first season with the Yankees.
Luke Weaver (7-3) stranded a runner in the eighth and Clay Holmes struck out O’Neil Cruz on a sweeper for his 30th save in 43 chances. It was Holmes’ first save since Aug. 30 against St. Louis.
REDS 3, CUBS 0
CHICAGO (AP) — Elly De La Cruz hit two-run double in the 10th inning to break a scoreless tie and Cincinnati ended their season with a shutout of Chicago.
De La Cruz tagged Ethan Roberts (1-1) for the go-ahead hit down the right field line on an 0-2 count after Luke Maile singled and Jonathan India walked. Tyler Stephenson came up next and drove in De La Cruz with a single to center to help the Reds end a five-game skid.
Tony Santillan (3-3) got the win and Buck Farmer worked the bottom of the 10th for his first save.
The Cubs, seeking a sweep of the Reds, managed just three hits as Cody Bellinger and Dansby Swanson got the day off.
Caleb Kilian made his first start of the season for the Cubs and allowed three hits and two walks with four strikeouts in five innings. Hunter Greene worked the first four for Cincinnati and gave up a hit with three walks and three strikeouts.
ROYALS 4, BRAVES 2
ATLANTA (AP) — Charlie Morton gave up a three-run homer to Michael Massey in the first inning and Atlanta squandered a chance to clinch a postseason berth, losing to the playoff-bound Kansas City in what was supposed to be the final day of the regular season.
Before recording an out, Morton gave up a leadoff double to Tommy Pham, a single to Bobby Witt Jr. and Massey’s homer.
Morton (8-10) surrendered four runs on five hits with two walks and three strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings.
Atlanta had ample opportunity to score more than two runs but went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position.
The Associated Press
