Justin Verlander's final mound appearance comes in Tigers' comeback win

DETROIT (AP) — Justin Verlander made a teary farewell, accompanied by his 7-year-old daughter as he left a major league mound for the final time in the Detroit Tigers’ 4-3 come-from-behind win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday.

Eduardo Valencia hit a game-ending, two-run homer off Mason Montgomery (6-4) in a three-run ninth that included Kevin McGonigle’s RBI groundout.

Verlander allowed two runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings with one walk and six strikeouts in his 91-pitch outing. The 43-year-old right-hander was making his second start of the year and first since March 30 in a season derailed by a sore hip and hamstring injury.

After Brandon Lowe hit a foul popup starting the sixth, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch walked from the dugout toward the plate and pointed toward the seats. Genevieve Verlander, wearing a Tigers jersey with her dad’s name and number, sprinted to the mound and hugged her father, who reached down to embrace her and started shaking and sobbing.

Verlander finished 266-159 in 557 starts with a 3.33 ERA and 3,560 strikeouts, eighth on the career list.

Pittsburgh took a 2-0 lead on solo homers by Brandon Lowe in the fourth and Nick Gonzales.

Javier Báez hit an RBI double in the sixth, and Bryan Reynolds extended Pittsburgh’s lead to 3-1 with a run-scoring triple in the eighth.

METS 7, NATIONALS 1

WASHINGTON (AP) — A.J. Ewing hit a go-ahead, three-run homer, Ronny Mauricio went deep from both sides of the plate for his first career multi-homer game and New York defeated Washington.

New York left fielder Juan Soto left the game in the ninth inning after he was hit on the right hand by a 91.7 mph sinker from Richard Lovelady. Mets manager Andy Green said X-rays were negative.

Mets rookie Carson Benge had three hits for his 44th multihit game and 13th with three hits or more. Benge also made a sprawling, backhand catch in right field with two on in the third on Abimelec Ortiz’s sacrifice fly, a grab reminiscent of Ron Swoboda’s against Baltimore’s Brooks Robinson in Game 4 of the 1969 World Series.

Ortiz’s fly gave Washington a lead that stood until McEwing homered in the seventh on an 0-2 curveball from Jake Irvin (2-10), ending an 0-or-10 slide and putting the Mets ahead 3-1.

Mauricio connected on a fastball three pitches later for his first home run since May 1. Mets Nos. 8 and 9 hitters hit consecutive home runs for the third time this year. Mauricio added a two-run homer in the ninth.

REDS 5, BLUE JAYS 1

TORONTO (AP) — JJ Bleday hit a solo home run, Héctor Rodríguez added a two-run triple and Cincinnati beat Toronto/

Rhett Lowder (7-12) allowed three hits in six scoreless innings to win for the first time since August 28, stopping a four-start losing streak.

Cincinnati improved to 29-18 against AL opponents. The Reds were 46-68 vs. the NL.

Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts and was booed by some in the sellout crowd of 42,482. Guerrero, who has slumped this season while playing with injuries, apologized Friday for comments that this $500 million, 14-year contract was for past accomplishments.

Blue Jays right-hander Trey Yesavage (5-6) allowed one run and two hits in two innings. The 23-year-old rookie right-hander returned last Monday after missing 42 games because of left knee surgery and finished with a 3.69 ERA in 20 starts, striking out 97 in 97 2/3 innings.

Bleday led off the second inning with his 24th home run, a 413-foot drive to center.

DODGERS 4, GIANTS 3

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Kiké Hernández hit a tiebreaking home run leading off the ninth inning, Mookie Betts also homered and Los Angeles beat San Francisco.

Bo Davidson hit a tying sacrifice fly off Evan Phillips (3-2) with two outs in the eighth for San Francisco before Hernández answered against Trent Harris (0-1) for his fourth homer.

Tanner Scott closed out a second straight game, earning his 25th save.

Betts homered with two outs in the third inning for his team’s first hit before Miguel Rojas and Tommy Edman added RBI singles the next two innings.

Betts’ blast to the bleachers in left-center sent the large contingent of Dodgers fans in the sellout crowd of 40,124 at Oracle Park into a frenzy on a beautiful sunny afternoon in the Bay Area.

The Giants lost their fourth straight, seventh of eight and seventh in a row to the rival Dodgers after taking four of five in the series to start the year.

RANGERS 6, TWINS 2

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Danny Jansen homered and drove in two runs as Texas pushed the AL West race to the final day of the regular season with a rain-delayed victory over Minnesota.

Jake Burger also went deep for the Rangers (80-81), who moved a half-game ahead of Houston atop the division standings — with the Astros scheduled to play later at the Athletics. Houston holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Texas, so the AL West champion won’t be decided until Sunday.

Following a 10-2 loss Friday, the Rangers scored four runs with two outs in the second inning and never looked back. After the first two batters struck out, Nicky Lopez hit a two-out double off Twins starter Bailey Ober (7-7). Jansen’s blooper dropped in for an RBI single, and a throwing error allowed Jansen to reach second. Evan Carter, Alejandro Osuna and Brandon Nimmo all followed with RBI doubles to put Texas ahead 4-1.

Jansen added a leadoff homer in the fourth, and Burger hit his team-leading 28th homer in the fifth.

BRAVES 8, MARLINS 3

MIAMI (AP) — Michael Harris II had two doubles and a pair of singles, leading Atlanta to a win that assured Miami of their third straight losing season and 15th in 17 years.

Drake Baldwin homered and had two singles while Dominic Smith also went deep for the NL East champions. Atlanta (94-67) will host a Wild Card Series starting Tuesday.

Harris has 11 career four-hit games and 20 doubles since the All-Star break, raising his season total to 36.

Otto Lopez had two hits for the Marlins (79-82), increasing his major league-leading total to 191.

Braves star outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. made a leaping catch at the right-field wall to rob Heriberto Hernández of a homer in the first.

Victor Mederos (6-1) pitched two scoreless innings of relief.

GUARDIANS 11, ROYALS 5

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Once again, the Cleveland Guardians are division champs.

Patrick Bailey and Brayan Rocchio each hit two of Cleveland’s five home runs as the Guardians beat Kansas City to clinch their third straight AL Central title.

Cleveland’s victory coupled with Chicago’s 9-6 loss to Colorado gave the Guardians (85-76) a two-game lead over the second-place White Sox (83-78) with one game remaining in the regular season.

José Ramírez and the Guardians are assured the No. 2 seed in the American League playoffs and a first-round bye into a best-of-five Division Series. They will have five days off and then home-field advantage against the winner of a best-of-three Wild Card Series between the No. 6 seed White Sox and either Houston or Texas — whichever one wins the AL West on Sunday.

It is Cleveland’s seventh division crown in the past 11 seasons.

ROCKIES 9, WHITE SOX 6

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago White Sox had their hopes of winning the AL Central dashed when Hunter Goodman hit his 40th and 41st homers to lift Colorado in a win.

The White Sox needed to beat the Rockies to stay alive in the division race after the Cleveland Guardians won 11-5 at Kansas City on Saturday to take a two-game lead on the season’s penultimate day.

Chicago will be the final AL wild card and will play on the road against the AL West winner in a three-game Wild Card Series beginning Tuesday. The race between the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros for the West crown will come down to the season’s last day.

Chicago is the first team to earn a playoff berth after consecutive 100-loss seasons.

The Rockies won for just the fourth time in 21 games. They improved to a major league-worst 58-103 after losing a club-record 119 last season.

The White Sox led or were tied for first in the AL Central from July 4 until Sept. 16.

BREWERS 3. CARDINALS 2

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Brice Turang hit a go-ahead two-run homer and Milwaukee beat St. Louis for their major league-leading 102nd win.

It was Milwaukee’s first game with Christian Yelich as captain. The club named him the franchise’s first captain during a team meeting before the game. Yelich was 0 for 2 in the game after entering as a pinch-hitter.

Turang connected off Quinn Mathews (2-4) in the fifth inning for his 21st home run and 99th RBIs this season. Turang had a tiebreaking two-run single in the eighth inning of an 8-4 win Friday night.

Alec Burleson had a solo homer while St. Louis built a 2-0 lead, giving the Cardinals first baseman a major league-best 116 RBIs.

Kyle Harrison (11-5) pitched two scoreless innings with four strikeouts. Aaron Ashby pitched two scoreless innings for his fourth save in seven tries.

RAYS 12, PHILLIES 1

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Aaron Nola was hit hard on two days’ rest and the Phillies bullpen unraveled in a loss to Tampa Bay, forcing Philadelphia to try and salvage a final-week collapse and play for an NL wild-card berth on the last day of the season.

Philadelphia had a 6 1/2-game lead over Arizona for the third NL wild card on Sept. 1 before going into a tailspin that now includes four straight losses. The Diamondbacks played at San Diego on Saturday night and entered the game one game back of the Phillies for the final wild card.

The Diamondbacks hold the tiebreaker over the Phillies.

The Phillies are 9-14 in September. Their magic number remained at two headed into Saturday.

Philadelphia will turn to Zack Wheeler on Sunday to try and finally clinch its fifth straight playoff berth and avoid the franchise’s worst collapse since 1964.

PADRES 10, DIAMONDBACKS 7

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Manny Machado hit a three-run homer and San Diego beat Arizona to secure the No. 4 seed in the National League playoffs.

San Diego will host every game in a best-of-three Wild Card Series against the fifth-seeded Chicago Cubs beginning Tuesday. The winner will face the NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers in a best-of-five Division Series.

The Cubs eliminated the Padres 2-1 in the wild-card round at Chicago last season.

Xander Bogaerts also went deep for the Padres (90-71), who clinched their club-record third straight 90-win season and seventh in team history. They earned their franchise-best third consecutive postseason berth with a 4-2 win Thursday night at the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Diamondbacks had their six-game winning streak snapped but remain alive for the NL’s third wild-card spot. They are one game behind Philadelphia going into Sunday’s season finales and hold the tiebreaker. The Phillies lost their fourth straight game, 12-1 to AL East champion Tampa Bay.

ASTROS 13, ATHLETICS 2

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Yordan Alvarez launched a three-run homer and Houston went deep five times as they moved closer to a division title with a victory over the Athletics.

Houston (80-81) can clinch the AL West crown and the No. 3 seed in the American League playoffs with another win Sunday over the A’s in their regular-season finale or a Texas Rangers loss at Minnesota. Either team will become the first to win a division with a .500 record or worse, excluding shortened seasons.

Alvarez homered in the fifth inning to put the Astros up 6-1. His 42nd homer of the season tied him with Tampa Bay slugger Junior Caminero for second in the AL.

Houston finished with 16 hits as Jeremy Peña, Isaac Paredes and Jose Altuve combined for nine of them and seven RBIs.

Peña hit a pair of two-run homers, one in the third and the other in the eighth. He finished 4 for 6 with four RBIs. Parades homered in the first to open the scoring and went 3 for 5.

The Astros scored six runs, including Lucas Spence’s solo homer, between the seventh and ninth to expand their lead to 13-2.

MARINERS 8, ANGELS 4

SEATTLE (AP) — Taylor Ward put Seattle ahead with a pinch-hit two-run single in the seventh inning, J.P Crawford followed with two-run homer and the Mariners beat Los Angeles Angels.

Ward, who has struggled since joining the Mariners from Baltimore at the trade deadline, drove in Cole Young and Michael Arroyo with his hit off Angels lefty Mitch Farris (1-4).

Crawford hit Farris’ next pitch into the right field stands.

The Angels tied the game with four runs in the sixth. Bryce Teodosio drove in two a single off reliever Jose Ferrer, Wade Meckler scored from third on a sacrifice bunt from Tyler Heineman and Jose Siri tied it on a groundout to third base that scored Teodosio.

In the ninth inning, Josh Naylor reached on a walk and stole second base, becoming the first first baseman since George Sisler in 1920-1922 to have consecutive 30-steal seasons.

Gabe Speier pitched a scoreless ninth inning for the Mariners. Carlos Vargas (3-0) got the win.

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