San Francisco Giants win Game 4 now back into the World Series

SAN FRANCISCO – With a better offense the Giants were able to get back at the 2014 World Series with their 11-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals in Saturday night's Game 4.

The San Francisco Giants were able to tie it in the 5th, then went up on Pablo Sandoval's 2-out, 2-run hit in the 6th before blowing it open. K.C. got all four of its runs in the third, chasing Ryan Vogelsong, but Giants  relievers put the clamps on with 6 1/3 scoreless.

Giants had 16 hits and scored 10 unanswered runs to square the best-of-seven Series at two games apiece. The Giants got 10 hits from their first 5 in the batting order, also all of their No. 9 hitters got to base safely.

Yusmeiro Petit got into the game in the 4th inning and worked three shutout innings to earn the decision. Petit extended his postseason total of scoreless innings to 12, that span 3 appearances.

Red Sox win Against Cardinals Capture World Series Title

The Red Sox won a championship in front of a huge home crowd for the first time since 1918! John Lackey helped the Boston Red Sox beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-1 in Game 6 of the World Series on Wednesday night at Fenway Park.

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
STL	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	9	1
BOS	0	0	3	3	0	0	0	0	X	6	8	1

Pitching Details

• 
  Win
  John Lackey
  1-1
 
• 
  Loss
  Michael Wacha
  1-1

Congrats Boston!

Red Sox Takes Game 1 rout Cardinals

The Boston Red Sox routed St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series opener 8-1. Mike Napoli hit a three-run double right in the first inning, Jon Lester made sure no runs while striking out eight in 7 2/3 innings.

"He's been doing it all year," said Mike Napoli. "He's a big time pitcher. We have all the confidence in the world when he's out there throwing the baseball."

David Ortiz was not able to hit a grand slam because of Carlos Beltran,  he catch the ball but it sent him straight to hospital with bruised ribs. Beltran is day to day after X-rays were negative. Big Papi later hit a two-run homer following third baseman David Freese's bad throw.

Game 2 will be played Thursday night, rookie sensation Michael Wacha 22 will be starting for St. Louis against John Lackey. Wacha is 3-0 with a 0.43 ERA this postseason.

Vogt's single in ninth helps Oakland Athletics' win over Detroit Tigers

OAKLAND --  Oakland Athletics' Stephen Vogt hit a bases-loaded single in the ninth inning after rookie Sonny Gray matched zeros with Justin Verlander in a sensational playoff debut, that helped Oakland win over the Tigers 1-0 on Saturday night. The AL division series is now tied with one game apiece.

This was Vogt's first career game winning hit that came after he lost a 10-pitch battle with Verlander in the seventh for his third strikeout of the night.

Grant Balfour pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for the win, but it was Gray and Vogt who took the win and gets a pie-in-the-face. 

Game 3 is Monday afternoon in Detroit.

Yankees down Giants 5-1 as A-Rod sets record

NEW YORK (AP) — Alex Rodriguez sets a record-breaking grand slam which is big for the Yankees, who can only hope it came in time for a last-gasp run at the playoffs.

Alex Rodriguez passed Lou Gehrig with a tiebreaking shot in the seventh inning that sent New York to a 5-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Friday night, it's his 24th career slam.

"It means I'm getting old," said Rodriguez, 38. "It's hard to think about things like that right now. We're really on a sprint to the end here and every win is huge for us."

A-Rod's drive helped CC Sabathia (14-13) beat Tim Lincecum in a matchup of former Cy Young Award winners having subpar seasons.

More importantly for the Yankees, it carried them to their second win in seven games as they cling to faint playoff hopes.

New York, which has eight games remaining, pulled within three of the second AL wild card — with three other teams in between. The Indians' 2-1 rain-shortened win over Houston, moved them a half-game ahead of Texas, which began the day tied with Tampa Bay atop the standings but lost 2-1 to Kansas City. The Rays beat Baltimore in 18 innings to keep the lead.

"It's an unbelievable accomplishment and it's a big one for us," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "I don't know if we can afford to lose any more games."

Jonathan Villar slides face-first into Brandon Phillips’ behind

Astros shortstop Jonathan Villar slid head-first to the left butt cheeks of Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips while being tagged out. Phillips jokingly said he felt violated.

Villar made a huge mistake trying to stretch a single into a double and instead winding up with a face full of fanny.

“It was a crazy play,” Phillips told the Houston Chronicle. “I liked the play, but I didn’t like all that face in the butt. I felt uncomfortable and violated. I know he felt violated too. I’m glad it wasn’t my face.”

“For some reason – just me being me – I turned around and just put the glove down right in front of the bag, extended my arm as far as possible and I just tagged him,” Phillips said after Cincinnati’s 10-0 pasting of the Astros for their 100th loss.

“The next thing you know he just got a face full of butt.”

Cardinals beat Pirates 7-2, now tied at NL Central lead

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Right-hander Joe Kelly allowed four hits over six solid innings to win his fourth straight start and the Cardinals moved back into a tie for first place in the NL Central with a 7-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday.

Kelly (7-3) walked two and struck out five while remaining unbeaten since being moved to the starting rotation full-time in July.

Kelly received plenty of help from an offense that snapped out of a three-game funk by tagging Pittsburgh spot starter Kris Johnson (0-2).

Matt Holliday and David Freese drove in two runs apiece while Matt Carpenter, Allen Craig, Yadier Molina and Shane Robinson added two hits each for the St. Louis Cardinals.

LA Dodgers sweeps Tampa Bay Rays

The Los Angeles Dodgers increased their NL West lead to a season-best 7 1/2 games Sunday night with an 8-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Mark Ellis had a homer and three RBIs to help the Dodgers improve to a major league-best 37-8 since June 22, a stretch that has dramatically turned around their season after they trailed the Arizona Diamondbacks by as many as 9 1/2 games. The Dodgers are a season-best 17 games over .500.

Kershaw (11-7) allowed two runs - one earned - and struck out eight to help the Dodgers complete their seventh series sweep of the season. Tampa Bay's only hits off the 2011 Cy Young Award winning left-hander through the first seven innings came in the fifth, a leadoff single by Yunel Escobar and a two-out triple by pinch-hitter Sam Fuld.

Los Angeles Angels release rehabbing Ryan Madson

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Ryan Madson a right-handed reliever for the Los Angeles Angels was released by the team. He never pitched for the Angels, he's attempting to return from elbow ligament replacement surgery.

Los Angeles Angels team officials abruptly announced the move Monday before the first pitch of their game against Texas.

Los Angeles signed Madson to a one-year, $3.5 million deal in late November, hoping the former Philadelphia closer could fill the same role in Anaheim.

But Madson developed elbow soreness during spring training with the Angels and he never made it back to the big leagues with his hometown Angels despite rehabilitation assignments and extra work in Arizona.

Madson hasn't pitched in the big leagues since 2011, having season-ending surgery in April 2012 after signing an $8 million deal with the Cincinnati Reds. Madson also never pitched for the Reds.

Napoli's 2 Home Runs Helped Red Sox beat Yankees 8-7 in 11

BOSTON (AP) - Mike Napoli hit a three-run shot after the Red Sox fell behind early, then he ended the game with a solo shot with two outs in the 11th inning as the Boston Red Sox beat the New York Yankees 8-7 Sunday evening.

"He's a dangerous batter," Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia said. "He can do damage at any point in the game."

The Red Sox scored seven runs after falling behind 3-0, thanks to Napoli's three-run homer in the third inning that cleared the seats above the Green Monster and the billboard above them. But they coughed up the lead when New York scored two in the sixth and two in the seventh to tie it 7-all.

Cardinals Beat Giants with 2 Homers

St. Louis Cardinals, the defending World Series champions beat the San Francisco Giants 6-4 on Sunday night in Game 1 of the NL championship series. They built an early 6-0 lead and held on. Both Carlos Beltran and David Freese hit a homer.

Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is Monday night.

(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

A's win, clinch postseason berth

OAKLAND, Calif. - Coco Crisp big game helped the Athletics win agianst the first-place Texas Rangers 4-3 on Monday night. They are in the playoffs for the first time in six years and they remained in contention for a division crown.

Crisp had a go-ahead double in the fifth inning as the A's (92-68) pulled within one game of Texas (93-67) in the AL West with two to go and moved into a tie with Baltimore for the American League's top wild card.

Oakland's victory also eliminated the Los Angeles Angels and Tampa Bay Rays from playoff contention.

Oakland moved a season-high 24 games over .500 for its best mark since ending that '06 season at 93-69.

source yahoo sports

Red Sox another epic collapse

The Boston Red Sox (4-3) lost to the Baltimore Orioles in a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2011, in Baltimore. Boston was eliminated from the playoffs after the Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees in extra innings minutes after Boston's loss.

Price strikes memorabilia deal

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP)—The pitcher who gave up Derek Jeter’s 3,000th career hit has a deal to sign memorabilia connected with the milestone.

Tampa Bay’s David Price agreed with Steiner Sports to autograph collectibles, including baseballs and pictures. Some of the souvenirs will bear the inscription, “I Gave Up DJ’s 3K,” and be signed by both Price and Jeter.

Jeter became the first Yankee to reach 3,000 hits when he homered off Price last Saturday at Yankee Stadium.