Local News

Baseball Notes

 width=

 

>> Jackson drives in 5; Cubs beat Reds 10-3


Austin Jackson drove in a career-high five runs and Jon Lester set a Chicago season record for strikeouts by a left-handed pitcher, leading the playoff-bound Cubs to a 10-3 victory over the last-place Cincinnati Reds Wednesday, their fourth straight win.

The Cubs will play the Pirates in next week's NL wild-card game, as St. Louis clinched the NL Central Wednesday.

Lester's strikeout of Ivan De Jesus Jr. in the fifth inning was his 203rd of the season, snapping the franchise record for a left-hander set by Ken Holtzman in 1970. Lester (11-12) finished with nine strikeouts and retired the last 20 batters he faced.

The Reds lost their 11th straight, equaling their longest losing streak since dropping 12 straight in 1993.

Starlin Castro homered and had four hits for Chicago.

Anthony DeSclafani (9-13) allowed five runs in five innings.

 

 width=

 

>> Hosmer, Royals beat White Sox 5-3 in 10 innings


Eric Hosmer hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the top of the 10th inning, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 5-3 on Wednesday night to clinch home-field advantage in an AL Division Series.

Ben Zobrist singled with one out, and Hosmer drove a pitch from David Robertson (6-5) into the bullpen in right field to give the Royals the lead. For Hosmer, it was his 18th homer of the season.

Alex Gordon and Mike Moustakas also homered for Kansas City, which had already clinched the AL Central title. They will host the first two games of their ALDS, and a Game 5 if necessary.

Combined with Toronto splitting its doubleheader in Baltimore, the Royals pulled within a game of the Blue Jays for home-field advantage throughout the AL playoffs. Toronto did win the season series, giving it the tiebreaker over the Royals.

 width=

 

>> Cardinals earn 100th win to clinch NL Central

For the third straight season, the St. Louis Cardinals are champions of the NL Central. The team clinched their third straight division title with Wednesday night's win over the Pirates.

Wednesday's win improved the Cardinals to 100-59 with three games remaining. They're the first team to win 100 games since the 2011 Phillies. St. Louis last won 100 games back in 2005, when they went 100-62. The close the season with three games against the Braves.

The Cardinals clinched a postseason berth a few days ago but now have the NL Central locked up, meaning they've avoided the dreaded winner-take-all wild-card game. The Pirates and Cubs will now for certain play the wild-card game -- both have clinched a playoff spot -- with the winner facing the Cardinals in the NLDS.

>> MLB Scores

Toronto 15, Baltimore 2
Pittsburgh 8, St. Louis 2
Minnesota 7, Cleveland 1
Philadelphia 7, New York Mets 5
Oakland 8, Los Angeles Angels7
Boston 9, New York Yankees 5 in 11 innings
Tampa Bay 6, Miami 4
Atlanta 2, Washington 0
Chicago Cubs 10, Cincinatti 3
Arizona 3, Colorado 1
Texas 6, Detroit 2
Milwaukee5, San Diego 0
Kansas City 5, White Sox 3
San Francisco 5,Los Angeles Dodgers 0
Houston 7, Seattle 6

Townhall Top of the Hour News

Local Weather - Sponsored By:

CLINTON WEATHER

Local News

DeWittDN on Facebook