NEW YORK — In the absence of Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge, the mysterious power outages of Vlad Guerrero Jr. and Cal Raleigh, and the injuries to Tarik Skubal and Garrett Crochet, baseball’s postseason awards are coming into focus by ushering in a new wave of 20-something superstars.

Going into the weekend the teams with the best records ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — With eight games left in the regular season, the Los Angeles Dodgers have already ticked off the most important boxes on their postseason to-do list.

They clinched a playoff berth for a record-tying 14th straight season and won the division title for the fifth time in a row. And with Friday’s 8-2 victory over the San Francisco...Read more

SAN DIEGO — Nick Pivetta paid for one mistake Friday. It was hardly enough to weigh down the surging San Diego Padres.

The 33-year-old right-hander turned in five solid innings in his third start off the injured list, Ty France hit his career-best 21st homer and an 8-2 win over the Miami Marlins in front of a sellout crowd of 42,765 at Petco ...Read more

ANAHEIM, Calif. — In the eighth inning, the Angels had a chance to make up for what they hadn’t done over the first seven innings.

They failed.

After getting only four baserunners in the first seven innings, the Angels loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth only to come up empty in what would become a 3-0 loss to the Minnesota Twins ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Each time Milwaukee appeared to deliver the knockout blow, the Orioles got right back up. Until they couldn’t get up anymore.

After erasing an early three-run deficit and mounting a ninth-inning comeback to force extra innings, the Orioles fell in the 10th to drop their series opener against the Brewers, 6-5. Grant Wolfram ...Read more

CHICAGO — Circle this one. Regardless of what happens the rest of the way.

Ignited by a relentless band of rookies, the Tigers shook off a horrendous start, overcame deficits of 6-1 and 8-2 and, almost inconceivably, pulled out a character-validating 11-8 win over the White Sox on Friday, Sept. 18, at Rate Field.

Hao-Yu Lee, one of seven ...Read more

ST. LOUIS — The Cardinals were officially eliminated in a way they so rarely lost.

What seemed inevitable during this homestand became irrevocable Friday night as the Cardinals were eliminated from the postseason race with eight games remaining in the regular season. The kings of close games saw their remote playoff chances end with a game ...Read more

DENVER — The homer-hitting man-child helped prolong the Mariners’ elimination from the postseason for a little longer.

Given the homers he’s hit in his three-week long MLB career, the possibility of Lázaro Montes connecting with a baseball in the thin air of Coors Field made each at-bat delicious with anticipation.

The rookie slugger ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — The Pirates’ win on Friday night kept them mathematically alive for the postseason, even if those chances are no longer realistic.

Their ace’s struggles offered a reminder of one reason why a ticket won’t be punched.

The Pirates beat the Kansas City Royals, 8-5, on Friday at PNC Park. Spencer Horwitz went 2 for 3 with a ...Read more

Back in late June when the Red Sox sunk to their lowest depths, the idea that the club might still have a shot at reaching the postseason would have seemed hopelessly optimistic.

Yet here they are with a little over a week left to play, and the Red Sox have all but punched their ticket to the playoffs.

With their 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay ...Read more

NEW YORK — Andy Green spent all of Thursday night thinking about the time Jared Young was demoted from the Chicago Cubs to Triple-A on the final day of the minor league season.

Luckily, the current Mets first baseman/left fielder was discharged from the hospital overnight, is able to walk and has full feeling in all of his extremities.

It’...Read more

SEATTLE — In “The Shawshank Redemption,” Andy Dufresne escaped from Shawshank State Prison through the incomprehensible stink of a prehistoric sewer pipe. As Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding — played by Morgan Freeman — famously narrated in the 1994 film: “Andy crawled to freedom through 500 yards of [expletive] smelling foulness I can�...Read more

PHOENIX — Aaron Judge is going back on the shelf.

The Yankees’ captain was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right calf strain on Friday. Utilityman Max Schuemann will be recalled from Triple-A to take Judge’s place, sources tell the New York Daily News.

Judge suffered what the Yankees initially called a right lower leg injury ...Read more

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Angels bailed out their bullpen, for once.

The Angels scored two runs in the 10th inning of a 5-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday night, salvaging a game in which they had blown a three-run lead in the eighth.

Ben Joyce gave up a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth, tying the score. It was his third ...Read more

This has been a rough stretch for the Red Sox offense, which has effectively turned into a pumpkin after a torrid two months. This week in particular the bats have fallen silent, and for much of Thursday night the Red Sox looked like they were headed towards a discouraging series sweep at the worst possible time.

Things took an especially dark ...Read more

HOUSTON — The Kansas City Royals entered Thursday’s action with nothing to lose. Despite Wednesday’s 5-2 victory over the Houston Astros, the Royals were officially eliminated from postseason contention.

And with 10 games remaining, the Royals had a chance to spoil the playoff hopes of a few teams on their schedule.

The Astros are in a ...Read more

CHICAGO — The big-picture point to these last few series for this young group of Tigers is they’re still playing games that matter. They aren’t just playing out the string. As learning tools go, playing high-stakes games late in September is about as good as it gets.

“It adds a little spice to the series,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said...Read more

CINCINNATI — Longtime Dodger Max Muncy blinked away beer and champagne as he stepped away from his alcohol-doused SportsNet LA interview in the visiting locker room at Great American Ball Park. But he was a veteran of these celebrations, too.

He stepped right into the next interview without missing a beat.

"It's not something that I ever ...Read more