A look at what’s happening all around the majors Sunday:
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ANTHEM PROTESTS
Bruce Maxwell of the Oakland Athletics became the first major league baseball player to kneel during the national anthem on Saturday, adopting a protest started by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in response to police treatment of blacks. More players could follow — there’s been a major backlash by athletes and executives after President Donald Trump denounced protests by NFL players at a rally on Friday. The Athletics quickly voiced support for Maxwell, tweeting shortly after the anthem that they “respect and support all of our players’ constitutional rights and freedom of expression” and “pride ourselves on being inclusive.”
WORKING OVERTIME
After playing three straight games that got decided in the 10th inning, the NL Central-leading Cubs and Brewers wrap up their series at Miller Park. Milwaukee bounced back from two losses to win Saturday 4-3 on Travis Shaw’s homer off closer Wade Davis. The Brewers moved within 4 1/2 games of the Cubs, and are even closer in the chase for the second wild-card spot. Jose Quintana starts for Chicago vs. Chase Anderson.
TRY AGAIN
Lance McCullers (7-3, 3.97) pitches for the AL West champion Astros when they host the Los Angeles Angels at night. The right-hander hasn’t pitched since he was scratched from his scheduled start on Sept. 13 because of arm fatigue. Manager A.J. Hinch said McCullers will be on a pitch count, but didn’t say exactly how many pitches they’ll let him throw. The Angels have lost six in a row and fallen back in the wild-card race.
KLUBOT IN CONTROL
Corey Kluber can improve his AL Cy Young Award resume when Cleveland faces Seattle. Kluber is 5-0 with a 1.15 ERA in his last five starts and hasn’t allowed a run in 22 innings. He is 2-1 with a 1.96 ERA in three career starts against Seattle.
FEELING BETTER
Jacob deGrom is expected back on the mound for the Mets after having a scheduled start pushed back because of a stomach bug. He’ll face Washington ace Max Scherzer in the last game of the season series between the teams. The Nationals may also get star outfielder Bryce Harper back soon. Harper played in a simulated game Saturday, and manager Dusty Baker says he’s “very close” to returning after hyperextending his left knee in August.
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More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball
(TSX / STATS) -- PHOENIX -- Giancarlo Stanton hit his 57th home run to lead the Miami Marlins to a 12-6 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night.
The Marlins slugger went 3-for-6 and was a triple shy of the cycle. Stanton drove in four runs and became Miami's single-season RBI leader with 124, breaking the previous mark of 120 set by Preston Wilson in 2000.
Justin Bour homered for the fourth consecutive game as his two-run, opposite-field shot in the eighth gave Miami an 11-6 lead. Bour's shot bounced off the left-field foul pole for his 25th of the season.
Miami (73-81) took the lead for good with a five-run third inning and withstood home runs from Arizona's J.D. Martinez and Paul Goldschmidt. Martinez now has 43 homers and Goldschmidt connected for the 36th time this season.
The loss kept Arizona (89-66) within one game of clinching a wild card berth.
Brian Ellington (1-1) pitched two innings of relief for the win. Ellington struck out three around Martinez's solo home run.
Neither starter reached the fifth inning. Arizona's Taijuan Walker (9-9) allowed six runs and six hits, walked three and struck out six in 3 2/3 innings.
Despite enjoying four- and three-run leads, Miami's Dillon Peters was lifted for a pinch hitter after four innings. Peters surrendered five runs and six hits, walked three and struck out one.
Martinez's solo homer off Ellington in the fifth pulled Arizona within 7-6. Stanton leaped and attempted to catch Martinez's opposite-field shot before it landed over the wall in right-center field.
Stanton's solo homer and Justin Bour's RBI single in the fourth gave Miami a 7-4 lead.
Bour's single to shallow center scored Christian Yelich from second. Yelich originally was called out on second baseman Brandon Drury's throw to catcher Chris Ianetta. But Miami challenged the play and a video review overturned the call.
The Marlins erased a 1-0 deficit with a five-run third, keyed by Stanton's two-run double and a fielding error by Walker off Dee Gordon's short dribbler that scored Miguel Rojas from third. Bour drove in a run with a single and Brian Anderson's sacrifice fly to deep center scored Miami's fifth run of the inning.
Goldschmidt's three-run homer off Peters in the bottom of the inning cut the deficit to 5-4.
Drury's home run to lead off the second gave the Diamondbacks a 1-0 lead. Drury drove Peters' pitch above the wall in right-center for his 13th home run.
NOTES: Marlins 2B Dee Gordon favored his right leg as he attempted to beat out a grounder in the fourth. Although Gordon limped on his way to the dugout, he remained in the game. ... Marlins 3B Martin Prado, sidelined since mid-July because of a right knee injury that required arthroscopic surgery, is traveling with the team on its road trip to Arizona and Colorado. Prado took batting practice before Saturday's game and is targeting possible pinch-hit opportunities the final week of the season. ... Diamondbacks OF J.D. Martinez has 27 home runs since July 19, second behind Stanton. Martinez also drove in his 28th run of the month. ... Saturday's crowd of 39,259 at Chase Field pushed the Diamondbacks over two million in home attendance for the season. Arizona has never drawn less than two million at home in the club's 19-year history.
(TSX / STATS) -- LOS ANGELES -- Madison Bumgarner allowed one run in 7 2/3 innings to end his four-game losing streak and the San Francisco Giants defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 on Saturday night.
Bumgarner (4-9) allowed five hits, struck out five and walked one. The Giants won for just the fourth time in his 14 starts this season.
The Dodgers had clinched their fifth straight National League West title on Friday night and rested several regulars.
Bumgarner blanked the Dodgers for seven innings on July 30, his only other appearance against them this season. He shut them out for seven more on Saturday before Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes led off the eighth with a home run to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Charlie Culberson doubled with one out in the inning and moved to third on a fly ball to right by pinch-hitter Cody Bellinger, the 99th pitch from Bumgarner. Giants manager Bruce Bochy then brought in right-handed reliever Hunter Strickland and he got Chris Taylor to fly out to the warning track in right.
Sam Dyson pitched the ninth for his 14th save.
The Dodgers hadn't put a runner in scoring position against Bumgarner until left fielder Enrique Hernandez doubled over the head of Denard Span in center with one out in the seventh. Hernandez, who came in 13-for-27 in his career against Bumgarner with four doubles and three home runs, was stranded at third.
Gorkys Hernandez and Span had three hits apiece. Hernandez scored both runs and Span and Buster Posey had the RBIs.
Hernandez hit the first pitch of the game from Dodgers left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu into the left-field corner for his 18th double of the year. Joe Panik sacrificed Hernandez to third and Buster Posey lined a two-out RBI single to center for a 1-0 lead.
Ryu stranded two runners in the second but then was hit in the left hand by a hard comebacker by Panik to lead off the third and was removed from the game.
Ross Stripling entered and pitched the remainder of the third inning and Brandon McCarthy, another former starter who came off his third stint on the DL on Friday, pitched a scoreless fourth in his first appearance since July 20.
The Giants tagged McCarthy for a run in the fifth, however.
Hernandez singled to center, stole second and advanced to third on Panik's grounder to second. Span then lined a single up the middle and Hernandez scored his second run of the game for a 2-0 lead.
Bumgarner, who had lost his past four starts for the first time in his career, walked Taylor to start the first and gave up a single to Kyle Farmer to lead off the third, but both were erased by 4-6-3 double plays. He retired the side in order in the fourth and fifth innings.
NOTES: Dodgers 3B Justin Turner was out of the lineup for a third straight game after suffering a thumb contusion when he was hit by a pitch on Thursday and then feeling the effects of a stomach virus the past two days. ... Dodgers 1B Kyle Farmer made his first major league start and was 1-for-3 against Giants LHP Madison Bumgarner. Farmer came in 4-for-12 (.333) in 12 games this season. His lone extra-base hit was a walk-off two-run double in the 11th inning against the Giants in his first major league at-bat on July 30, a game in which Bumgarner threw seven shutout innings. ... Bumgarner had been supported by 2.8 runs per game this season coming into Saturday, the second fewest of any major league pitcher with at least 100 innings pitched.
(TSX / STATS) -- SAN DIEGO -- Jhoulys Chacin pitched six effective innings as the San Diego Padres beat the Colorado Rockies 5-0 on Saturday night.
The fading Rockies' lead over the Milwaukee Brewers was shaved to one game for the second National League wild-card spot as Colorado managed but five hits.
Chacin (13-10) surrendered a hit and three walks to his former team and struck out six in winning his fourth straight start at Petco Park. He beat the Rockies, who were shut out for the third time in four games, for the first time in three starts in 2017.
Four Padres relievers, with Brad Hand pitching the ninth, finished off the Rockies as they fell for the fifth time in six games.
Chad Bettis (1-4) lost for the third time in his last four decisions. He lasted 4 2/3 innings and gave up a run and seven hits with two walks. He struck out three.
The Padres added three runs in the eighth, with Ian Desmond's throwing error accounting for one of the runs. The RBIs came from pinch-hitter Erick Aybar and Manuel Margot.
The Rockies, trailing 2-0, got to reliever Craig Stammen after Chacin's exit.
Desmond and Jonathan Lucroy produced one-out singles, but Stammen struck out pinch-hitter Raimel Tapia before southpaw Buddy Baumann came on to face the left-handed-hitting Charlie Blackmon. Baumann fanned the NL's batting leader to halt the rally.
Chacin, who tied Clayton Richard with his team-high 31st start, got out of a first-inning jam after DJ LeMahieu walked and Nolan Arenado reached on an error by second baseman by Carlos Asuaje. Chacin retired Gerardo Parra on a flyout to end the inning.
Bettis had to tiptoe around trouble with runners reaching base in each of the first five innings. He was bitten in the fifth when the Padres chased him after 85 pitches on Yangervis Solarte's RBI single as the Padres took a 1-0 lead.
NOTES: Rockies LHP Kyle Freeman will continue to pitch out of the bullpen, although he could get a spot start next weekend against the Dodgers. .... Padres LF Travis Jankowski started in left field, which has been the case against right-handed starters. ... CF Manuel Margot was thrown out attempting to steal, which snapped his streak at 10 straight stolen bases. He did extend his hitting streak to seven games.
(TSX / STATS) -- NEW YORK -- Daniel Murphy continued to torment his former team Saturday night, lacing the tiebreaking homer leading off the 10th inning to lift the Washington Nationals to a 4-3 win over the New York Mets at Citi Field.
The National League East champion Nationals (93-61) snapped a two-game losing streak. Washington entered Saturday 5 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the race for the No. 1 seed in the NL.
The Mets (66-88) have lost four of five and nine of 12.
Murphy's homer off rookie right-hander Jacob Rhame (0-1) was his ninth in 37 games against the Mets, with whom he spent the first eight years of his career before signing with the Nationals following the 2015 season. With his 2-for-4 effort Saturday night, Murphy is now batting .393 against New York.
Sammy Solis (1-0) threw a perfect ninth and Sean Doolittle worked around a two-out walk in the 10th to earn his 23rd save of the season, and his 20th since the Nationals acquired him from the Oakland Athletics on July 16.
Adam Lind had two hits, including a two-run homer in the fourth, and Matt Wieters homered leading off the fifth for the Nationals. Lind's round-tripper was the 200th of his career.
Brandon Nimmo (RBI double) and Kevin Plawecki (two-RBI single) each delivered run-scoring hits in the third inning for the Mets. Nori Aoki had two hits.
Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg allowed three runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out six over five innings.
Mets right-hander Noah Syndergaard started for the Mets and threw a scoreless inning in his first major league action since he tore his right lat against the Nationals on April 30. Syndergaard, who was activated from the 60-day disabled list before the game, allowed one hit while throwing just five pitches.
Matt Harvey, making his first professional relief appearance, followed Syndergaard and gave up three runs on four hits over four innings.
The Mets took a 3-0 lead in the third against Strasburg, who entered the inning having allowed just three runs in his previous 45 frames. Aoki delivered a leadoff single and Asdrubal Cabrera drew a one-out walk before Nimmo's double scored Aoki. Plawecki followed with a two-run single.
The Nationals pulled within 3-2 in the fourth when Murphy doubled with one out and scored on Lind's milestone two-out homer, and tied the game on Wieters' shot leading off the fifth.
NOTES: To make room for RHP Noah Syndergaard on the 40-man roster, the Mets transferred RHP Zack Wheeler (stress reaction in his right arm) to the 60-day disabled list. ... Before Saturday, Mets RHP Matt Harvey hadn't pitched in relief since his sophomore season at North Carolina in 2009. ... Nationals RF Bryce Harper (left knee) and OF Michael Goodwin (left groin) each participated in a simulated game Saturday. Manager Dusty Baker said Harper, who was injured Aug. 12, was closer to returning to the Nationals than Goodwin, who hasn't played since Aug. 13. ... Nationals RHP Shawn Kelley (right forearm) will undergo what Baker called "extensive testing" early next week. Kelley left Friday's game with numbness in his right arm.
(TSX / STATS) -- ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Braves have long been eliminated from playoff consideration. But it hasn't stopped the club from continuing to weave its late-inning magic.
On Saturday, the Braves collected their league-leading 20th win in their last at-bat. And it was the rookies who came through to produce the win.
Rookie Johan Camargo delivered a pinch-hit double with two outs in the eighth inning to drive in two runs and give the Braves a 4-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night at SunTrust Park.
"It's important for me to put in the work ethic day in and day out," Camargo said. "The other thing is I try to stay as healthy as I can and be consistent."
The Braves rallied to score three times in the eighth against reliever Luis Garcia. Matt Adams opened with a one-out single and rookie pinch-runner Micah Johnson stole second and scored on rookie Dansby Swanson's single, tying the score at 2.
Swanson went to second on the throw and rookie Rio Ruiz was intentionally walked. Both advanced on a wild pitch and scored easily when Camargo lined a 1-2 pitch in the gap in right.
The winning pitcher was left-hander Rex Brothers (4-3), who worked a scoreless eighth inning. Arodys Vizcaino pitched the ninth and struck out the side for his 13th save.
Atlanta has won four consecutive games over the Phillies after starting the season 12-2 against Philadelphia.
Garcia (2-5) had not allowed a run in his last 12 1/3 innings and gave up multiple runs in one inning for the first time since Aug. 3.
"Luis got behind on the hitters and didn't throw quality strikes," Philadelphia manager Pete Mackanin said. "He's had some good moments and some bad moments like tonight. When you're pitching in a clutch situation like that, you can't fall behind hitters. You've got to get ahead of hitters."
Phillies starter Henderson Alvarez pitched five shutout innings but failed to pick up his first victory in three years when the bullpen was unable to hold the lead. Alvarez was seeking his first major league win since Sept. 23, 2014, when he beat the Philadelphia Phillies while a member of the Miami Marlins.
"Alvarez pitched through five innings, got through it," Mackanin said. "Didn't give up a run. Ball had some movement on it, he changed speeds."
The veteran right-hander pitched five shutout innings in his second start since being recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He gave up five runs and walked three (one intentionally) and struck out two.
"That's the way baseball is sometimes," Alvarez said. "There are some things you cannot control. Just go out there and try your best."
Atlanta starter Julio Teheran received no decision. He pitched seven innings and allowed two runs (one earned), seven hits and one walk with five strikeouts. In his last six starts, Teheran has not allowed more than three runs.
"I think it was huge to be able to get out of that (seventh) inning," he said. "I wanted to try my best. I gave up one run early, but I was trying to keep the score low. I knew the guys would get some runs later."
The Braves got their first run when Ruiz hit his fourth homer in the sixth inning off Kevin Siegrist.
The Phillies got a run in the first inning. Nick Williams had a two-out single and came around to score when Rhys Hoskins doubled off the fence in center field.
Philadelphia added a run in the fifth without hitting the ball out of the infield. Maikel Franco reached on an infield single and J.P. Crawford walked. Both advanced on an infield out and Franco scored a passed ball.
The Braves had the bases loaded in the fourth inning and runners on the corners in the fifth but failed to score.
NOTES: Philadelphia broke a club record by allowing its 215th home run. The previous record was set in 2004. Kevin Siegrist allowed the tiebreaker, which was hit by Atlanta's Rio Ruiz. ... Atlanta CF Ender Inciarte had a double and needs five more hits to reach 200. ... Atlanta 1B Freddie Freeman was sick with a stomach virus and out of the lineup on Saturday. ... Atlanta signed C Kurt Suzuki to a one-year, $3.5 million contract for 2018. The club has a $4 million option on C Tyler Flowers, which the club expected to exercise. .. Atlanta signed Korean SS Jihwan Bae. He was at SunTrust Park and met with fellow countryman Hyn Soo Kim of the Phillies before the game. Bae is likened to a left-handed Trea Turner. ... Sunday will be the final game of the season at SunTrust Park. The Braves are 37-43 in their new home.
(TSX / STATS) -- PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Pirates used an eight-run first inning Saturday night to put a dent in the St. Louis Cardinals' push for a playoff spot with an 11-6 win at PNC Park.
St. Louis (81-73), which had its winning streak stopped at four, missed a chance to move into second place in the National League Central. The Cardinals trail the Milwaukee Brewers by a half-game and the first-place Chicago Cubs by five.
The Cardinals were 1 1/2 games out of a wild-card spot entering the day pending the Colorado outcome later Saturday.
Jordy Mercer was 3-for-3 with four RBIs, David Freese had three RBIs and Starling Marte added two RBIs for Pittsburgh (70-85), which is reduced to a spoiler role.
The eight-run first, when Pittsburgh sent 12 players to the plate and took an 8-2 lead, was highlighted by Mercer's two-run triple, Marte's RBI triple, Freese's leadoff double and four singles.
St. Louis starter Lance Lynn (11-8) was charged with all eight runs, six that crossed the plate while he was on the mound and two that Josh Lucas inherited.
Lynn's pitching line was like something from a nightmare -- eight runs and six hits with two walks and a strikeout in two-thirds of an inning. He has one win in his past nine starts.
Pittsburgh bumped its lead to 10-3 through five innings before St. Louis scored three in the sixth -- including tying a major league record by using six pinch hitters in the inning -- to close to 10-6.
Freese added an RBI double in the eighth to make it 11-6.
Pittsburgh starter Gerrit Cole (12-11) allowed five runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings with one walk and five strikeouts to break an 0-3 streak at home. He had gotten just five runs of support in his previous five starts, totaling 32 innings, but had plenty Saturday.
St. Louis' first inning looked promising with Tommy Pham hitting his 22nd homer, a two-run shot to dead center, but that was dwarfed by what the Pirates did in the bottom of the inning.
Pittsburgh's key hit that inning came from Mercer. He stepped to the plate with a 3-2 lead, the bases loaded and one out. He looped the ball into shallow center, where Dexter Fowler raced in and dived forward but missed, letting the ball get behind him.
It appeared that Mercer might have a shot at an inside-the-park homer, but he had to hold up at third with a still-impressive bases-clearing triple.
The Cardinals made it 8-3 on Pham's RBI double in the third, but Pittsburgh answered in the bottom of the third against Adam Wainwright when Marte's sacrifice fly made it 9-3.
The Pirates reached double figures in the fifth on Mercer's RBI double, making it 10-3.
NOTES: St. Louis 1B Jose Martinez, who left Friday in the seventh because of a sprained left thumb, had tests in St. Louis that showed no serious damage, manager Mike Matheny said. ... Matt Carpenter moved from 3B to 1B for the Cardinals, with Jedd Gyorko returning to his normal spot at 3B. ... Pittsburgh OF Jordan Luplow was named the organization's minor league player of the year and LHP Steven Brault the minor league pitcher of the year.
