Bruce homers as Reds beat Dodgers to clinch division crown

CINCINNATI — General manager Walt Jocketty hit the "send" button on his cellphone right at the final out, informing his manager that the Reds' championship celebration was on.

And with a familiar swing getting them there.

Jay Bruce was Cincinnati's Mr. Clinch again, hitting the homer that started the Reds toward a 6-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday that made good on their second try for the title. The only thing missing was the manager.

Dusty Baker spent another day in a Chicago hospital getting treated for an irregular heartbeat. Jocketty texted congratulations to the 63-year-old Baker on his fifth division title as a manager, including two during the last three years with Cincinnati.

"He is here everywhere," owner Bob Castellini said, standing in the middle of a soaked clubhouse that had beer and champagne dripping from the ceiling. "He is here in spirit, and everybody knows he's here. We hope to see him tomorrow."

The players toasted Baker before drenching each other.

"It's a shame he's not here," third baseman Scott Rolen said. "He digs this stuff. He's missed, there's no doubt about that."

The Reds videotaped the celebration, along with best wishes, to send to Baker. When they clinched two years ago, Baker wound up in the middle of a players' huddle, getting joyously soaked.

The 2010 party started with a dramatic Bruce homer, a first-pitch leadoff shot in the ninth against Houston's Tim Byrdak. On Saturday, he led off the fourth inning with a first-pitch homer off rookie Stephen Fife (0-2), putting Cincinnati ahead to stay with his team-leading 34th of the season.

"It's not the same as two years ago, but I'll take it," Bruce said. "We've been taking care of business for quite a while, so we knew this was coming. Today is a nutshell of what we've been doing all season."

Mat Latos (13-4) allowed six hits and didn't walk a batter in eight innings. Left-hander Aroldis Chapman made his first appearance since Sept. 10 — a tired shoulder had sidelined him — and finished it off by getting Hanley Ramirez to hit into a double play off a 160 kph fastball.

Giants 8, Padres 4

In San Francisco, Madison Bumgarner pitched the Giants to their second NL West title in three years and newcomer Marco Scutaro had three hits and three RBIs.

The Giants captured their eighth divisional crown — wrapping it up once again with a victory over the Padres in front of their home fans, just as they did on the season's final day in 2010 on the way to an improbable World Series championship.

Braves 8, Phillies 2

In Philadelphia, Freddie Freeman hit a three-run homer to back Mike Minor and the Braves roughed up Roy Halladay to move closer to clinching a postseason berth.

Cardinals 5, Cubs 4 (10)

In Chicago, Jon Jay's RBI double in the 10th inning lifted St. Louis to the victory, bolstering the Cardinals' bid for another playoff appearance.

Nationals 10, Brewers 4

In Washington, Gio Gonzalez became the majors' first 20-game winner in 2012, and the first pitcher for a Washington baseball team with 200 strikeouts since Walter Johnson in 1916.

Norichika Aoki was 1-for-3 for the Brewers.

Mets 4, Marlins 3

In New York, R.A. Dickey earned his 19th victory with a strong performance, Jason Bay and Scott Hairston homered and the Mets barely held on in the ninth inning for their second straight home win.

Diamondbacks 8, Rockies 7

In Denver, Aaron Hill tripled and drove in four runs for Arizona.

Astros 4, Pirates 1

In Houston, Jason Castro hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning and the Astros handed the fading Pirates their fifth straight loss.

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Yankees regain sole lead in division race

BALTIMORE — The New York Yankees escaped from Camden Yards with their lead in the AL East intact, and as a bonus, slugger Curtis Granderson worked his way out of an annoying slump.

Granderson came off the bench to hit his 35th homer and drive in five runs, and New York beat the Baltimore Orioles 13-3 Sunday to regain sole possession of first place in the division and earn an important split of the season series.

Derek Jeter also homered for the Yankees, who lead the Orioles by one game with 22 left. Each team won twice in a four-game set that drew 173,572 fans, including 40,346 in the finale.

"The bottom line is we're in first place," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "The one thing that you want to be able to do is just rely on your club. You don't want to have to rely on other people."

Jeter, who had three RBIs and scored twice, said, "We lost a couple games, but we did battle back. Today was a big one for us. We have a much-needed day off (Monday), then we go to play Boston. I like the way we played."

New York finished 9-9 against Baltimore this season. Had the Orioles won Sunday, they would have received home-field advantage in a playoff game if the teams finish tied atop the division. Baltimore would have also had home-field advantage if the Yankees and Orioles finish tied for both wild-card berths.

Now, if the teams are tied at the end of the regular season, record within the division will be the tiebreaker.

"We'll try to make it not matter," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said.

Granderson didn't start because he was stuck in a 5-for-43 skid. He entered as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning and hit a solo shot to put New York up 6-3, then delivered a two-run single in the seventh to provide the Yankees a five-run cushion.

Ichiro Suzuki played all three outfield positions in the field and was 2-for-4 with an RBI at the plate.

Rays 6, Rangers 0

In St. Petersburg, Florida, B.J. Upton hit three home runs and James Shields threw a two-hitter to lead Tampa Bay past Texas.

Royals 2, White Sox 1 (10)

In Chicago, Mike Moustakas stroked a go-ahead single in the 10th inning to lift Kansas City over the White Sox.

Angels 3, Tigers 2

In Anaheim, Zack Greinke pitched seven strong innings of five-hit ball and rookie outfielder Mike Trout hit a leadoff homer for the second straight game.

Athletics 4, Mariners 2

In Seattle, Jonny Gomes hit a three-run home run, Tommy Milone worked six strong innings and Oakland finished off a three-game sweep of the Mariners.

Blue Jays 4, Red Sox 3

In Boston, Omar Vizquel hit a pair of sacrifice flies, including one in the ninth inning.

Twins 8, Indians 7

In Minneapolis, Justin Morneau hit his second homer of the game in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift Minnesota over Cleveland.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Giants 4, Dodgers 0

In San Francisco, Barry Zito came through in one of the most important outings in his Giants tenure, helping pitching first-place San Francisco extend its NL West lead to 5? games.

Marlins 8, Nationals 0

In Washington, Ricky Nolasco tossed a four-hitter to shut out the Nationals for the second time in two weeks and Giancarlo Stanton homered for the third straight day.

Astros 5, Reds 1

In Cincinnati, Matt Dominguez hit a three-run homer and Tyler Greene added a solo shot to help Houston slow the Reds' run to the NL Central title.

Braves 3, Mets 2 (10)

In New York, Brian McCann homered and drove in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning.

Cardinals 5, Brewers 4 (10)

In St. Louis, Allen Craig hit an RBI single in the 10th inning and the Cardinals beat Milwaukee to avoid a three-game sweep.

Brewers outfielder Norichika Aoki finished 2-for-5, including a two-out, two-run homer off closer Jason Motte that tied the game in the ninth.

Aoki's two-strike drive barely cleared the right-field wall.

Phillies 3, Rockies 2 (1st)

Phillies 7, Rockies 4 (2nd)

In Philadelphia, Ryan Howard drove in two runs and seven pitchers combined to help the Phillies beat Colorado in Game 2 to complete a doubleheader sweep.

Cubs 4, Pirates 2

In Pittsburgh, Alfonso Soriano hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning to help Chicago complete a three-game sweep of the Pirates.

Padres 8, Diamondbacks 2

In San Diego, Chase Headley hit a grand slam to extend his career bests to 27 homers and an NL-high 102 RBIs, and Carlos Quentin followed with a homer for the Padres' first back-to-back shots this season in a win over Arizona.

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Giants win battle of New York; to play for division title

EASTRUTHERFORD, New Jersey — Rex Ryan was brash and confident all week, insisting his Jets were the kings of New York.

Well, the Giants shut him up in a big way — taking the city bragging rights and setting up an even more important showdown with the Dallas Cowboys next weekend with a 29-14 victory Saturday.

"I hate to use that cliche, but this is a huge one," left tackle David Diehl said. "This is about the city, the city of New York and what team wants to be responsible. They have talked all week and said what they wanted to say. From Day 1, they're our big brother and other stuff. We went out there and played our game and showed whose stadium this is."

Ryan said the Jets were the better team the last two years, based on their consecutive trips to the AFC championship game and the Giants missing the postseason. Tom Coughlin responded by saying, "Talk is cheap. Play the game."

It was the Giants who did.

The Giants kept their postseason hopes alive, helped by Victor Cruz setting two franchise receiving records and Ahmad Bradshaw running for two touchdowns. While neither team looked much like playoff material, the Giants (8-7) are now in position to win the NFC East with a victory at home next Sunday against Dallas.

Running back Brandon Jacobs said he had an exchange with Ryan after the game in which the coach approached him, used an expletive and said, "Wait till we win the Super Bowl."

Added Jacobs: "And I told him I'll punch him in the face. I told him out of all these Giants players on this team you're talking to the wrong one. And that was that."

Ryan acknowledged that he and Jacobs "had a private conversation. He doesn't like me; I respect him."

The Jets' playoff hopes took a serious hit, and they will need to win at Miami next week and get help from several other teams.

Cruz, who had three catches for 164 yards, broke Amani Toomer's single-season mark for yards receiving — and the team's record for longest touchdown reception, a 99-yarder that gave the Giants the lead for good in the second quarter.

Lions 38, Chargers 10: In Detroit, the Lions made the playoffs for the first time since 1999 as Matthew Stafford threw three touchdown passes in the first half.

Detroit (10-5) has won three straight after a seven-game slump to earn a wild-card spot.

Patriots 27, Dolphins 24: In Foxborough, Massachusetts, Tom Brady ran for two touchdowns and threw for another as New England clinched a playoff bye.

New England (12-3) won its seventh straight game. After the Texans lost to the Colts on Thursday night, the Patriots needed a win or a tie to lock up one of the AFC's top two spots.

Raiders 16, Chiefs 13 (OT): In Kansas City, Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 36-yard field goal 2:13 into overtime, keeping Oakland's AFC West title hopes alive.

Carson Palmer threw for 237 yards and a touchdown for the Raiders (8-7). His perfectly thrown 53-yard pass to Darrius Heyward-Bey early in overtime set up Janikowski's winning kick, allowing Oakland to avoid a second straight late-game meltdown.

Bills 40, Broncos 14: In Orchard Park, New York, Tim Tebow finished with a career-worst four interceptions as the Broncos lost their second in a row.

Titans 23, Jaguars 17: In Nashville, Tennessee, Matt Hasselbeck threw for 240 of his 350 yards in the first half as Tennessee tried to keep its faint playoff hopes alive.

Bengals 23, Cardinals 16: In Cincinnati, Andy Dalton threw a pair of touchdown passes, and the Bengals withstood a fourth-quarter comeback.

Vikings 33, Redskins 26: In Landover, Maryland, the Vikings survived injuries to Adrian Peterson and Christian Ponder on back-to-back plays to end a six-game losing streak.

Panthers 48, Buccaneers 16: In Charlotte, North Carolina, Cam Newton broke Peyton Manning's rookie record for yards passing in a season.

Steelers 27, Rams 0: In Pittsburgh, Rashard Mendenhall ran for 116 yards and a touchdown and backup quarterback Charlie Batch played efficiently in place of an injured Ben Roethlisberger.

Ravens 20, Brown 14: In Baltimore, Joe Flacco threw two touchdown passes, and the Ravens moved one step closer to winning the AFC North.

49ers 19, Seahawks 17: In Seattle, David Akers kicked four field goals, including a 39-yarder with 2:57 left, and San Francisco hung on against Seattle (7-8).

Eagles 20, Cowboys 7: In Arlington, Texas, Michael Vick threw two touchdown passes in Philadelphia's victory.

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