Cardinals Rout Pirates, Clinch 3rd Straight NL Central Title  —  PITTSBURGH — The St. Louis Cardinals are back in a familiar spot: on top of the NL Central looking down at everyone else.  —  Jason Heyward's third-inning grand slam powered the Cardinals over the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-1 …

Mets Slugger Cespedes Hit in Hand by Pitch, Fingers Bruised  —  PHILADELPHIA — New York Mets slugger Yoenis Cespedes has been bruised on two fingers of his left hand after being hit by a pitch.  —  X-rays were negative after Cespedes left the game Wednesday night in Philadelphia.

Indians OF Michael Brantley out vs. Twins with shoulder injury  —  CLEVELAND — Indians outfielder Michael Brantley has toughed it out, playing through aches and pains all season long.  —  Now a right shoulder injury could sideline him for Cleveland's final week.

Yanks Bullpen Falters in 9-5, 11-Inning Loss to Red Sox  —  NEW YORK — The Yankees' normally steady bullpen wasted a chance to clinch New York's first playoff berth in three years when Dellin Betances gave up a tying homer and Andrew Bailey allowed the go-ahead hit in Boston's 9-5, 11-inning victory Wednesday night.

AL West-Leading Rangers Win Again, 6-2 Over Tigers  —  ARLINGTON, Texas — Adrian Beltre hit the first of three Texas home runs as the AL West-leading Rangers moved closer to a postseason berth with a 6-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday night.  —  Robinson Chirinos and Mike Napoli …

Hosmer's homer in 10th lifts Royals past White Sox  —  Eric Hosmer's two-run homer against closer David Robertson with two outs in the 10th inning lifted the Kansas City Royals to a 5-3 victory over the White Sox Wednesday night.  —  Jose Abreu hit his 30th homer and Tyler Flowers matched …

Angels Slowed With 8-7 Loss to Athletics  —  ANAHEIM, Calif. — Collin Cowgill's soft groundout to third wasn't a terribly appropriate way to end a seven-game winning streak and a rollicking homestand that propelled the Los Angeles Angels back into playoff position.

New MLB Commissioner Envisions More Speed-Up Experiments  —  NEW YORK — Rob Manfred envisions more experiments with speed-up rules, such as limiting pitching changes and trips to the mound, or requiring each pitcher to face multiple batters.  —  Speaking at the Sports Diversity & Inclusion Symposium …

Baseball's culture clash: Vast majority of brawls involve differing ethnicities  —  A scene from the Texas Rangers' clubhouse at Oakland's Coliseum last week neatly captured the blending of cultures that's so prevalent in baseball.  —  As Shin-Soo Choo highlights flashed on a TV screen …

Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Troy Tulowitzki encouraged daily by teammates during recovery  —  BALTIMORE - He is still new to his team, and for the past couple of weeks, he hasn't even been able to play.  But thanks to his teammates, Troy Tulowitzki does not feel at all like a stranger.

Game 158: Mets at Phillies, 7:05 p.m. ET  —  The Mets (89-68) continue their three-game series against the Phillies (60-97) on Wednesday in Philadelphia at 7:05 p.m. ET on SNY.  —  RHP Logan Verrett (1-2, 3.40 ERA) gets the start for the Mets.  He'll be opposed by RHP Alec Asher (0-5, 7.52 ERA) for Philadelphia.