Real or Not?  Rockies games are must-see television  —  After the shenanigans from Jose Urena on Wednesday, it was a less eventful day on Thursday across the majors ...  Dr. Feelgood: Thankfully, Ronald Acuna Jr. was back in the lineup for the Braves after Urena plunked him in the elbow.

The many sides of Joe Maddon: The best moments from ‘The Joe Show’  —  Photos of Joe Maddon, the 2015 NL Manager of the Year.  —  Chicago Tribune  —  It's difficult to contemplate life without Joe Maddon, but one day he'll be gone and we'll all have a lot less to talk about.

Buchholz pitches five-hitter, Diamondbacks beat Padres 5-1  —  David Peralta hit a three-run homer and the  —  San Diego Padres 5-1 on Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series.  —  Buchholz (6-2) allowed a leadoff double to  —  Travis Jankowski but retired the next 13 batters he faced.

Yankees' Giancarlo Stanton nearly hits for the cycle... in one at-bat  —  Giancarlo Stanton may have been the furthest from the spot, but he knew.  The Yankees' slugger busted out of the box and sped up as he turned the corner at first in the eighth.  Meanwhile, his hard-hit ball off the wall …

NL Cy Young race likely will be a battle between NL East aces  —  Jacob deGrom on his outing in the 2-1 loss to Atlanta Matt Ehalt, Staff Writer, @MattEhalt  —  With the season winding down, the top candidates are starting to emerge in the awards races.  Several should come down to the wire.

Rangers' Adrian Beltre still sidelined by hamstring injury  —  ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre is still out of the lineup because of his troublesome left hamstring, but remains on the active roster.  —  Beltre said before the Rangers' game Thursday …

Forsythe gets 5 hits, Twins outslug Tigers in 15-8 win  —  MINNEAPOLIS (AP) All that Logan Forsythe has done since arriving in Minnesota is get hits.  —  The veteran infielder joined the Twins at the beginning of August in a trade that sent popular second baseman Brian Dozier to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Recapping the slam: An oral history of David Bote's big blast  —  PITTSBURGH — It'll be a night they'll tell their grandkids about, especially Chicago Cubs rookie David Bote.  Last Sunday, on national television, Bote hit the only walk-off grand slam in baseball history in which a team …

Lester, Happ combine to lead Cubs to 1-0 win over Pirates  —  Jon Lester pitched six innings to win for the first time in just over a month and  —  Pittsburgh Pirates 1-0 on Thursday night.  —  Lester (13-5) allowed five hits, struck out eight and had no walks while improving to 3-1 against the Pirates this season.

Mets Set Franchise Mark With 24 Runs  —  PHILADELPHIA — Jose Bautista hit a grand slam and had a career-high seven runs batted in, and the Mets set a franchise record for runs as they forced the Phillies to use two position players for the final three innings of a 24-4 victory in the first game of a doubleheader Thursday.