Brewers, Astros in Playoffs with Losing Records As Dodgers Overpower Angels Nats Rout Mets As Soto Wins Batting Title
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14 Established 1961 Sports Tuesday, September 29, 2020 Photo of the day Out at last! Chinese football teams exit 70-day virus ‘bubble’ SHANGHAI: Chinese Super League teams yesterday began fil- tering out of sealed-off hotels where they have been confined for the past 10 weeks as part of strict measures to thwart the coronavirus. Players, coaches and backroom staff have not seen their families since mid-July, and were only allowed to leave the hotels to play matches and train. During the virus-hit season, eight of the 16 teams were at a single hotel in Suzhou, near Shanghai. The other eight were at a hotel in the northeastern city of Dalian. Players will now return to their families at last, before the second stage of the CSL campaign begins on October 16, again in Suzhou and Dalian. There were no report- ed infections during the first phase, after which Fabio Cannavaro’s reigning champions Guangzhou Evergrande were top in Dalian and Shanghai SIPG led in Suzhou. “When you’re here before the season starts (and you know that) you have 10 weeks in a hotel here in Dalian, your first thought is: it’s going to be very hard, it’s hard for everyone,” Giovanni van Bronckhorst, the former Barcelona star now in charge of Guangzhou R&F, said. “But now after 10 weeks the time went really fast, even though we are all in the hotel no mat- ter who-players, coaches, CFA (Chinese Football Association) staff, media.” Moises Lima, of Shandong Luneng, on Sunday posted a picture on Twitter of his fellow Brazilians in Dalian, including Evergrande’s international midfielder Paulinho. “We talk about serious things, we share jokes, we know more about each other’s stories, we learn from each other, we laugh a lot, we created new friendships,” the 32-year-old Moises wrote. “They gave me the strength to make the time go faster and take away some of the anxiety about being so far from our families. “We face each other on the pitch, each one defending their club in the best way, and regardless of the Lenn Coldenhoff of The Netherlands competes during the FIM MXGP Motocross World Championship in Italy. —Photo taken from www.redbullcontentpool.com result we continue respecting each other. “Without a doubt, five, 10, 20 years from now we will remember some stories from this period.” —AFP Brewers, Astros in playoffs with losing records as Dodgers overpower Angels Nats rout Mets as Soto wins batting title SAN DIEGO: Harrison Bader powered the playoff-bound St majors. The Dodgers have qualified for the playoffs in seven the American League, still won eight of their 10 meetings Indians 8, Pirates 6 Louis Cardinals to a 5-2 win Sunday over visiting Milwaukee, consecutive seasons, while the Angels finished 26-34 and out with the Orioles this season. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was 4-for-4 Carlos Santana and Franmil Reyes each homered and drove but the Brewers were still the big winners as they grabbed the of the postseason for the sixth year in a row. Billy Eppler, the with a two-run homer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. added a in four runs as Cleveland erased a four-run deficit against vis- last spot in the National League postseason. Bader hit a triple, Angels’ general manager for five of those seasons, was fired solo shot for Toronto. Orioles starter Keegan Akin allowed iting Pittsburgh and earned the fourth seed in the AL playoffs, blasted a solo homer and scored twice as the fifth-seeded by the club on Sunday. four runs on five hits in three innings. Travis Lakins Sr. (3-2) hosting the New York Yankees. Reyes hit a three-run homer, Cardinals will head on the road to face the fourth-seeded San relieved Akin and permitted a walk and struck out two in and Santana, who entered the game in a 4-for-41 funk, hit a Diego Padres in a National League wild-card series. Nationals 15, Mets 5 two scoreless innings. Cesar Valdez pitched a perfect ninth two-run homer and two-run double. The Indians scored three With the Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants Trea Turner hit a grand slam and finished with seven RBIs, to earn his third save. runs in the sixth and three more in the seventh for their largest also losing Sunday, the Brewers grabbed the No 8 seed in the and 21-year-old Juan Soto became the youngest National comeback win of the season. Jose Osuna hit a solo homer and NL. Milwaukee and the American League’s Houston Astros League batting champion as host Washington routed New Reds 5, Twins 3 an RBI single, Ke’Bryan Hayes hit a solo homer and Adam are the first teams ever to make the playoffs with a losing York. The Nationals won the final three games of the four- Eugenio Suarez had two hits and drove in two runs, Frazier added a two-run double for Pittsburgh. record. The Brewers will face the top-seeded Los Angeles game series to officially move past the Mets in the National including one during a three-run 10th inning, as Cincinnati Dodgers. Cardinals starting pitcher Austin Gomber allowed League East and avoid becoming just the third reigning defeated Minnesota in Minneapolis in the final regular-sea- Rays 5, Phillies 0 one run on one hit, two walks and a hit batter in four innings. World Series champion to finish last. Washington finished son game for a pair of playoff teams. Joey Votto walked Rookie Josh Fleming spun six scoreless innings as Tampa Reliever Giovanny Gallegos (2-2) pitched two scoreless fourth by virtue of winning the season series 6-4. Soto fin- three times and drove in what proved to be the winning run Bay Rays put an end to Philadelphia’s playoff hopes, finishing innings to earn the victory and Alex Reyes closed out the ished the regular season with a .351 batting average, ahead of with a bases-loaded free pass for Cincinnati. The Reds, who their three-game sweep in St Petersburg, Fla. In a career-long game to earn his first save. runner-up Freddie Freeman (.341) and No. 3 Marcell Ozuna were locked into the No. 7 seed in the National League start, Fleming (5-0) recorded five strikeouts and allowed four (.338), both of the Braves. when the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Milwaukee hits and a walk. Relievers Oliver Drake, Aaron Loup and Ryan Rangers 8, Astros 4 Brewers 5-2 earlier on Sunday, will face the second-seeded Sherriff each tossed a scoreless frame in the six-hit shutout for Rougned Odor hit a pair of home runs and host Texas par- Marlins 5, Yankees 0 Atlanta Braves in the National League wild-card round Tampa Bay, which finished the regular season by winning nine layed a five-run fourth inning into a victory over Houston, giv- New York’s DJ LeMahieu wrapped up the American beginning Wednesday. Raisel Iglesias (4-3) picked up the of its last 11 games. Kevan Smith, Mike Brosseau and Nate ing the Rangers the four-game series win in Arlington, Texas. League batting title, but the Yankees were dealt a shutout loss win despite allowing an unearned run in his 1 1/3 innings. Lowe all added two hits. The Rays open the postseason Texas trailed 3-1 before Odor smacked a three-run home run to by visiting Miami in the regular-season finale for both teams. Caleb Thielbar (2-1) took the loss after pitching 1 1/3 innings against Toronto on Tuesday. Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola right field off Astros right-hander Chase De Jong (0-1) with LeMahieu finished with a .364 batting average to win the AL and giving up one unearned run. Sergio Romo failed to (5-5) took the loss after giving up six hits and three runs in 3 one out in the fourth. Odor clubbed his 10th homer an inning batting title, and became the first player to win batting titles in retire any of the four batters he faced. 2/3 innings. Bryce Harper had two hits. Philadelphia ended the later off right-hander Nivaldo Rodriguez, who entered in relief both leagues after winning the 2016 crown with Colorado in regular season by losing seven of its final eight games. of De Jong with the bases loaded and two outs in the fourth. 2016. Jazz Chisholm hit a two-run double and homered for the Cubs 10, White Sox 8 Odor finished 2-for-3 with four RBIs, two runs and a walk. The Marlins, who secured their first winning record since 2009 but Kris Bryant and David Bote homered as part of a six-run A’s 6, Mariners 2 Astros, who finished 9-23 on the road, will open their American also lost outfielder Starling Marte (ear contusion) and starting second inning and Billy Hamilton added a home run and a Jake Lamb homered leading off the bottom of the seventh League wild-card series at Minnesota today as the sixth seed. pitcher Jose Urena (hand) in the opening three innings. steal of home, helping the visiting Cubs send their cross- inning, sparking a three-run rally as Oakland defeated visiting Houston posted its first losing season since 2014 and joined the town rivals to an eighth loss in the last 10 games. The Cubs Seattle. Lamb’s homer to left-center field came on a 2-1 count Milwaukee Brewers in becoming the first teams in baseball his- Red Sox 9, Braves 1 led 10-1 entering the eighth inning, but the White Sox against Seattle right-hander Yoshihisa Hirano (0-1) and broke tory to make the postseason with records below .500.