Kommandozentrale » Charlie Blackmon and his teammates walked a

DENVER (AP) —round the field tossing T-shirts Jose Bautista Jersey , replica jerseys, lunch bags and backpacks into the sellout crowd.A more precious gift, though, remains up for grabs — an NL West title.The playoff-bound Colorado Rockies are headed to Los Angeles for a tiebreaking game to decide the division crown after routing the Washington Nationals 12-0 on Sunday behind Blackmon’s cycle.“Not many times in our past have we had a chance to play for a divisional title this late in the season,” Trevor Story said.As in, never — Colorado (91-71) is trying for its first division title.Tied atop the division with the Dodgers entering the last day, the Rockies won for the ninth time in 10 games, while Los Angeles routed San Francisco 15-0 to send the season to game 163.The one-game tiebreaker will be Monday at Dodger Stadium, and the loser goes to the Chicago Cubs or Milwaukee for Tuesday’s wild-card game.Walker Buehler will start for the Dodgers as the defending NL champions try for a sixth straight West title. The Rockies will counter with German Marquez, who struck out eight straight to begin his last start.“It’s two of the best young starting pitchers in the big leagues pitching in this type of game,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “It’s great.”Nolan Arenado hit two of the Rockies’ five homers and took over the National League lead with 37, one more than teammate Trevor Story — who also went deep. David Dahl homered for the sixth time in seven games.Blackmon finished his first career cycle and the ninth in Rockies history with a double in the eighth. He tripled in the first, homered in the third, singled in the fifth and struck out in the sixth.“Charlie is a really hard worker and we understand how much work he puts in,” Carlos Gonzalez said. “When he does something special on the field, we all feel really proud.”Tyler Anderson (7-9) didn’t look the least bit bothered by a sore shoulder that sidelined him for about a week. He scattered four hits over 7 2/3 innings for his first win since July 4 http://www.bluejaysfanproshop.com/authentic-curtis-granderson-jersey , combining with Seunghwan Oh and Chris Rusin on a five-hitter.“He was efficient. He was throwing strikes in good spots. That’s the type of game when he’s on that he can throw,” Black said.Arenado got the Rockies rolling in the first, with a two-run shot off Erick Fedde (2-4), who was starting after the Nationals elected to skip NL Cy Young Award candidate Max Scherzer. Blackmon added a two-run drive in the third.Fedde lasted four innings and gave up four runs in place of Scherzer, who wound up with a big league-best 300 strikeouts.Colorado went 19-9 in September, one shy of the team record set in 2007, when the Rockies made a late surge, beat San Diego in a wild-card tiebreaker and reached the World Series for the only time, only to be swept by Boston.Before the game, Story said he planned to do sneak peeks at the large scoreboard in right field to see how the Dodgers were faring. It wasn’t pretty, as Los Angeles scored early and often.Late in the game, the fans chanted “Beat LA! Beat LA! Beat LA!” The only cheer louder was the one Anderson received when he was taken out.“It was good to hear,” Anderson said.Anderson appeared iffy for this start after complaining of shoulder soreness that led him to be bumped from his outing last Monday. He steadily progressed throughout the week.The left-hander was 0-6 with a 6.08 ERA over his past 13 starts. But he found his command and worked out of trouble courtesy of three double plays.Arenado and Story hit back-to-back homers in the seventh to help the Rockies earn their 91st win of the season, which is the second-most in team history. The record is 92 turned in by the 2009 team.Washington (82-80) finished with a winning record for a seventh straight season.“The last two months have been fun. I enjoyed it,” said Dave Martinez, who replaced Dusty Baker as manager last offseason. “Unfortunately my first year as manager is over and I’m looking forward to seeing my family.”HARPER’S FINAL NATS AT-BAT?Soon-to-be free agent Bryce Harper doubled in perhaps his final Nationals at-bat. He was 2 for 4 with two doubles.“Nobody knows if I’m going to be back or nobody knows if I am going to be in a different uniform Marcus Stroman Jersey ,” said the 2015 NL MVP, who turns 26 next month. “If something happens, I am not afraid of change.”Asked whether the outfielder remains in the team’s plans, general manager Mike Rizzo said: “Of course he is in our plans. He’s a guy that we would love to have.”UP NEXTNationals: Open the 2019 season on March 28 against the New York Mets at Nationals Park. MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Willians Astudillo has quickly become a fan favorite in Minnesota. Games like the one Astudillo had Thursday only help add to the reputation of the player affectionately known as “La Tortuga.”Astudillo had a career-high four RBIs, Tyler Austin added three and the Twins beat the Detroit Tigers 9-3.Astudillo, playing in his 26th big league game, capped Minnesota’s five-run third inning when his two-out single drove in a pair of runs to give the Twins the lead. He also added a two-run double in the fifth.“I’m just trying to go out there and try to swing at good pitches and it’s working out for me so far,” Astudillo said through a translator. “Just swinging at good pitches, and thankfully I’m executing.”Minnesota took two of three against Detroit in the final series between the teams this year. The Twins won the season series 12-7.Tigers starter Francisco Liriano (5-12) left after just 2 1/3 innings due to lower back tightness. The former Twin exited with the bases loaded and wound up being charged with four runs.“He was having a hard time breathing out there,” manager Ron Gardenhire said. “He was trying not to land hard on his front foot, every time he landed hard on his front foot, he felt shooting pain. Just got to get him out of the game.”It was Liriano’s shortest start since the last time he faced the Twins back on Aug. 16, when he went just 1 2/3 innings.“This is not the way you want to finish the year, especially when you’re going to be a free agent,” Liriano said. “Very disappointed. I tried to pitch through it, but it didn’t get better Devon Travis Jersey , it was getting worse.”Austin tied the game in the third with a double that scored Joe Mauer and Logan Forsythe. He also plated Forsythe in the fifth inning with a ground-rule double.Astudillo has put together some impressive numbers since debuting with Minnesota in late June. Including Thursday’s two-hit, four-RBI game, Astudillo is now batting .357 with 19 RBIs. In the last two weeks, Astudillo is hitting .415 (22 for 53) and has 15 RBIs in that span.With a roster very much in question heading into the offseason, Astudillo is doing what he can to make a case for a roster spot in 2019.“It’s important, these guys that are trying to get at least somewhat established,” said Twins manager Paul Molitor. “It takes longer than a month to get yourself on the map, but you can make an impression.”The versatile Astudillo also struck out on a check swing in the second inning, just the third time on what was his 83rd plate appearance that he’s struck out with the Twins.“He doesn’t get to two strikes all that often,” Molitor said. “I was surprised to see a couple three-ball counts today. Liriano’s slider got him.”The Tigers threatened in the fifth with the bases loaded and one out. Minnesota reliever Matt Magill recorded two big outs to end the inning. Magill struck out Grayson Greiner looking before getting JaCoby Jones to go down swinging for the third out.Minnesota once again employed the opening pitcher strategy, with Gabriel Moya tossing just the first inning. The lefty gave up the game’s first run on a sacrifice fly by Nicholas Castellanos.Stephen Gonsalves (2-2) took over for Moya in the second and pitched 3 1/3 innings. Gonsalves was tagged for a pair of runs on three hits and four walks but earned his second career win.TRAINER’S ROOMTwins: Molitor didn’t sound optimistic that 3B Miguel Sano (leg) would return in the team’s final few games this season. “Each day it’s looking less and less,” Molitor said. “He’s not really changing how he’s feeling, and I’m certainly not going to be someone to push him out there if he’s not comfortable playing.” Sano last played on Sept. 18.UP NEXTTigers: RHP Jordan Zimmermann starts Friday’s game against the Brewers at Miller Park. He’s winless in his last three outings.Twins: RHP Jose Berrios (11-11, 3.93 ERA) starts the first game of a doubleheader Friday against the White Sox. Berrios is looking for his first win since Aug. 4.