Cincinnati clinches Central crown

By JOE KAY

AP Sports Writer

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 99 mph fastball.

The celebration was on, though more subdued than two years ago.

“A couple of years ago, we were a surprise,” said Joey Votto, who was the NL MVP that season. “It kind of crept up on us. We didn’t expect it. This year, we felt we had something to prove.”

As the Reds closed in on the final outs, second baseman Brandon Phillips pretended he was shaking a bottle of champagne and spraying it everywhere while sitting on the bench in the dugout. Phillips says the only other time he’s had champagne was during the 2010 clubhouse celebration.

After the final out, players formed a huddle to the side of the mound, with pitcher Johnny Cueto spraying them with a bottle of water. An attendant rolled out a cart of gray championship shirts and hats.

Cincinnati became the first team in the majors to clinch a division title this season, leaving it with one goal left. The Reds are vying with Washington for the NL’s top seed in the playoffs, both with 92 wins that lead the majors.

It’s unclear when Baker will be back. The three-time manager of the year also won division titles with the Giants and Cubs. Baker reached the World Series once as a manager, losing a Game 7 against the Angels in 2002, his final season in San Francisco.

Cincinnati’s 92nd win is another high point under Baker, who took over in 2008 when the club was rebuilding with young stars Bruce, Votto and Cueto. The Reds improved each of the first two seasons, then became champions ahead of schedule by winning 91 games in 2010 to secure their first postseason appearance in 15 years.

BRAVES 8, PHILLIES 2

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.

The win coupled with Milwaukee’s 10-4 loss to Washington reduced Atlanta’s magic number for securing a playoff spot to three. The Braves were up 8½ games through Sept. 5 last year, but went 9-18 down the stretch and were overtaken by St. Louis on the final day of the season.

The Phillies fell four games behind the Cardinals for the NL’s second wild-card spot with only 10 games remaining. The five-time defending NL East champions had won four in a row and 12 of 15.

Ryan Howard became the second-fastest player to reach 300 homers, but Halladay (10-8) lasted just 1 2-3 innings, allowing seven runs and five hits.

Minor (10-10) gave up two runs and two hits in six innings to win his fourth straight decision.

CARDINALS 5, CUBS 4 (10)

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

Carlos Beltran hit a tying solo homer in the ninth for the Cardinals, who improved their lead for the second NL wild-card spot to 2½ games over Milwaukee.

The defending World Series champion Cardinals have 10 games left in the regular season. They bounced back from an agonizing 11-inning loss at Wrigley Field the previous day.

After Matt Carpenter and Brian Anderson drew two-out walks from Jaye Chapman (0-1), Jay doubled down the right-field line.

Mitchell Boggs (4-1) got the last out of the ninth. Jason Motte struck out the side in the 10th for his 39th save.

Beltran made it 4-all with his 30th homer, a one-out shot off Carlos Marmol that wrapped just inside the right-field foul pole.

NATIONALS 10, BREWERS 4

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, taking a shutout into the sixth inning to help the Nationals close in on their first NL East title.

Ryan Zimmerman and Ian Desmond each hit a three-run homer off former Nationals pitcher Livan Hernandez in the fourth inning, and Washington stopped Milwaukee’s six-game winning streak. The Brewers now trail St. Louis by 2½ games for the second NL wild card.

Owners of baseball’s best record, the Nationals already are assured of postseason play, and Gonzalez (20-8, 2.84 ERA) is a big reason.

Milwaukee starter Wily Peralta (2-1) lasted only 2 2-3 innings, giving up three runs and five hits, along with four walks and a wild pitch.

METS 4, MARLINS 3

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.

Just hours after the Mets snapped a nine-game losing streak at Citi Field on Friday and scored more than three runs in their home ballpark for the first time since Aug. 12, New York broke out the bats again in front of a crowd of 30,332.

YANKEES 10, A’S 9 (14)

NEW YORK — Raul Ibanez hit his second home run of the game during a startling rally in the 13th inning, then the New York Yankees won a thriller when first baseman Brandon Moss’ two-out error in the 14th lifted them over the Oakland Athletics.

The AL East leaders came back to hold their one-game edge over Baltimore. Down 9-5 in the 13th, the Yankees won for just the second time in team history after trailing by at least four runs in extra innings.

ORIOLES 9, RED SOX 6 (12)

BOSTON — Jim Thome hit a go-ahead double in the 12th in his first game in nearly two months and Baltimore stretched its extra-inning win streak to 16 games.

The Orioles won their sixth in a row overall and remained one back of the AL East-leading New York Yankees.

TIGERS 8, TWINS 0

DETROIT — Miguel Cabrera hit his 42nd homer, putting him in Triple Crown position, and Doug Fister pitched his first career shutout to help the Tigers get the win.

Detroit began the day 1½ games behind the AL Central-leading Chicago White Sox, who played later at the Los Angeles Angels.

ROYALS 5, INDIANS 3

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Billy Butler hit a run-scoring single in the first inning to reach 100 RBIs for the first time, helping Kansas City to the victory.

Butler also doubled twice in his 53rd multihit game, raising his batting average to .312. He became the first Royals player to drive in at least 100 runs since Carlos Beltran had 100 RBIs in 2003.

Cord Phelps hit a two-run homer for Cleveland, which has dropped 11 of 14. The Indians have the worst record in the majors since the All-Star break at 18-49.

Will Smith (6-8) allowed two runs in seven innings to improve to 2-4 with a 4.54 ERA in his last six starts. Fellow rookie Kelvin Herrera worked the ninth for his second save.

Indians starter Ubaldo Jimenez (9-17) was charged with five runs and seven hits in 4 1-3 innings.