FRIDAY’S OTHER MLB DIVISION SERIES playoffs

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Red Sox 5, Yankees 4

BOSTON

Chris Sale struck out eight for his first career postseason win, J.D. Martinez hit a three-run homer and the Boston Red Sox sweated out their shaky bullpen to beat the New York Yankees. The Yankees loaded the bases in the sixth and again in the seventh, cutting the deficit to 5-3. Aaron Judge homered off Craig Kimbrel to lead off the ninth before the Red Sox closer retired the next three batters, striking out Giancarlo Stanton and Luke Voit for the save.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Brewers 4, Rockies 0

MILWAUKEE

Jhoulys Chacin and the Milwaukee bullpen kept in control, Mike Moustakas contributed two more big hits and the Brewers beat the Colorado Rockies for a commanding 2-0 lead in their NL Division Series. The Brewers won their 10th straight game going back to their impressive finish to the regular season. Erik Kratz had two hits and drove in two runs, Hernan Perez hit two ground-rule doubles and Milwaukee’s bullpen closed the door after Chacin delivered in his playoff debut.

Dodgers 3, Braves 0

LOS ANGELES

Clayton Kershaw tossed eight innings of two-hit ball in the Dodgers’ second straight playoff shutout, and Manny Machado slugged a two-run homer as Los Angeles beat the Atlanta Braves for a 2-0 lead in their NL Division Series. The Dodgers used a nearly identical formula to win 6-0 in Game 1 behind Hyun-Jin Ryu, who allowed only four two-out singles over seven innings, and home runs by Joc Pederson, Max Muncy and Enrique Hernandez. Kershaw was even better. The left-hander struck out three and walked none in remaining unbeaten against Atlanta throughout his illustrious career. Los Angeles can sweep the best-of-five series in Game 3 on Sunday in Atlanta, where the Baby Braves will be looking to score for the first time this postseason.

Associated Press