Indians clinch second straight Central Division title

Francisco Lindor (12) and Austin Jackson (26) of the Cleveland Indians celebrate an 8-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field on Saturday in Cleveland, Ohio. (AFP)

CLEVELAND: For the second year in a row, the Cleveland Indians are Major League Baseball’s AL Central champions.
The Indians clinched their title on Saturday night when second-place Minnesota lost to Toronto. Earlier, the Indians bounced back after having their league record winning streak ended at 22 games by beating the Kansas City Royals 8-4.
This is the first time the Indians have won consecutive division titles since 1999, when they finished a run of five straight first-place finishes. All of their fans were long gone from Progressive Field when this clinch became official.
Francisco Lindor’s RBI double in the sixth off Jason Hammel (8-12) gave the All-Star shortstop an extra-base hit in a club-record 10 straight games. The major league record is 14 straight, shared by Chipper Jones (2006) and Paul Waner (1927).
Carlos Carrasco (16-6) pitched into the seventh as the Indians improved to 32-5 in their last 37 games.
Blue Jays 7 Twins 2: In Minneapolis, Marco Estrada pitched eight efficient innings and Josh Donaldson homered twice among his four hits as Toronto topped Minnesota Twins.
The Twins’ loss clinched the AL Central for Cleveland. Minnesota is one game ahead of the Angels for the second wild-card spot.
Estrada (9-8) gave up two runs.
Donaldson gave the Blue Jays a lead in the first by sending a first-pitch shot off Adalberto Mejia (4-6) into the second deck in left-center.
Angels 2 Rangers 0: In Anaheim, California, Justin Upton hit two home runs, Parker Bridwell outpitched Cole Hamels and the Los Angeles Angels moved up in the AL wild-card race by beating Texas.
The Angels closed within one game of Minnesota for the second wild-card spot.
Upton connected in the first inning and again in the eighth. He has 31 home runs and a career-high 103 RBIs this year with Detroit and the Angels — it is his second straight season with at least 30 homers.
The 30-year-old Upton had just one homer in his first 13 games for the Angels before twice tagging Hamels (10-4).
Diamondbacks 2 Giants 0: In San Francisco, Zack Greinke pitched eight innings of two-hit ball and Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run homer as Arizona defeated San Francisco.
The Diamondbacks reduced their magic number for clinching a playoff berth to six as they won for the 20th time in 25 games and for the ninth straight time on the road.
The Giants have dropped four straight.
Greinke (17-6) struck out eight and gave up one walk as he moved into a three-way tie for the major league lead in victories with Clayton Kershaw and Zach Davies.
Greinke also hit two doubles.
Rockies 16 Padres 0: In Denver, Tyler Anderson pitched six innings in his first start since returning from knee surgery and Charlie Blackmon set an NL season record for RBIs by a leadoff man as Colorado won a testy game against San Diego.
Blackmon homered and doubled to drive in four runs, pushing his season RBI total from the leadoff position to 92 and surpassing Craig Biggio, who had 88 in 1998.
Pat Valaika had a pinch-hit grand slam during a six-run seventh and Carlos Gonzalez also homered for the Rockies, who stretched their lead for the second NL wild-card card berth to 3 1/2 games over Milwaukee. Colorado has won eight of its last 10 games and extended its winning streak against San Diego to seven.
The Padres lost their fifth straight overall.
Immediately after giving up Blackmon’s three-run drive in the sixth that made it 10-0, reliever Miguel Diaz plunked DJ LeMahieu in the back. LeMahieu was restrained from heading to the mound and players from both dugouts and bullpens streamed onto the field but no punches were thrown, and Diaz was ejected.
Anderson (5-5) didn’t give up a hit until Manuel Margot beat out an infield single with two outs in the sixth. Jordan Lyles (1-3) took the loss.
Dodgers 3 Nationals 2: In Washington, Cody Bellinger hit his 38th homer to match the National League single-season record for rookies, helping the Dodgers move closer to the NL West title.
Chase Utley had two doubles and scored twice to help Los Angeles reduce its magic number to win the division to five. Rich Hill (10-8) and five relievers combined on a four-hitter.
Los Angeles also moved seven games ahead of Washington in the race to secure home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs. The Dodgers have won four straight since dropping 11 in a row.
Anthony Rendon homered for the Nationals, who have lost four of five since clinching the NL East last Sunday. A.J. Cole (2-5) allowed three runs in five-plus innings.