AP Sports Wrap From Saturday, Sept 26 2015

UNDATED (AP) — The New York Mets are National League East champions for the sixth time in their history, and the first since 2006.

The Mets clinched the division by picking up their club-record 10th consecutive road win, rolling to a 10-2 rout of the Reds in Cincinnati. Lucas Duda (DOO'-duh) put the Mets ahead with a grand slam in the first inning, Curtis Granderson added a solo shot in the second and David Wright provided the capper with a three-run shot in the ninth.

Matt Harvey picked up the clinching victory, allowing two runs and nine hits over 6 2/3 innings. Harvey and the bullpen blanked the Reds after Ivan DeJesus lined a two-run double in the second.

The Mets are the first National League team to clinch a division title. They will likely play the Dodgers in the NLDS.

Elsewhere in the majors:

— Francisco Liriano pitched four-hit ball into the eighth inning of Pittsburgh's eighth straight victory, a 4-0 shutout of the Cubs in Chicago. Jordy Mercer snapped a scoreless tie with a three-run homer in the fifth to help Liriano improve to 12-7. The Pirates remain three games behind the NL Central-leading Cardinals and are 5 ½ games ahead of the Cubs for the first wild-card berth.

— The Cardinals were 5-1 winners over Milwaukee behind Jaime Garcia, who struck out eight and held the Brewers to seven hits in eight innings. Matt Holliday delivered a pair of RBI doubles for the Redbirds, who ended the game without Matt Carpenter due to tightness in his left hip. Kolten Wong's two-run single put St. Louis ahead 4-0 in the first inning.

— The Dodgers' magic number remains two to win the NL West after Carlos Gonzalez ripped a two-run, walk-off homer in the ninth to give the Rockies an 8-6 win over Los Angeles. The Dodgers rallied after Nolan Arenado slammed his 40th homer of the season, a grand slam in the bottom of the first.

— Houston is within 3 ½ games of the AL West lead after Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve each homered twice in the Astros' 9-7 win over the division-leading Texas Rangers. Chris Carter snapped a 4-4 tie with a solo blast in the sixth, and Colby Rasmus added a seventh-inning homer that put the Astros ahead 8-4.

— The Angels stayed a half-game behind Houston for the final AL wild-card berth by downing Seattle 3-2 on a walk-off homer by David Freese in the bottom of the ninth. C.J. Kron's solo blast tied the game 2-2 in the sixth before Los Angeles picked up its fourth straight win.

— Toronto's lead in the AL East remains four games over the Yankees after Jose Bautista hit his 38th and 39th homers while driving in four runs to lead the Blue Jays to a 10-8 win over Tampa Bay. Russell Martin smacked a two-run homer and Kevin Pillar  was 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI doubles. David Price improved to 18-5 despite allowing four earned runs and six hits in five innings, hours after the Jays wrapped up a playoff berth.

— The Yanks kept pace as Adam Warren allowed one run and three hits in six innings of a 2-1 triumph over the Chicago White Sox. The Yankees trailed 1-0 until Chase Headley and Alex Rodriguez hit RBI doubles in the sixth, helping New York move another step closer to clinching an AL playoff berth.

— Minnesota beat Detroit 6-2 as the Twins stayed 1 ½ games behind Houston for the final AL playoff berth. Eduardo Escobar hit a two-run homer and had three RBIs to back Tyler Duffey, who gave up two runs in six innings.

— Carlos Santana's two-run homer and three RBIs helped Cleveland beat Kansas City, 9-5. Yan Gomes socked a solo homer and Francisco Lindor drove in a pair as the Indians stayed three games behind the Astros.

— Jarrett Parker's third home run of the afternoon was a tiebreaking grand slam in a five-run eighth that pushed San Francisco over Oakland, 14-10. The rookie is the first Giant with at least three homers and seven RBIs in a game since Willie Mays in 1961.

— Washington beat Philadelphia 2-1 on Bryce Harper's RBI double in the bottom of the 12th. The Nationals ended a four-game losing streak about an hour after they were eliminated from the NL East race.

— First-time starter Craig Breslow and six relievers combined on a five-hitter and the Boston Red Sox beat Baltimore 8-0. Third baseman Manny Machado made a pair of two-run errors, both coming on grounders by Xander Bogaerts.

— Justin Nicolino allowed a run and two hits in seven innings of Miami's 6-2 verdict over Atlanta. Justin Bour hit a two-run homer for the Marlins.

— Robbie Erlin also scattered two hits in seven innings as Arizona blanked San Diego, 3-0. Jedd Gyorko sandwiched a pair of sacrifice flies around Justin Upton's RBI double.

MLB-TIGERS

Ausmus staying in Motown

DETROIT (AP) — Brad Ausmus will be back to manage the Detroit Tigers next season. Contrary to reports he would fire Ausmus, general manager Al Avila has announced that Ausmus will be in the dugout in 2016.

Avila took over as GM in early August and immediately announced he would be doing a complete review of the organization.

MLB-CARDINALS

Cards lose All-Star pitcher

ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez has been shut down for the rest of the season and the playoffs with a shoulder strain. The 14-game winner lasted just seven pitches Friday night against the Milwaukee Brewers.

General manager John Mozeliak said an MRI showed the damage. Rest rather than surgery was prescribed with a recovery time of between one and two months.

T25-SCHEDULE

Early results of ranked schools

UNDATED (AP) — The top two teams in The Associated Press college football poll picked up victories on Saturday, although neither did it in dominating fashion.

Cardale Jones threw two touchdown passes and Adolphus Washington returned an interception 20 yards for a score to lead top-ranked Ohio State to a 38-12 win over Western Michigan. Jones finished 19 of 33 for 288 yards and an interception before J.T. Barrett replaced him late in the game.

Ezekial Elliott topped 100 yards for the ninth straight game, finishing with 144 and a touchdown as the 3-0 Buckeyes earned their 17th consecutive win.

Gerald Holmes ran for a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns as No. 2 Michigan State knocked off Central Michigan, 31-10. Spartans quarterback Connor Cook threw for only 143 yards as the 1-3 Chippewas kept their upset bid very much alive until the final period.

MSU lost standout tackle Jack Conklin to an apparent knee injury, although it's not clear how serious that is.

Meanwhile, one of the nation's No. 3 teams barely avoided an upset. Trevone Boykin hit Aaron Green for a four-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal with just 23 seconds left to give TCU a wild 55-52 victory over Texas Tech. Boykin was 34 of 54 for 485 yards, four TDs and no interceptions, while Green rushed for 162 yards and two scores.

DeAndre Washington ran for 188 yards and four touchdowns for the Red Raiders, who took a 52-48 lead on Patrick Mahomes' 50-yard TD toss to Justin Stockton with 5:55 left.

In other top-25 action:

— Chad Kelly threw for 321 yards and Jaylen Walton ran for a season-high 133 yards as No. 3 Mississippi pushed past feisty Vanderbilt 27-16. Robert Nkemdiche ran for a 1-yard touchdown following a blocked punt to give Ole Miss a 20-13 lead late in the third quarter.

— Fifth-ranked Baylor crushed Rice, 70-17 as Seth Russell matched a school record with six touchdown passes. Russell threw for 277 yards, Corey Coleman grabbed three scoring passes in the first half and Shock Linwood ran for 158 with a score as the 3-0 Bears extended the nation's longest home winning streak to 18 games.

— C.J. Sanders scored on a 50-yard punt return and sixth-ranked Notre Dame scored four straight touchdowns in a 62-27 pounding of Massachusetts. DeShone Kizer threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Chris Brown with six seconds left in the first half to give the Irish a 35-20 halftime lead.

— Nick Chubb ran for 131 yards and two touchdowns and also caught a TD pass to lead No. 7 Georgia past Southern 48-6. Chubb' went over the 100-yard mark for the 12th straight game with a 49-yard scoring burst in the third quarter for the 4-0 Bulldogs.

— Leonard Fournette ran for a career-high 244 yards and two touchdowns as No. 8 LSU beat Syracuse 34-24 to improve to 3-0. It was the fifth straight 100-yard game for Fournette.

— True freshman Josh Rosen was sharp in his first Pac-12 road game, throwing for 284 yards and accounting for three touchdowns in No. 9 UCLA's 56-30 romp over No. 16 Arizona. Paul Perkins ran for 85 yards and three more scores for the Bruins, who turned three Wildcats turnovers into touchdowns while building a 28-point lead.

— Jake Coker threw for three TDs and No. 12 Alabama's defense allowed just 92 total yards in a 34-0 shutout of Louisiana-Monroe. The Warhawks didn't have a first down in the first 23 minutes and were held to nine yards rushing.

— Travis Wilson threw for 227 yards, ran for another 100 and accounted for five touchdowns as 18th-ranked Utah destroyed No. 13 Oregon, 62-20. Wilson threw for four TDs and running back Devontae Booker added a 25-yard scoring pass before finishing with 98 rushing yards.

— Kyle Allen threw for 358 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown to Christian Kirk in overtime as 14th-ranked Texas A&M knocked off Arkansas, 28-21. Allen completed 21 of his 28 passes and threw to Kirk for both of his TDs.

— No. 17 Northwestern got past Ball State, 24-19 as Clayton Thorson threw three touchdown passes and Justin Jackson ran for a career-high 184 yards. Dan Vitale had five receptions for 108 yards and a pair of touchdown catches, including a 66-yarder in the first half.

— Cody Kessler threw for 375 yards and five touchdowns and No. 19 Southern California took advantage of Arizona State's mistakes to roll past the Sun Devils 42-14.

— Duke upset No. 20 Georgia Tech 34-20 as Shaquille Powell rushed for three touchdowns and the Blue Devils defense dominated the Yellow Jackets. DeVon Edwards returned a kickoff 100 yards for a score, while Powell scored on runs of one, four and 30 yards for the 3-1 Blue Devils.

— Michigan's Wolverines pulled an upset by blanking 22nd-ranked BYU 31-0. Jake Rudock ran for two touchdowns and threw for another one to help the Wolverines win their third straight since dropping their season opener under first-year coach Jim Harbaugh.

— Taiwan Deal ran for 147 yards and two scores as No. 22 Wisconsin silenced Hawaii, 28-0. The Badgers haven't allowed a touchdown to a nonconference opponent in three straight games.

— No. 24 Oklahoma State pulled out a 30-27 victory over Texas on Ben Grogan's 40-yard field goal with six seconds left. Grogan had tied the game with a 41-yarder with 1:33 left, and the game appeared headed for overtime until Texas punter Michael Dickson fumbled a deep snap and got off a 10-yard punt near his own end zone.

— Kentucky had dropped 18 straight against ranked teams until Patrick Towles threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score to lead the Wildcats past No. 25 Missouri 21-13. Towles was 22 of 27 passing for 249 yards to help Kentucky end the Tigers' 11-game road winning streak.

GOLF-TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

Spieth grabs the lead

ATLANTA (AP) — Jordan Spieth is poised to take home the FedEx $10 million bonus check. Already having a great year, Spieth is one round away from having the richest year in golf history.

The 22-year old chased second-round leader Henrik Stenson over the 18 holes on Saturday and eventually passed him with a 20-foot birdie on the 18th hole to pull ahead at the Tour Championship. Spieth shot a third-round 2-under 68 on a rainy day to take a one shot lead over Stenson, who shot a 2-over-72.

Rickie Fowler shot a 67, the best score of the third round, and is four shots back.

CHAMPIONS TOUR-FIRST TEE OPEN

Monty leads through 36

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Colin Montgomerie bogeyed the final hole of his second round to leave him one shot ahead of Olin Browne at the Champions Tour's First Tee Open at Pebble Beach.

Montgomerie shot a 5-under 67 that puts him minus-8 for the tournament.

NHL-BLACKHAWKS-SEABROOK

Hawks lock up Seabrook

CHICAGO (AP) — The defending champion Chicago Blackhawks and defenseman Brent Seabrook have agreed to an eight-year contract extension through the 2023-24 season.

The 30-year-old Seabrook holds franchise records among defensemen with six regular-season overtime goals, 19 postseason goals and three postseason overtime goals. He has 71 goals and 318 in 763 career games, all with the Hawks.