Texas Rangers left-hander Cody Bradford says he realized early in his development that he probably wouldn’t ever possess the type of fastball that causes scouts to take a second look at their radar guns.

Houston right-hander Ronel Blanco followed his no-hitter with one-hit ball over six scoreless innings, and the Astros beat the Texas Rangers 3-1.

José Abreu hit a three-run homer right after Yordan Alvarez’s tiebreaking sacrifice fly, and the Houston Astros pulled even in the AL Championship Series with a 10-3 victory over the Texas Rangers in Game 4.

Andrew Heaney and Dane Dunning helped Texas reach the sixth inning with a lead, and the Rangers’ maligned bullpen held on through some anxious moments for a 3-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles in Game 1 of their AL Division Series.

Jose Altuve homered his first three times up, starting with a pair off All-Star right-hander Nathan Eovaldi in his return from the injured list, and the Houston Astros pummeled the Texas Rangers 14-1.

Jose Altuve homered in his first three at-bats for the Houston Astros against the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night.

It may take more than an injury to Jacob deGrom to knock the Texas Rangers out of first place.

Jon Gray pitched six innings of four-hit ball, Adolis García homered and the Texas Rangers beat the reeling Miami Marlins 8-0.

Zach Greinke allowed just one run on four hits, helping the Kansas City Royals avoid a three-game sweep by beating the Texas Rangers 2-1.

Brad Miller snapped Michael King’s impressive scoreless streak with a pinch-hit, two-run homer in the seventh inning that lifted the Texas Rangers over the New York Yankees 4-2 to salvage a doubleheader split.

Guardians newcomer Steven Kwan has quickly become the biggest story in baseball after a sensational start in a season-opening series at Kansas City.

Aaron Civale allowed only three singles while pitching six scoreless innings and the Cleveland Indians closed out their 107th and final season under that name with a 6-0 win against the Texas Rangers.

Javier Báez and his New York Mets teammates get a day to cool off after the derogatory gestures they directed toward frustrated fans at Citi Field angered club management.

Shohei Ohtani pitched six solid innings, Juan Lagares raced home from second base on a wild pitch for the lead with the two-way standout at the plate, and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Texas Rangers 2-1.

Jonah Heim hit his second walk-off homer in as many games right after a tying, two-run shot from Andy Ibánez in the ninth inning, and the Texas Rangers rallied again to beat the Seattle Mariners 4-3.

Major league home run leader Shohei Ohtani is set to pitch for the Angels in his first outing since tossing a perfect first inning in the All-Star Game.

The Chicago White Sox and All-Star right-hander Lance Lynn have agreed to a $38 million, two-year contract extension.

Jake Arrieta pitches against the World Series champion Dodgers on Friday, one night after Zach Davies and three Cubs relievers combined for the majors' seventh no-hitter this year to match the most in a season since 1900.

The Chicago White Sox, Houston, Milwaukee and San Francisco all move to full capacity Friday for the first time since 2019, raising the total to 24 teams at 100%.

Jonah Heim and Nate Lowe had two-run homers among their three hits apiece, Kolby Allard pitched five scoreless innings of five-hit ball and the Texas Rangers emphatically snapped their 16-game road losing streak with a 12-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Shohei Ohtani hit his 15th homer during a six-run burst, Andrew Heaney got his first win in seven weeks and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Texas Rangers 11-5.

SETBACK IN THE BULLPENBlue Jays right-hander Kirby Yates will miss several weeks because of a strained muscle in his forearm. He allowed one run and five hits, striking out five without a walk. Ross Stripling struck out seven and walked none in 3 2/3 innings, but gave up three runs and five hits. Bryan Abreu, a top Astros pitching prospect who turns 24 next month, started and pitched three perfect innings, striking out four. Baltimore starter John Means allowed four hits and walked three over 3 2/3 innings, striking out three.

The Chicago White Sox acquired a big workhorse for their starting rotation. Lance Lynn was traded from the Texas Rangers to the White Sox on Tuesday for right-hander Dane Dunning and lefty Avery Weems. The on-the-rise White Sox are coming off their first playoff appearance since 2008, going 35-25 and finishing tied for second in the AL Central before losing to Oakland in their wild-card series. While the Rangers didn't move Lynn at the Aug. 31 trade deadline, they did send All-Star lefty Mike Minor to Oakland. Weems, 23, was 5-4 with a 2.09 ERA over 14 starts in the White Sox minor league system in 2019 after he was selected on the sixth round of the amateur draft.

Chicago White Sox pitcher Matt Foster walks to the dugout after retiring the Oakland Athletics during the fourth inning of Game 3 of an American League wild-card baseball series Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Then there were teams like the Indians and Chicago White Sox, whose seasons are over in large part because of control problems that popped up at the worst possible time. The Atlanta-Cincinnati contest was the first postseason game to be scoreless after 11 innings. The Chicago White Sox know all about that problem. The White Sox ended up using nine pitchers and Oakland used eight. The A's won 6-4, helped along the way when Matt Foster walked in two Oakland runs in the fourth.

Oakland stopped a nine-game losing streak in winner-take-all postseason games, a major league record that dated to the 1973 World Series. “I woke up this morning feeling like this was going to be a hard game and it was a hard game,” Melvin said. The low-budget A's had not captured a winner-take-all postseason game since beating Hall of Famer Willie Mays and the New York Mets. That prompted White Sox star Tim Anderson to say, “I guess they haven’t done their homework.”“It’s a tough one to swallow but we've got to keep going,” Anderson said. HURLING ITThe 17 pitchers, nine by Chicago, were the most in a nine-inning postseason game.

CORRECTS TO THIRD INNING NOT SECOND INNING Chicago White Sox's Eloy Jimenez, right, leaves the game with an injury next to a trainer and manager Rick Renteria, left, during the third inning of Game 3 of an American League wild-card baseball series against the Oakland Athletics, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Jiménez returned to Chicago's lineup for the first time since Sept. 24 but left in the third inning with renewed discomfort in his sprained right foot. Jiménez hit a leadoff double before signaling to the bench that he needed a pinch-runner. Manager Rick Renteria was late writing his lineup waiting to see whether Jiménez could play. Crochet — the 11th overall pick in this year's amateur draft — relieved fellow rookie starter Dane Dunning in the first. Jiménez went through extensive baseball work Monday and still experienced soreness, keeping him out the initial two in the best-of-three round.

San Diego Padres shortstop Eric Hosmer, center, celebrates after the Padres beat the Seattle Mariners in a baseball game Sunday, Sept. 20, 2020, in San Diego. The Padres clinched a spot in the playoffs. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

But going into this last week, a lot of postseason spots are still wide open. Tampa Bay, Oakland, the White Sox and Minnesota also have earned AL spots, and Cleveland, Toronto and Houston have the inside track on the three remaining positions. With six spots in play, it should be an entertaining week with Cincinnati, Milwaukee and San Francisco all at .500. NICE STARTDane Dunning is 2-0 with a 2.33 ERA in five starts for the White Sox since making his major league debut this season. The White Sox lead second-place Minnesota by 2 1/2 games.

Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Dane Dunning delivers during the first inning of the team's baseball game against the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Dane Dunning delivers during the first inning of the team's baseball game against the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, in Chicago. The AL-best White Sox also moved 16 games over .500 for the first time since they were 71-55 on Aug. 26, 2012. Byron Buxton hit his third career inside-the-park homer for Minnesota, but the Twins finished with just four hits. But the White Sox went ahead to stay with three runs in the bottom of the third. White Sox: LHP Jace Fry threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings after he was reinstated from the 10-day injured list.

Chicago White Sox's Tim Anderson reacts after hitting a solo home run in the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Jeff Haynes)