SIXTO SANCHEZ

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. keyed a career-best four-hit outing with his major league-leading 17th home run and the Toronto Blue Jays celebrated the return to their temporary Buffalo home with a 5-1 win over the Miami Marlins.

All rights reserved)FILE - Philadelphia Phillies' J.T. Realmuto agreed on a $115.5 million, five-year contract, two people familiar with the deal told The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia Phillies and two-time All-Star catcher J.T. Realmuto agreed on a $115.5 million, five-year contract, two people familiar with the deal told The Associated Press. Realmuto gets $20 million next season, of which $10 million is deferred, with $5 million each payable in 2026 and 2027.

That average of 2.93 homers per postseason game tops the regular-season mark of 2.57. The Athletics and Astros combined to connect seven times as the A’s avoided a sweep with a 9-7 win. Houston will make another attempt to advance to its fourth consecutive ALCS in Game 4 on Thursday at Dodger Stadium. Kyle Wright will make his postseason debut when he starts against Miami rookie Sixto Sanchez as Atlanta aims to sweep the best-of-five NL Division Series. ESPN’s wild-card game averaged 5,591,000 to 7,604,000 from 2014-17.

Atlanta Braves' Dansby Swanson hits a home run during the second inning in Game 2 of a baseball National League Division Series against the Miami Marlins Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020, in Houston. That was before the Yankees-Rays and Padres-Dodgers started their Division Series matchups. That average of 2.88 homers per postseason game tops the regular-season mark of 2.57. Kyle Wright will make his postseason debut when he starts against Miami rookie Sixto Sanchez as Atlanta aims to sweep the best-of-five NL Division Series. ESPN’s wild-card game averaged 5,591,000 to 7,604,000 from 2014-17.

Atlanta Braves' Ian Anderson delivers a pitch during the fourth inning in Game 2 of a baseball National League Division Series against the Miami Marlins Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)HOUSTON – Rookie Ian Anderson pitched like a poised veteran, right fielder Nick Markakis made a nifty defensive play late and the Atlanta Braves threw another playoff shutout, beating the Miami Marlins 2-0 Wednesday for a 2-0 lead in the NL Division Series. Corey Dickerson reached on an error by Swanson at shortstop to start the inning, setting up Markakis' heads-up play. Cameras panned to Anderson in the dugout, and the pitcher smiled broadly as he watched the ball sail away. UP NEXTAtlanta’s Kyle Wright will make his postseason debut when he starts in Game 3 against rookie Sixto Sanchez.

(AP Photo/Jim Mone)A look at what’s happening around the majors today:___SOUNDING OFFThe Astros are making noise on and off the field in the postseason, and that’s fine with outfielder Josh Reddick. Houston continues to draw the ire of fans across the majors for the sign-stealing scandal that came to light after last season. Former Houston pitcher and current A’s starter Mike Fiers was the one who revealed the Astros’ scam. “That’s what this year was about.”TAKE YOUR TIMEIf it seems baseball is going through an annual playoff slowdown, it’s true. “We’ve made progress but we haven’t made enough progress fast enough,” Phillies managing partner John Middleton said.

(AP Photo/Jim Mone)A look at what’s happening around the majors on Sunday:___SOUNDING OFFThe Astros are making noise on and off the field in the postseason, and that’s fine with outfielder Josh Reddick. Houston continues to draw the ire of fans across the majors for the sign-stealing scandal that came to light after last season. Former Houston pitcher and current A’s starter Mike Fiers was the one who revealed the Astros’ scam. “That’s what this year was about.”TAKE YOUR TIMEIf it seems baseball is going through an annual playoff slowdown, it’s true. “We’ve made progress but we haven’t made enough progress fast enough,” Phillies managing partner John Middleton said.

Klentak stepped down after a third straight September collapse left the team out of the postseason for the ninth consecutive season. “We’ve made progress but we haven’t made enough progress fast enough,” Phillies managing partner John Middleton said. Klentak was hired in October 2015 by team President Andy MacPhail after serving as assistant general manager for the Los Angeles Angels for four seasons. The Phillies had the worst bullpen ERA in the majors this season and it didn't improve after Klentak acquired four veterans in trades. The Phillies went 161-163 under Kapler before Middleton overruled Klentak and MacPhail and fired him last year.

Members of the Miami Marlins celebrate after defeating the Chicago Cubs in Game 2 of a National League wild-card baseball series Friday, Oct. 2, 2020, in Chicago. The Marlins won the series 2-0 to advance to the division series. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)MIAMI – Their T-shirts say Bottom Feeders, even though the Miami Marlins are showing they’re a different kind of fish in 2020 — the sort that rises to make a splash. After holding the Cubs to one run and nine hits in two games, the Marlins posed for a team photo in the Wrigley Field infield. They are young and inexperienced, but it's just baseball.”And the Marlins are getting better at it.

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.

A look at what's happening around the majors Friday:___ON THE ROAD AGAINThe Mariners open a three-game series as the home team in San Diego after the set was relocated due to air quality concerns in the Seattle area. The Mariners already had two games against the Giants moved from Seattle to San Francisco this week because of unhealthy air quality from numerous West Coast wildfires. The Padres could be in position to clinch their first playoff berth since 2006 while playing as visitors in their home ballpark. CY TRYBraves right-hander Max Fried is set to return from the injured list and resume his bid for an unlikely NL Cy Young Award. Fried has been out since Sept. 6 with a left-side muscle spasm in his lumbar spine.