CHICAGO — Clayton Kershaw had his usual velocity, and that was about it. The rest of his considerable repertoire appeared in brief flashes during one of the shortest outings of his brilliant year.
A.J. Ellis and company took care of the rest.
Kershaw became the majors’ first 20-game winner and Ellis hit a pair of two-run homers, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 14-5 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Friday.
“Obviously, you want to go eight or nine every time and be the reason why your team won,” Kershaw said. “But sometimes your team does it for you and you just have to be out there. So that was the way it happened today and I’ll take it.”
Kershaw (20-3) pitched five shaky innings in his shortest start in 3 1/2 months, but the NL West-leading Dodgers roughed up Edwin Jackson on their way to a 13-hit attack that included four homers. Matt Kemp hit a three-run shot in Los Angeles’ six-run first, and Yasiel Puig added another three-run homer in the sixth.
The Dodgers improved baseball’s best road record to 48-31 and clinched a postseason berth when Milwaukee lost 4-2 at Pittsburgh on Friday night. They increased their lead to 3½ games over San Francisco in the division.
PIRATES 4, BREWERS 2
PITTSBURGH — Russell Martin hit a three-run homer off Jonathan Broxton in the eighth inning and Pittsburgh inched closer to a playoff berth by beating the Milwaukee Brewers.
Martin sent a Broxton fastball into the seats beyond the center field wall for his 11th home run of the season. Mark Melancon worked a perfect ninth for his 31st save as the Pirates moved 4½ games in front of the Brewers for the second National League wild-card spot with nine days left in the regular season.
John Holdzkom (1-0) earned his first major league victory. The Pirates have won a season-high five straight.
Rickie Weeks hit his seventh homer for the Brewers, and Yovani Gallardo struck out 11 in seven strong innings. The Brewers, who led the NL Central for most of the summer, are now in danger of missing out on the playoffs entirely after losing their third in a row.
TIGERS 10, ROYALS 1
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Ian Kinsler hit a two-run homer, everyone in the Detroit starting lineup had a hit by the fourth inning, and the Tigers pounded Jason Vargas and second-place Kansas City to add another game to their AL Central lead.
Justin Verlander (14-12) had all the support he needed by the end of the first inning, when the Tigers had shelled Vargas (11-10) for three runs on five hits. Detroit tacked on a run in the second, another in the fourth, and then broke things open with a five-run fifth.
The Tigers (85-68), who lead the division by 1 1/2 games, have forged their advantage by going 12-5 against the Royals his season.
Verlander, who had struggled his previous three outings, allowed one run and seven hits in 7 1/3 innings.
Vargas allowed five runs and nine hits in 3 1/3 innings, his shortest outing since April 16, 2013.
Detroit designated hitter, 35-year-old Victor Martinez, had a run-scoring single in the first inning to give him 100 RBIs to go with 31 home runs. The only players older than him to become first-time members of the 30-100 club were Carlton Fisk (1985) and Edgar Martinez (2000).
ATHLETICS 3, PHILLIES 1
OAKLAND, Calif. — Coco Crisp had two hits and drove in a run, supporting another strong outing from Jon Lester, and Oakland defeated Philadelphia to regain the top spot in the chase for AL wild cards.
Derek Norris and Eric Sogard also drove in runs for Oakland, which moved a half-game ahead of Kansas City.
Ryan Howard hit a home run for the Phillies, who have lost five of six.
Lester (16-10) allowed one run and five hits in seven innings. He walked two and struck out seven en route to his third consecutive win. Sean Doolittle pitched the ninth for his 22nd save.
Lester has pitched at least six innings in his past 18 games, including all 10 with the A’s. He hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs during that span.
Phillies starter David Buchanan (6-8) gave up three runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings.
PADRES 5, GIANTS 0
SAN DIEGO — Tim Hudson allowed four runs in the first inning, and San Francisco was held to three hits in a loss to San Diego.
The Giants’ magic number to clinch a wild-card spot dropped to four.
San Francisco had only three base runners in seven innings against Padres rookie Odrisamer Despaigne (4-7). The Cuban defector walked Angel Pagan opening the game and retired the next nine batters before allowing Joe Panik’s double.
Hudson (9-12) lost his third straight start, guaranteeing the first losing record in his 16-year big league career. He allowed five runs, four earned, on seven hits in 4 1/3 innings.
CARDINALS 2, REDS 1
ST. LOUIS — John Lackey powered back into the St. Louis postseason rotation picture with 7 2/3 dominant innings, and Randal Grichuk and Matt Holliday hit consecutive homers in the first inning of the Cardinals’ victory against Cincinnati.
The NL Central leaders had only five hits but maintained a 2 1/2-game lead over Pittsburgh with eight games remaining.
St. Louis is 6-1 on its final nine-game homestand.
Lackey (14-9) was passed over in the just-completed three-game series against Milwaukee after complaining of a dead arm. The 35-year-old right-hander arrived at the trade deadline and was 2-2 with a 5.05 ERA in his first eight starts.
Randy Choate earned his third save in three chances.
The Cardinals jumped on rookie lefty Mike Holmberg (1-2) early.
YANKEES 5, BLUE JAYS 3
NEW YORK — Jacoby Ellsbury, Derek Jeter and the New York Yankees kept Mark Buehrle winless against them for more than a decade, sending Toronto to its season-worst sixth straight loss.
New York won its third in a row to preserve its faint AL wild-card hopes.
The cheers for Jeter kept getting louder and louder during his final homestand, and fans chanted his name throughout the ninth inning.
Jeter delivered two singles, giving him back-to-back multihit games for the first time since late July.
Ellsbury homered, doubled and drove in three runs.
Buehrle (12-10) lost to the Yankees for the 12th straight time in 17 starts since April 2004. His losing streak against New York is the longest by any pitcher against a single opponent since Bobby Witt dropped 12 in a row to Cleveland starting in 1991, STATS said.
Buehrle fell to 1-14 lifetime against the Yankees.
METS 5, BRAVES 0
ATLANTA — Lucas Duda hit a two-run homer, Zack Wheeler pitched six scoreless innings, and the New York Mets beat struggling Atlanta but were eliminated from playoff contention.
Atlanta, which dropped seven games behind Pittsburgh in the NL wild-card race, can be eliminated with any combination of three Pirates wins or Braves losses.
The Mets were knocked out when Pittsburgh beat Milwaukee.
RANGERS 12, ANGELS 3
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Ryan Rua had four hits, Jake Smolinski homered, and Texas earned its seventh straight victory by beating the playoff-bound Los Angeles Angels.
Adrian Beltre had a two-run single, and Lisalverto Bonilla pitched five solid innings for the Rangers, who still have the majors’ worst record at 61-92 after their longest winning streak of the year.
Texas took a 10-0 lead in the fifth inning on the major league-leading Angels, who have lost two straight since clinching the AL West title.
Los Angeles’ lead over Baltimore for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs stayed at 2 1/2 games.
RED SOX 5, ORIOLES 3, 10 innings
BALTIMORE — David Ortiz hit two home runs, including a two-run drive in the 10th inning that lifted Boston past Baltimore.
Although the AL East champion Orioles are still in the running for home-field advantage throughout the postseason, manager Buck Showalter rested several regulars, including Adam Jones, J.J. Hardy and Nick Markakis.
The most prominent starter in the lineup was Nelson Cruz, who had three hits, as did Alejandro De Aza.
Ortiz hit a solo shot in the fourth inning and connected in the 10th off Darren O’Day (5-2), his sixth multihomer game of the season and 47th of his career.
Ortiz has 34 homers and 102 RBIs, the club-record eighth time he has had a 30-100 season — passing Ted Williams. At 38, Ortiz is the oldest major leaguer to go 30-100 since Frank Thomas did it at the same age in 2006.
TWINS 5, INDIANS 4, 10 innings
MINNEAPOLIS — Trevor Plouffe singled in Danny Santana in the 10th inning to give Minnesota a comeback victory that further damaged Cleveland’s already slim playoff hopes.
Santana led off the inning with a single off Kyle Crockett (4-1).
With Minnesota trailing 4-3 in the ninth, Kurt Suzuki hit a one-out double off closer Cody Allen and was replaced by pinch-runner Eduardo Nunez. Nunez moved to third on Oswaldo Arcia’s single and scored to tie it when Aaron Hicks grounded into a fielder’s choice.
Jared Burton (3-5) stranded Michael Brantley at second base to end the top of the 10th.
NATIONALS 3, MARLINS 2
MIAMI — Adam LaRoche hit an early two-run homer to support Doug Fister and lead NL-leading Washington over Miami.
Fister (15-6) allowed two runs and five hits in 6 2/3 innings for the Nationals, who have won six of seven. The NL East-champion Nationals (89-64) lead the Dodgers (88-66) by 1 1/2 games for the best record in the league.
MARINERS 10, ASTROS 5
HOUSTON — Dustin Ackley hit two solo homers, and Mike Zunino and Kyle Seager each hit three-run shots in a seven-run fourth inning as Seattle cruised past Houston.
Ackley homered in the third and eighth innings for his second career multihomer game for the Mariners.
Major league hits leader Jose Altuve bounced back from Thursday’s 0 for 6 night with three hits to give him 216, the most by a second basemen since Rod Carew had 218 in 1974.
WHITE SOX 4, RAYS 3
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Jose Quintana pitched into the eighth inning, and Avisail Garcia had a two-run double to lead the Chicago White Sox past Tampa Bay, eliminating the Rays from playoff contention.
Chicago rookie Jose Abreu also had a run-scoring single during a four-run fifth, giving him 104 RBIs for the season.
ROCKIES 15, DIAMONDBACKS 3
DENVER — Michael Cuddyer hit a grand slam and drove in a career-high seven runs, leading Colorado over Arizona.
Jordan Lyles pitched six strong innings for his first win in six weeks.
