Hoskins, Harper homer as Phillies rout Atlanta to take 2-1 NLDS lead

Rhys Hoskins burst out of his post-season malaise with a three-run homer and spiked his bat in triumph and Bryce Harper hit a two-run shot that sent Philadelphia Phillies fever soaring and helped carry them to a 9-1 win over Atlanta in Game 3 of the NL Division Series on Friday night.

The Phillies and a sellout crowd of 45,538 fans waited 11 mostly miserable years — 4,025 days, to be exact — to host a playoff game again at Citizens Bank Park.

The bats erupted in a six-run third inning that will forever be stamped on a Philly sports highlight reel. Bryson Stott got the rally going with an RBI double off Atlanta rookie Spencer Strider. Kyle Schwarber drew an intentional walk to set the stage for Hoskins.

Hoskins, mired in a one-for-19 post-season slump, crushed a 94 mph fastball into the left field seats for a 4-0 lead. Hoskins raised his arms in celebration, slammed his bat into the grass and he skipped his way to first base.

The exit velocity? It took about two seconds for Harper to bounce out of the dugout and toss his helmet in the air. Hoskins leapt into a violent elbow forearm exchange — think, Bash Brothers — with Stott as he crossed the plate.

Playing his first playoff home game with the Phillies, Harper hammered the ball into the twilight for his second post-season homer and a 6-0 lead.

Aaron Nola, pitching the best baseball of his career, was an October ace again in shutting down an Atlanta team that won 101 games and the NL East. He gave up five hits, walked two and struck out six in six-plus innings.

Guardians rally past Yankees, tie ALDS

Oscar Gonzalez singled in the go-ahead run with Cleveland's second straight bloop hit in the 10th inning, and the Guardians overcame a two-run deficit to beat the New York Yankees 4-2 Friday and even their best-of-five AL Division Series at one game apiece.

Jose Ramirez led off the 10th against Jameson Taillon with an opposite-field popup that dropped 200 feet from home plate, just in front of left fielder Oswaldo Cabrera for a double. Ramirez hustled all the way and slid into third headfirst when third baseman Josh Donaldson threw the ball past second for an error.

Winner Emmanuel Clase pitched 2 1/3 innings, his most in the major leagues, and combined with Trevor Stephan and Karinchak for four 1/3 innings of one-hit relief as Cleveland stopped a six-game post-season losing streak to the Yankees.

Clase retired Kyle Higashioka on a lineout to Ramirez for the final out of the eighth after James Karinchak walked the bases loaded. Clase threw 33 pitches, 10 more than his season high.

Guardians relievers have thrown 17 2/3 scoreless innings this season.

The series shifts to Cleveland for Game 3 on Saturday night. There is no travel day because a rainout Thursday had pushed Game 2 to Friday.

Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run homer in the first inning, and Cleveland tied the score against All-Star Nestor Cortes when Andres Gimenez had an RBI single in the fourth and Amed Rosario homered in the fifth.

Aaron Judge went 0 for 5 with four strikeouts and dropped to 0 for 8 with seven strikeouts and a walk in the series. Fresh off setting the AL home run record with 62, he was booed by some fans in the sellout crowd of 47,355 after whiffing against Stephan in the seventh.

Cortes saved two runs in the fourth with an acrobatic leap and throw to first from a sitting position on Myles Straw's two-out, bases-loaded comebacker.

After rain caused a postponement Thursday night, the game was rescheduled for 1:07 p.m., the first early afternoon post-season start in the Bronx since Game 2 of the 2006 Division Series against Detroit. Shadows crept across the field from the first-base side in the middle innings on a cloudless afternoon, reminiscent of so many World Series games at old Yankee Stadium in the 1940s and '50s.

Snell, Grisham lead Padres over Dodgers for NLDS lead

Blake Snell pitched five-hit ball into the sixth inning and Trent Grisham homered at a festive Petco Park, helping the San Diego Padres top the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 on Friday night for a 2-1 lead in their NL Division Series.

With Snell working 5 1/3 innings and Josh Hader finishing a scoreless performance by San Diego's bullpen, the 111-win Dodgers were pushed to the brink of a massive disappointment. Los Angeles went 14-5 against San Diego in the regular season, and it has defeated the Padres in nine straight series dating to 2021.

San Diego stranded two runners in each of the first four innings and 10 total. But Jake Cronenworth's RBI single in the first and Grisham's drive to right in the fourth were enough.

The sellout crowd of 45,137 roared when Hader struck out Trayce Thompson swinging for the final out.