Andrew McCutchen hit the 300th home run of his career and the Pittsburgh Pirates cruised past the Philadelphia Phillies 9-2 on Sunday, earning a split of the four-game series.

David Bednar's first three seasons in Pittsburgh largely have been charmed ones as the hometown kid developed into a two-time All-Star closer for a team convinced it's on the rise.

And while the Pirates might be on their way to contention, Bednar is faltering. The right-hander blew his third save in four chances on Tuesday when Detroit rallied for a 5-3 win.

The most jarring moment wasn't the walk or the two batters he hit that fueled the Tigers' comeback, but the sound of Bednar being booed at home by a crowd that has emphatically embraced him from the moment he arrived from San Diego in the January 2021 trade that sent Joe Musgrove to the Padres.

Ronel Blanco, making his first start of the season, baffled the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night, pitching a no-hitter in the Houston Astros' 10-0 victory.

Blanco, coming off a modest 2-1 season in which he finished with a 4.50 ERA, ignited an Astros' club that was coming off a four-game sweep at the hands of the New York Yankees, giving Houston its first victory of the season and Major League Baseball its first no-hitter of the year. He threw 105 pitches, posting seven strikeouts along the way, with just two walks.

The Texas Rangers defeated the upstart, underdog Arizona Diamondbacks in front of a soldout Chase Field crowd, 5-0, in Game 5 of the World Series on Wednesday, clinching the first championship in the 62-year history of their franchise. Nathan Eovaldi continually weaved out of trouble, somehow matching a dominant Zac Gallen through six scoreless innings, and the Rangers' offense finally came through late, producing a run in the seventh and exploding for four in the ninth.

The greatest postseason in Rangers history finished with an 11th consecutive road victory. No team had ever won more than eight in a row in the playoffs.

The Texas Rangers were dealt a devastating blow then did what they seem to do every time adversity strikes this season: They dominated in the face of it.

Moments after learning that Max Scherzer and Adolis Garcia would be forced off their World Series roster because of injury, the Rangers put together arguably their most complete performance of this postseason, storming past the Arizona Diamondbacks with an 11-7 drubbing in Game 4 on Tuesday night.

The Rangers, with a 3-1 lead in the Series, are now one win away from solidifying the first championship in their 62-year franchise history.

The Texas Rangers' incredible postseason road winning streak continued in Game 3 of the World Series on Monday night with a 3-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks that was fueled by a prodigious home run from Corey Seager and a masterful bullpen performance from Jon Gray.

The Rangers, with a 2-1 lead in this best-of-seven series, are now two wins away from their first championship in franchise history

Merrill Kelly pitched three-hit ball over seven innings, Ketel Marte extended his postseason hitting streak to a record 18 games and the Arizona Diamondbacks routed the Texas Rangers 9-1 on Saturday night to tie the World Series at one game apiece.

Gabriel Moreno hit a go-ahead homer in a two-run fourth against Jordan Montgomery, and Tommy Pham went 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles.

Adolis García hit an opposite-field homer in the 11th inning, after Corey Seager's tying two-run shot in the ninth, and the Texas Rangers opened this surprise World Series of wild-card teams with a 6-5 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night.

The Cuban slugger known as El Bombi drove a 3-1 sinker from Miguel Castro into the right-field seats beyond a leaping Corbin Carroll. It was García's second RBI of the game, setting a record for most in one postseason with 22.

Doubted and dismissed when baseball's postseason began, the Arizona Diamondbacks have spent October embodying the words of their manager, Torey Lovullo.

"Anything can happen," he likes to tell them.

What happened Tuesday night set up perhaps the most improbable World Series in baseball history: The Diamondbacks stunned the heavily favored Philadelphia Phillies with a 4-2 victory in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series. For the second consecutive night, they sauntered into Citizens Bank Park, a hellscape for visiting teams that had gone winless during the first six games here this postseason, and beat the Phillies twice.

An improbable postseason ride will continue for the Arizona Diamondbacks, who forced Game 7 of the National League Championship Series on Tuesday after beating the Philadelphia Phillies 5-1 in Game 6 on Monday.

Diamondbacks starter Merrill Kelly was fantastic, setting the tone for the visitors as he gave up just one run over five innings. In the process, he helped quiet the usually raucous Philadelphia crowd.

"I think that's the first time they sat for a playoff game," closer Paul Sewald observed after the game. "It's just a testament to how we got this game started."