Dein erstes Forum » Charlie Blackmon’s bushy beard dripped with bubbly

DENVER (AP) — http://www.yankeesfanproshop.com/authentic-joe-dimaggio-jersey , while Carlos Gonzalez cheerfully soaked up all the spray coming at him from every direction. Nolan Arenado posed for picture after picture as teammates got selfies with him.Think this party scene was wild, hold on. The Colorado Rockies are hoping to exchange those hats that read, “Postseason,” for ones that say, “NL West Champions.”Now that would really be a party.The NL West-leading Rockies locked up a playoff berth for the second straight season, beating the Washington Nationals 5-2 on Friday night for their eighth win in a row behind a resilient start from Kyle Freeland.David Dahl homered for the fifth consecutive game and Ian Desmond hit a two-run homer against his former team to help Colorado clinch at least a wild card with two games remaining. The Rockies remained one game ahead of Los Angeles as they try to wrap up the franchise’s first division crown. The Dodgers won 3-1 in San Francisco.“It’s a playoff atmosphere,” Arenado said. “The good thing about us is we’ve been in a playoff atmosphere before. We know how to handle it.”Colorado can take the NL West title — and end Los Angeles’ five-year reign — with a win Saturday and a Dodgers loss.Wade Davis struck out Bryce Harper looking to end the game and earn his 43rd save. The sellout crowd at Coors Field roared and fireworks went off.Plenty to celebrate: The Rockies are headed to the postseason in back-to-back years for the first time in team history. This is their fifth playoff trip since the franchise began in 1993 — last year, they lost to Arizona in the NL wild-card game.“It’s just incredible,” said Freeland, who grew up in Denver and was a big Rockies fan. “I dreamt of this as a little kid and never thought I’d be in this position to do it. But the work is not done.”Freeland (17-7) wiggled out of jam after jam on a cool night to finish the season with a 2.40 ERA in games at the hitter-friendly ballpark. The lefty allowed two runs and 11 hits over six innings before turning it over to a staunch bullpen.The Rockies’ winning streak is their longest since capturing eight straight in April 2013. During the current streak, the Rockies have outscored opponents by a 57-12 margin.With posters around the stadium billing this as “The Hunt for Rocktober Mickey Mantle Jersey ,” the team improved to 18-8 in September. They’re on a quest to end the Dodgers’ five-year reign as division champions.Freeland found himself in trouble quite often, but was able to work his way out of it. His one big mistake was a fastball in the fourth that Trea Turner lined for a two-out, two-run triple to give the Nationals a 2-1 lead.Desmond put the Rockies up 3-2 in the fifth with his 22nd homer of the season. Two pitches later, Chris Iannetta went deep. It was the fifth time the Rockies have hit back-to-back homers this season.With his solo shot in the sixth, Dahl became the fourth Rockies player to homer in five straight games. He joins Dante Bichette (1995), Larry Walker (1999) and Arenado (2015).Freeland finished with a 2.85 ERA overall this season. He joins Marvin Freeman (2.80, 1994) and Ubaldo Jimenez (2.88, 2010) as the only Rockies pitchers who qualified for the league ERA title with a mark below 3.00.Joe Ross (0-2) allowed four runs over five innings in his third start since undergoing Tommy John surgery last year.“I felt OK. The last couple innings, my stuff kind of flattened out,” Ross said. “That’s frustrating, the team had the lead and then I give it right back.”The party in the Rockies clubhouse was wild http://www.yankeesfanproshop.com/authentic-yogi-berra-jersey , but not too wild for one reason.“This is just the first step,” Gonzalez said. “We understand we have a big chance in front of us.”TRAINER’S ROOMNationals: INF Ryan Zimmerman was out of the starting lineup with a sore back and the team plans to take a cautious approach. “I don’t want him to start the offseason worried about rehabbing,” manager Dave Martinez said.Rockies: LHP Tyler Anderson’s sore shoulder is a “little better,” manager Bud Black said. “He seems to be trending in the right direction.”PAIR OF ACESWashington will throw right-hander Stephen Strasburg (9-7, 3.77 ERA) on Saturday. But whether NL Cy Young candidate Max Scherzer (18-7, 2.53) starts Sunday largely depends on what’s still at stake for the Rockies.“We’re going to relish the moment,” Arenado said of possibly facing two aces. “You have to face the best pitchers in the game to get where you want to be.”UP NEXTThe Rockies will send RHP Jon Gray (12-8, 4.91 ERA) to the mound Saturday against Strasburg, who’s looking to hit the 10-win mark for a fifth straight season. OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The Oakland Athletics believe they have stability in their leadership structure to keep a good thing going and build momentum from their 2018 playoff return.Manager Bob Melvin has been rewarded for guiding another turnaround, receiving a long-term contract extension. The A’s also reached new deals with executive vice president of baseball operations Billy Beane and general manager David Forst.The extensions for all three were announced Monday by the small-budget franchise. Under Melvin’s guidance Roger Maris Jersey , a young, slugging Oakland club went 97-65 and lost the wild-card game 7-2 to the New York Yankees.“From the moment I got here it’s been a special place for me for a lot of the reasons I’ve already talked about in the past,” Melvin said. “It just seems like every year it gets more and more comfortable for me being at home, the people that you work for, the continuity in the organization.”With majors’ home run leader Khris Davis leading the way, the A’s reached the postseason for the first time since 2014 following last-place finishes in the AL West each of the previous three years. They trailed the Mariners by 11 games in the wild-card race on June 15 before a strong second half — not to mention all the comeback wins and walkoffs — pushed them into the playoffs.Last year, Melvin received a contract through the 2019 season. Melvin’s new contract is through 2021 with a club option for 2022, Beane said. Forst’s deal goes through 2023.“There are some things we don’t have, which are obvious, and there are some things we do have: We have stability and we have loyalty,” Beane said. “It goes back a long way. Listen Phil Rizzuto Jersey , we have our challenges but we all love working here, we love working with each other.”The surprising A’s caught the country’s attention. They went 63-29 from June 16 through the rest of the season for the fourth-best record in baseball. Yet it was the top mark in the majors during that stretch — ahead of World Series champion Boston’s 60-31. Oakland also went a majors-best 31-14 in one-run games and had 10 walkoff victories.With his starting staff slim late in the season, Melvin turned to using an “opener” for an inning before going with another pitcher as a long man, and most everything he tried worked out well in 2018.“I’ve always felt like one of Bob’s biggest strengths is his flexibility, his ability to adjust to the roster that we hand him,” Forst said.The 57-year-old Melvin, who joined Oakland in 2011, improved his managerial record with the A’s to 634-599 (.514). His wins are third-most in franchise history behind Connie Mack (3,582) and Tony La Russa (798).Oakland won 20 more games this season, the third time a team managed by Melvin has improved by 20 wins from the previous year.“It’s a driven group that expected to win and expected to get better as the season went along and that’s how it played out,” Melvin said.Forst will begin his 20th season with the A’s and fourth as GM. He was promoted to GM on Oct. 5 Brett Gardner Jersey , 2015, when Beane assumed his current position. Beane wouldn’t say how long his contract runs aside from the fact, “I anticipate having a long-term relationship and that was secured during this negotiation.”The A’s believed from the start of the 2018 season that they had a contending club, even with an opening-day payroll of $66,039,675 that ranked lowest in the American League and second-lowest in baseball ahead of the Phillies. Beane envisions an increase in payroll this coming season and in the following years. He also expects to look outside the organization this offseason to find a starting pitcher.Davis led the majors with 48 home runs, his third straight 40-homer season.“I’m proud of the tremendous success of our team under the leadership of Billy, David and Bob and am excited to have that continue for years to come,” A’s managing general partner John Fisher said.