After a season that didn’t go nearly as planned, the Atlanta Braves find themselves back in a familiar spot.

Michael Harris II had three more hits, including a solo home run and an RBI double, and rookie Spencer Schwellenbach shut down the New York Mets again as the Atlanta Braves cruised to a 5-1 win in the opener of a pivotal three-game series.

Mookie Betts had a tiebreaking RBI single with two outs in a seven-run ninth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 9-2.

Atlanta’s Max Fried and two relievers combined for a no-hitter through 8 2/3 innings before New York’s J.

The Atlanta Braves became the first team to clinch a playoff berth, rallying to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-2 as Matt Olson went 2 for 3 with three RBIs.

Ronald Acuña Jr. homered for the third straight night at Dodger Stadium and Orlando Arcia hit a three-run shot in the 10th inning that sent the streaking Atlanta Braves to a 4-2 victory over Los Angeles.

Ronald Acuña Jr. hit a grand slam on his wedding night to become the first player with 30 homers and 60 stolen bases in a season, and the Atlanta Braves overcame a pair of Mookie Betts home runs to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-7.

Geraldo Perdomo gave Arizona the lead with a two-run double in the ninth inning and the Diamondbacks took advantage of Atlanta’s worst pitching effort of the season to beat the Braves 16-13.

David Fry had a game-ending hit and the Cleveland Guardians stopped the Atlanta Braves’ nine-game winning streak with a 6-5 victory in 10 innings Tuesday night.

The Cincinnati Reds’ longest winning streak in 66 years was stopped at 12 games when Raisel Iglesias struck out Jonathan India for the final out as the Atlanta Braves prevailed 7-6 in an eight-homer slugfest.

Seth Brown scored on a fielding error by Atlanta third baseman Austin Riley in the ninth inning, and the Oakland Athletics beat the Braves 2-1 on Tuesday night, recording consecutive victories for the second time this season.

Kenley Jansen became the seventh player in major league history to earn 400 saves, pinch-hitter Raimel Tapia hit a go-ahead RBI double in the seventh inning, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Atlanta Braves 5-2.

More than four months of dazzling baseball carried the Atlanta Braves to a fifth straight NL East title.

Dansby Swanson and Matt Olson homered off Max Scherzer, lifting the Atlanta Braves to a crucial 4-2 victory over the New York Mets and a one-game lead in the NL East.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets mostly ceded the spotlight at the trade deadline.

Nick Castellanos hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning as the Philadelphia Phillies took full advantage of an overturned call to beat the Atlanta Braves 3-1.

Baseball’s trade deadline day was an action-packed affair — and no one had more fun than the Padres.

The Philadelphia Phillies acquired right-hander Noah Syndergaard, veteran reliever David Robertson and center fielder Brandon Marsh in three trades.

Looking to replicate the deals that helped carry them to a World Series title in 2021, the Atlanta Braves have pulled of a flurry of trades ahead of the deadline.

Shohei Ohtani extended his scoreless streak to 21 2/3 innings while pitching five-hit ball into the sixth with 11 strikeouts in the Los Angeles Angels’ 4-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

Twins pitching coach Wes Johnson is serving his final days with Minnesota before leaving for the same job with LSU.

Los Angeles Angels interim manager Phil Nevin was suspended 10 games and Seattle Mariners outfielder Jesse Winker received a five-game ban from Major League Baseball for their roles in a benches-clearing brawl during the second inning of Sunday’s game.

A lengthy bench-clearing brawl resulted in the ejections of six players and both managers in the second inning of the Los Angeles Angels’ 2-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

Major League Baseball will certainly soon be handing out penalties after the Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Angels got into a huge brawl at Anaheim.

The Seattle Mariners and the Los Angeles Angels engaged in a lengthy full-team brawl in the second inning after tensions over two days of inside pitches boiled over.

Shohei Ohtani pitched seven stellar innings and hit a two-run homer, and the Los Angeles Angels snapped their 14-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

Bryson Stott hit a game-winning, three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning after Bryce Harper tied it with a grand slam in the eighth, and the Philadelphia Phillies rallied for a 9-7 victory that sent slumping Mike Trout and the Los Angeles Angels to their 11th straight defeat.

Mike Trout homered, doubled and scored three runs, Michael Lorenzen pitched into the ninth inning and the Los Angeles Angels held off the Chicago White Sox 6-5 for their seventh win in eight games.

Taylor Ward and Shohei Ohtani hit first-inning solo home runs off Lucas Giolito and the Los Angeles Angels rode a combined three-hitter to their sixth straight win, 5-1 over the Chicago White Sox.

Two-way star Shohei Ohtani pitched perfect ball into the sixth inning, tied a career-best with 12 strikeouts and also had two hits and two RBIs to lead the Los Angeles Angels over the Houston Astros 6-0.

Angels manager Joe Maddon ordered the second bases-loaded intentional walk of his career and only the third in the majors since at least 1950, and Shohei Ohtani homered twice to lead Los Angeles past the Texas Rangers 9-6.

With a possible lockout on the horizon, it’s been mostly business as usual on the free agent market — so far.

Justin Verlander reached a $25 million deal to remain with the Houston Astros as he comes back from Tommy John surgery, and Brandon Belt accepted an $18.4 million qualifying offer from the San Francisco Giants.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have extended qualifying offers to free agent All-Stars Corey Seager and Chris Taylor, but not Clayton Kershaw.

Shohei Ohtani hit his major-league leading 42nd home run, Jack Mayfield connected for his first grand slam and the Los Angeles Angels were able to defeat the New York Yankees 8-7.

Shohei Ohtani pitched six solid innings, Juan Lagares raced home from second base on a wild pitch for the lead with the two-way standout at the plate, and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Texas Rangers 2-1.

Shohei Ohtani continued his power display Wednesday, crushing a three-run home run, and Phil Gosselin had a go-ahead RBI single in the eighth inning for the Los Angeles Angels, who rallied for an 8-7 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

Shohei Ohtani pitched seven strong innings and hit an early RBI single as the Los Angeles Angels earned a 6-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

Patrick Sandoval had his no-hit bid broken up with one out in the ninth inning on a soft double by rookie Brent Rooker, and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Minnesota Twins 2-1.

Shohei Ohtani hit his major league-leading 32nd homer and broke the single-season major league record for homers by a Japanese player during the Los Angeles Angels’ 5-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

Shohei Ohtani pitched seven innings of five-hit ball and hit an early RBI double, leading the Los Angeles Angels to a 5-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

Shohei Ohtani hit his major league-leading 31st homer in the third, and Juan Lagares ended it with a two-run double in the ninth inning of the Los Angeles Angels’ 6-5 comeback victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

Shohei Ohtani went deep twice to reach 30 home runs on the season and then scored the winning run on Jared Walsh’s two-out single in the ninth inning, giving the Los Angeles Angels an 8-7 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

Jared Walsh hit a tying grand slam off Aroldis Chapman in a seven-run ninth inning for his second homer of a long night, and the Los Angeles Angels stunned the New York Yankees 11-8 in a rainy game that finished after 1 a.m. Shohei Ohtani’s highly anticipated pitching debut at Yankee Stadium was a wild wreck that ended early.

Shohei Ohtani pounded his hardest-hit home run of the season, José Suarez pitched 5 1/3 innings of one-run relief after Dylan Bundy threw up on the mound because of heat exhaustion and the Los Angeles Angels beat the troubled New York Yankees 5-3.

Shohei Ohtani hit his sixth homer in six games for the Angels, but Daz Cameron hit a two-run single in the 10th inning and the Detroit Tigers avoided a four-game series sweep with a 5-3 victory over Los Angeles.

Shohei Ohtani struck out eight, hit two doubles at the plate and pushed through an injury scare to lead the Los Angeles Angels past the slumping Arizona Diamondbacks 6-5 in 10 innings.

Shohei Ohtani hit his major league-leading 13th home run and the Los Angeles Angels defeated the slumping Cleveland Indians 7-4 after star outfielder Mike Trout was injured early.

Shohei Ohtani hit a two-out, two-run homer in the ninth inning and the Los Angeles Angels rallied past the Boston Red Sox 6-5, ending a four-game losing streak.

Jared Walsh homered and matched a career high with four hits, Justin Upton also connected and the Los Angeles Angels rallied in the sixth inning to beat the Houston Astros 5-4.

Shohei Ohtani’s tiebreaking solo home run in the eighth inning helped the Los Angeles Angels to a 4-2 win over the Houston Astros to snap a four-game skid.

David Fletcher had a two-run single in the 11th inning and the Los Angeles Angels beat Toronto 7-5 in the first regular-season game played at the Blue Jays’ spring training ballpark.

Shohei Ohtani hit a 451-foot homer and pitched two-hit ball into the fifth inning in a historic two-way performance, and Jared Walsh hit a walkoff homer in the Los Angeles Angels’ 7-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

ANAHEIM, Calif. – The Los Angeles Angels acquired closer Raisel Iglesias from the Cincinnati Reds for right-hander Noé Ramirez and a player to be named or cash Monday in the first trade of the week of baseball's winter meetings. Iglesias has been the Reds' closer for the past four seasons, racking up 100 saves in 114 opportunities over that stretch with a career 3.15 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. The trade allows the Reds to save money while putting a cornerstone in the Angels’ bullpen, which is being rebuilt by rookie general manager Perry Minasian this offseason. One week after acquiring veteran shortstop José Iglesias from Baltimore, Minasian added one of the most effective closers of the last half-decade. “We want to play meaningful games at the end of the season,” Minasian said.

Atlanta Braves' Marcell Ozuna (20) hits a two-run home run during the eighth inning against the Cincinnati Reds in Game 2 of a National League wild-card baseball series, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)ATLANTA – It had been so long since the Atlanta Braves won a postseason series, Marcell Ozuna wanted to make sure he captured the moment. Anderson struck out nine in six innings as the Braves snapped their record-tying string of losses in 10 consecutive postseason rounds since their last playoff series win in 2001. Bauer struck out 12 in 7 2/3 scoreless innings in the Reds' Game 1 loss. Braves: After sitting out the final two regular-season games with a sore quadriceps, Riley had no setback in the series opener.

Cincinnati Reds players climb over the dugout fence and head to celebrate with pitcher Wade Miley after the Reds earned a playoff berth with a 7-2 over the Minnesota Twins in a baseball game Friday, Sept. 25, 2020, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)MINNEAPOLIS – Mike Moustakas homered twice, Freddy Galvis hit a solo shot and the Cincinnati Reds clinched their first playoff spot since 2013, beating the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins 7-2 Friday night. Joey Votto and the Reds had endured six straight losing seasons before advancing this year under manager David Bell. Twins: RHP Homer Bailey, who spent 12 of his 14 major league seasons with the Reds, was designated for assignment prior to the game. Twins: RHP Michael Pineda (2-0, 3.18 ERA) pitches the middle game of the series.

(AP Photo/Paul Sancya)DETROIT Trevor Bauer made short work of the Detroit Tigers, capping Major League Baseball's first seven-inning doubleheader with a shutout. We've had a tough time in these first ten days, and we've especially struggled against Detroit, Bell said. Bauer wasn't confirmed as the starter for the second game until he arrived at the park. At one point in the first game, Cincinnati starter Anthony DeSclafani forgot the teams were only playing seven innings. Tigers: Detroit has Monday off, then is scheduled to host four games in three days against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Detroit Tigers' JaCoby Jones reacts after hitting a two-run home run in the ninth inning during a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, Saturday, July 25, 2020. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster)CINCINNATI Miguel Cabrera passed two superstars with a homer Saturday night, and JaCoby Jones hit a two-run shot in the ninth off Raisel Iglesias, rallying the Detroit Tigers to a 6-4 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. The two RBIs boosted Cabrera past Hall-of-Famer Cal Ripken Jr. and into 25th place on the career RBI list with 1,696. Reds: The Reds placed infielder Matt Davidson on the 10-day injured list after he tested positive for COVID-19 and put catcher Tucker Barnhart on the three-day paternity list. Reds: RHP Trevor Bauer (combined 11-13 in 2019 with Cleveland and Cincinnati) makes his 20th career start against Detroit.