(Photo Credit: AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York celebrates Yankees’ win

All of Major League Baseball’s berths in the championship series were available in Monday’s four games, and only the New York Yankees made the quick grab of that opportunity.

The Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins 5-1 for a three-game sweep in this American League Division Series. Gleyber Torres had three hits – including a solo home run – and the Yankees, as is their custom, used six pitchers to advance. The pitching decisions must have worked out, because the Twins, who led the majors in home runs, scored only once and left 11 runners on base. Minnesota’s postseason losing streak is now 16.

The Yankees will wait for a resolution of the Houston Astros-Tampa Bay Rays series. The Astros lead 2-1, but the Rays stayed alive on Monday with a 10-3 win. The Rays homered three times off Astros starter Zach Greinke and Charlie Morton struck out nine in five innings for the Rays. Game 4 is on Tuesday at 7:07 p.m. ET on FS1.

The National League contenders will play a Game 5 on Wednesday.

The comeback-minded Atlanta Braves let a lead get away this time and fell 5-4 in 10 innings to the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday. The Braves had scored three times in the top of the fifth inning to take a 4-3 lead but the Cardinals tied it in the bottom of the eighth and won it on Kolten Wong’s sacrifice fly. Wednesday’s start from Atlanta is at 5:02 on TBS.

The Washington Nationals extended the Los Angeles Dodgers to a fifth game with a 6-1 win. Max Scherzer allowed one run in seven innings while striking out seven. Ryan Zimmerman hit a three-run homer in a four-run fifth inning for the Nats. Game 5 from Los Angeles is at 8:37 p.m. on TBS.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman