LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Clayton Kershaw strode into the Los Angeles Dodgers clubhouse with a rare demand.“Give me some,” he yelled, making a beeline for an icy tub of champagne and beer.The probable NL Cy Young Award winner and MVP candidate grabbed a bottle of bubbly and began pouring in celebration of the Dodgers’ NL West title after a 9-1 victory over second-place San Francisco on Wednesday night.“You can’t take lightly what we did,” a soaked Kershaw said. “You got to celebrate accomplishments and

The Texas Rangers’ Elvis Andrus douses Guilder Rodriguez with Powerade after their win on Monday. (AP-Yonhap)CLEVELAND (AP) ― Danny Duffy pushed the Royals a little closer to the top in the AL Central and nearer their first playoff appearance in 29 years.Duffy pitched six shutout innings for his first win in more than a month as Kansas City moved within one game of first-place Detroit and kept some distance over Cleveland in the wild-card race, beating the Indians 2-0 on Monday night.Duffy (9-11

CHICAGO (AP) ― The Los Angeles Dodgers were looking ahead to a matchup with the division-rival Giants when they pushed Dan Haren back a day.The bullpen came through on Sunday against the last-place Cubs.Matt Kemp homered and had four RBIs, Yasiel Puig scored a career-high four times and the NL West-leading Dodgers used six pitchers to beat Chicago 8-5.“It’s a good feeling in this clubhouse right now finishing up with Chicago because it’s a scrappy team and they gave us all we could handle for fo

As South Korea prepares to defend its baseball gold at the Asian Games starting this week, manager Ryu Joong-il offered a sneak peek into potentially the most devastating lineup in the competition.Ryu has the luxury of having 23 professionals on his 24-man squad, most of them All-Star caliber in the top domestic league, the Korea Baseball Organization.After the team’s first practice in Seoul on Tuesday, Ryu said he will insert his captain, the Nexen Heroes slugger Park Byung-ho, in the cleanup s

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin received a cortisone injection in his left shoulder on Monday and won’t throw for at least four days.The team said that Ryu had an MRI with dye, which showed no changes from his previous MRI that was done in May.Ryu left his start on Friday after one inning, complaining of tightness and pain in his shoulder. He said the injury felt similar to one that landed him on the disabled list earlier this season. Dodgers’ pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin (AF

Park Byung-ho hopes to repeat MVP performance at Asian Games

DETROIT (AP) ― Max Scherzer escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fifth, Rajai Davis and J.D. Martinez homered, and the Detroit Tigers beat Kansas City 4-2 on Tuesday night to pull within percentage points of the Royals atop the AL Central.Scherzer (16-5) allowed a run and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. Kansas City was down 3-1 in the fifth when Alex Gordon’s deep fly to right went just foul with two on. Gordon walked to load the bases with one out, but Salvador Perez lined out and Eric Hosmer struck

His dream of playing in Major League Baseball on hold for now, South Korean pitcher Yoon Suk-min will soon return home after wrapping up his minor league season in the Baltimore Orioles organization, his agency said.The Orioles designated Yoon for assignment last Sunday to make room for other players in their 40-man roster. Yoon cleared waivers and was outrighted to Norfolk. Such a move is designed to clear space for players not on the 40-man roster, and a player already in the minors, such as Y

Fresh off the DL, Ryu ties career high with 14th win

These certainly haven’t been your average archery practice sessions, as South Korean archers prepping for the upcoming Asian Games in Incheon took their aim at targets set up on the field of a baseball stadium, with boisterous crowds making all sorts of noise.Members of the recurve team took to the lines inside Mokdong Stadium in Seoul. The following day, those on the compound squad joined the fray at the same ballpark, which serves as the home of the Nexen Heroes in the Korea Baseball Organizat

SEATTLE (AP) ― Texas Rangers outfielder Choo Shin-soo is scheduled for surgery to remove a bone spur from his left elbow and will miss the rest of the season. Choo was placed on the 15-day disabled list Monday, and the Rangers recalled outfielder Michael Choice from Triple-A Round Rock. Choice was expected to arrive in Seattle before Monday night’s game against the Mariners.The operation is set for Sept. 15, but it could be moved up to Friday if Choo’s illness subsides. He did not travel with th