KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) β Alex Gordon hit a three-run double before Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer homered in Kansas City’s 8-3 rout of the Los Angeles Angels. The Royals swept the three-game series to reach the American League Championship Series for the first time since 1985, when they captured their lone championship.
DETROIT (AP) β The Baltimore Orioles have completed a three-game sweep in the American League Division Series by downing the Tigers 2-1 in Detroit. Tigers starter David Price was working on a shutout until Nelson Cruz hit a two-run homer in the sixth. Bud Norris blanked the Tigers on two hits over 6 1/3 scoreless innings to help the Birds earn the right to host the first two games of the AL Championship Series against the Royals.
DENVER (AP) β Peyton Manning reached a milestone and Demaryius (deh-MAR’-ee-uhs) Thomas set a team record while the Denver Broncos’ passing game led to a 41-20 rout of the Arizona Cardinals. Manning threw for four touchdowns to join Bret Favre (fahrv) as the only players in NFL history with 500 scoring passes in his career. Thomas grabbed two of the scoring passes and had eight receptions for a club-record 226 yards.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) β Tom Brady threw for 292 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions as the New England Patriots clobbered Cincinnati 43-17, leaving the NFL with no unbeaten teams. Kyle Arrington returned a fumble nine yards for a touchdown, and Stevan Ridley ran for 113 yards and a touchdown for the 3-2 Pats. The 3-1 Bengals lost three fumbles and allowed the Patriots to rack up 505 total yards.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) β Joey Logano has grabbed the first berth into the next round of NASCAR’s championship chase with a victory at Kansas Speedway, but a few Chase for the championship contenders had problems. Jimmie Johnson finished 40th after he was hit by Greg Biffle just 85 laps into the race, and Brad Keselowski (kehs-LOWS’-kee) had tire trouble that led him to slam into the wall and finish 36th. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was leading when a flat tire caused him to hit the wall, causing him to finish 39th.
