PHILADELPHIA -- An improbable postseason ride will continue for the Arizona Diamondbacks, who forced Game 7 of the National League Championship Series on Tuesday after beating the Philadelphia Phillies 5-1 in Game 6 on Monday.

Diamondbacks starter Merrill Kelly was fantastic, setting the tone for the visitors as he gave up just one run over five innings. In the process, he helped quiet the usually raucous Philadelphia crowd.

"I think that's the first time they sat for a playoff game," closer Paul Sewald observed after the game. "It's just a testament to how we got this game started."

After Kelly left two stranded in the first inning -- no small task against the Phillies in this series -- the Diamondbacks tallied three runs in the top of the second. Struggling designated hitter Tommy Pham got the ball rolling as he hit a solo shot off Phillies starter Aaron Nola just a couple of days after being benched in Game 5. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. did the same moments later.

"I'm already pretty self-motivated but that kind of helped," Pham said of the benching. "It felt tremendous."

Arizona added another run that inning on an Evan Longoria RBI double as Nola lost any feel he had to start the game.

"It was a little strange because first thing he comes out and he really executed everything," Phillies manager Rob Thomson said.

Nola lasted only 4 innings while giving up four runs on six hits and two walks. His counterpart went only five innings and was stunned when manager Torey Lovullo pulled him after he struck out Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper on nasty curveballs, part of an easy 1-2-3 inning.

Kelly used his complete array of pitches during his 5-inning gem. Fastballs up, sinkers away, curves and sliders down. The Phillies just couldn't get a read on him, making it all the more curious when he was pulled after 90 pitches. He and Lovullo had a lively discussion in the dugout afterward.

"What I can share about it is he was pounding the table to go back out there and was shocked that I was going to remove him from the game," Lovullo said. "But we had another brief conversation, and I explained to him why I was doing it, and he began to slowly understand."

Said Kelly: "I think partly why I was upset right there was I was kind of just taken off-guard by it. I just went through their top three, punched out two of them. Ninety pitches through five, I'm thinking I'm for sure going back out for six. When I came in and saw his hand out for the handshake that I was done, it kind of just took me by shock more than anything."

A parade of relievers, starting with sidearm righty Ryan Thompson, shut down the Phillies for the rest of the game, avoiding a controversy for Lovullo.

Now the focus turns to Game 7, and the Phillies are trying to keep a positive attitude after losing at home for the first time this postseason. The winner of Tuesday night's game will go on to face the Texas Rangers in the Fall Classic.

"It's going to be exciting," Schwarber said. "This is what you play for. Obviously, it sucks. You wish you got it done today, absolutely. But it's an exciting thing and we're embracing it."

So are the Diamondbacks, who continue to shock the baseball world. It's something they're embracing.

"We deserve this moment," Lovullo said. "We're going to play Game 7, and for me Game 7, it's like all hands on deck, anything is possible. Game 7s are Game 7s for a reason."

Zac Gallen, the starter for Games 1 and 5, said he'll be ready out of the bullpen for Arizona, if he's needed. Rookie Brandon Pfaadt will start the game, becoming the seventh rookie in the wild-card era to do so.

"I think being in the position to start Game 7, I think that would be huge," Pfaadt said before the Game 6 win. "Especially as a rookie. I think I'm going to give it my all, give it all to the team and try to come out with a win tomorrow."

Pfaadt said it was a little different to prepare for a game that he wasn't sure would be played, but he tried to treat it like any other start. It certainly won't be. Like Gallen, Zack Wheeler, the Phillies' starter for Games 1 and 5, could be available out of the bullpen as well.

"I would think so," Thomson said. "It's going to be all hands on deck."

Philadelphia will send lefty Ranger Suarez to the mound to start the game. He and Pfaadt both pitched well in Game 3, a 2-1 win by the Diamondbacks.

"It's going to be fun to put everyone's best efforts and best everything that we got tomorrow [Tuesday]," Schwarber stated. "That's all we got, is tomorrow."

A loss would be a devastating one for Philadelphia as the Phillies were the heavy favorites to return to the World Series after the top seeds in the NL, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves, both lost in the division series. But the Diamondbacks have proved to be resilient -- especially after losing the first two games of this series.

Now they're in it to win it.

"We're pretty pumped," Pham said.

"We put ourselves in the ultimate position," Longoria said. "To go out there and win a game to go to the World Series. Could not be more proud of the group and what we accomplished. The belief in here is very strong."

Diamondbacks rookie Corbin Carroll summed up his feelings prior to Game 7: "It's going to be hard to sleep tonight."

HOUSTON -- Adolis Garcia admired, flaunted and celebrated. He flung his bat and roared toward his own dugout and cupped his hands around his ears, seemingly basking in every moment that Game 7 of this American League Championship Series provided. At one point, as the Texas Rangers kept piling on runs and the home crowd grew increasingly more distraught, he even heard faint "MVP" chants.

They were prophetic.

The Rangers raced past the defending champion Houston Astros in their own building on Monday night, capturing an 11-4 victory to punch their ticket to the World Series. And Garcia -- the man who triggered a benches-clearing incident during a controversial hit by pitch in Game 5, then provided the devastating blow with a prodigious grand slam in Game 6 -- had his fingerprints all over it, solidifying MVP honors after a dynamic ALCS performance.

Garcia lined a Cristian Javier offering off the top of the left-field scoreboard in the first, settled for a single because he admired it too long, then promptly stole second base. In the third, he lofted a fly ball over the right-field fence to give the Rangers their fourth run. In the fourth, he provided the two-run single that highlighted a four-run inning and helped turn Game 7 into a laugher. And in the eighth, he unleashed a towering fly ball that sailed into the Crawford Boxes and essentially ended the Astros.

Garcia finished the ALCS with 15 RBIs, a record for any postseason series. He homered in four consecutive games, tied for the most in any playoff series. And he became the second player in major league history -- along with Willie Stargell in the 1979 World Series -- with four hits and a home run in a Game 7. Garcia, of course, hit two of them.

"This team, right here, we're a family, and they push me to play hard," Garcia said at the podium. "It's nothing without the love of my teammates."

The Rangers, who will host the winner of Tuesday's decisive National League Championship Series game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Arizona Diamondbacks, are the fourth team to reach the World Series within two years of losing 100 games.

The Rangers lost exactly 102 in 2021. Later that offseason, they spent a combined $500 million on two cornerstone middle infielders in Corey Seager and Marcus Semien. The following year, they spent nearly $250 million to outfit their rotation with Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney. At midseason, they traded for Max Scherzer, who recorded the first eight outs of Game 7, and Jordan Montgomery, who got the next seven. Along the way, Jonah Heim improved behind the plate, Nathaniel Lowe became a Silver Slugger, Josh Jung and Evan Carter emerged, and Garcia developed into a star, giving the Rangers one of the sport's most prolific offenses.

Their road was treacherous. But Bruce Bochy, a three-time champion who returned from a three-year hiatus to manage the 2023 Rangers, provided the steady hand that guided the Rangers through it. Texas gave up the division to Houston on the final day of the regular season, and instead was forced to play in the wild-card round with an unsteady bullpen. It triggered a stunning seven-game postseason winning streak. The Rangers won back-to-back games against the Tampa Bay Rays, then swept the Baltimore Orioles in three division series games and took both games from the Astros in Houston's Minute Maid Park to begin this ALCS. The Rangers lost three straight at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, the last one on a ninth-inning three-run homer from Jose Altuve in Game 5. But they came back to win Game 6 and never trailed in Game 7.

"We've done it all year," Bochy said at the podium during the trophy presentation. "We've had our streaks, we've had our injuries, and we just keep getting up."

Javier, who gave up just two runs through his first four postseason starts combined, gave up three runs in the first inning, serving up a 440-foot homer to Seager, a long single to Garcia and another run-scoring single to Mitch Garver. The Astros threatened off Scherzer in the third, but the Rangers came back with four runs off J.P. France in the top of the fourth. In the sixth, Lowe's two-run homer proved to be the dagger. Garcia's homer in the eighth was superfluous. Over his last six at-bats of this series, he had five hits, three of which were home runs. He drove in nine runs in that stretch alone.

The Rangers will make their third appearance in the World Series, having also been there in 2010 and 2011. Their 60-plus-year history does not include a single championship.

They can change that with four more wins.

The Columbus Blue Jackets placed forward Patrik Laine on injured reserve Monday, the team announced.

The move is retroactive to Oct. 20, and Columbus recalled forward Dmitri Voronkov from the AHL to fill the roster spot.

Laine, 25, is day-to-day with an upper body injury following a hit suffered in last Friday's 3-1 victory over the Calgary Flames.

A day later, the NHL suspended Calgary defenseman Rasmus Andersson for four games without pay for charging Laine. Andersson will lose nearly $95,000 in pay, and that money will go to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund, though the NHLPA announced Sunday that it has filed an appeal.

The hit occurred with 5 seconds left in regulation. Andersson was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for elbowing.

In a video explaining the reasoning behind the suspension announced Saturday, the NHL said the force of the hit, and the fact the game was out of reach at the time, "combined to elevate this hit to the level of supplemental discipline."

Laine has one goal, two points and nine shots this season. He is averaging 17:02 time on ice.

LONDON -- Ange Postecoglou has set a new record for the most points earned by a manager in their first nine Premier League matches (23) after his Tottenham Hotspur team won 2-0 against Fulham on Monday night.

The Spurs boss' tally surpassed the previous record of 22 points jointly held by Mike Walker and Guus Hiddink from their first nine matches in charge of Norwich City (1992-93 season) and Chelsea (2008-09 season), respectively.

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Goals from Son Heung-Min and James Maddison at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium were enough to earn Spurs a comfortable victory over Fulham and send Postecoglou's team two points clear at the top of the Premier League table.

Asked how proud he was of his record-breaking achievement, Postecoglou said: "Look, it's credit to everyone. It's a really encouraging start to the season for sure. Performance wise, we've been really consistent.

"We had to work hard tonight. for the first half we held it really well. We had to be pretty patient in the way we looked for the openings and I thought they [Fulham] were very well organized, particularly defensively."

However, the Spurs boss was critical of his side's second half performance after Fulham missed chances to get back into the match.

"I thought our pressing was outstanding all game," he said. "But with the ball it was probably the worst 45 minutes we've had all year.

"We've got to make sure we stay disciplined in our approach. In the end Vic [Guglielmo Vicario] made a couple of great saves to keep a clean sheet. In that context we should have had much better control in the game."

Despite Postecoglou's frustrations, this is the furthest into a Premier League season that Spurs have been top of the league since Dec. 15, 2020 (top after 12 PL games under José Mourinho).

Postecoglou left Celtic to manage Spurs in the summer and is still yet to taste defeat in the league with his new side.

The Spurs head coach has breathed new life into Tottenham when they were at a low ebb after their eighth place finish in the league last season meant they failed to qualify for European football for the first time since 2009.

Tottenham's start to the season is their best since the 1960-61 season when they started the campaign with 11 straight wins on their way to winning the league title.

The north London club has the opportunity to move five points clear at the top of the Premier League -- having played a game more than their rivals -- when they face Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Friday.

Bayern Munich are struggling with a growing injury list and have travelled with an 18-man squad for Tuesday's Champions League match at Galatasaray, but coach Thomas Tuchel said that changed nothing in their plan to win the game and stay top of Group A.

The Bavarians, who have won 15 straight UCL group-stage games, are without central defender Dayot Upamecano as well as midfielders Raphaël Guerreiro and Leon Goretzka. Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is still working on his comeback.

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Goretzka had surgery for a broken hand on Sunday, an injury he sustained in Saturday's 3-1 win at Mainz.

Tuchel said Morocco defender Noussair Mazraoui, who was injured on international duty, had accompanied the squad and should be fit in time for the game.

"We have sped up recovery and maybe risked a bit in the past days. So he fully took part in training today and if there's no reaction overnight then I think he can play," Tuchel told a press conference on Monday.

Mazraoui triggered a furor days ago with social media posts in connection with the Israel-Hamas war, but the club refrained from taking any disciplinary action.

Bayern lead the group on six points from two games with Galatasaray in second place on four, are out to stretch their record unbeaten run, having gone 36 Champions League group stage matches without a loss, with 33 wins and three draws.

Galatasaray defeated city rival Besiktas 2-1 on Saturday with two goals from Argentine forward Mauro Icardi to stretch the team's winning run to six games since their draw with Copenhagen.

FC Copenhagen are in third on one point, with Manchester United, who have lost to Bayern and Galatasaray, in last place.

"We feel ready to win a very difficult game tomorrow," Tuchel said. "This competition needs to be played step by step. We feel strong enough to win the group and that's our goal.

"It makes no sense to compare our squad with that of teams that are not in our group," Tuchel said when asked to compare his team with the other title contenders.

Tuchel had previously complained that Bayern's offseason transfer dealings had left the team short of options in defense after Benjamin Pavard's transfer to Inter Milan and Josip Stanišić's departure on loan to Bayer Leverkusen.

"Now it's about making use of all we have. To use all the resources and give the guys confidence," Tuchel said Saturday. "Now we can only recuperate, recuperate, recuperate at the highest level and then we go again in Istanbul."

Information from Reuters and The Associated Press was used in this story.

Tottenham Hotspur's best start to a top-flight season for more 60 years got even better as a 2-0 home win over Fulham sent them two points clear at the Premier League summit on Monday.

Captain Son Heung-Min's seventh league goal of the campaign and James Maddison's first home strike for the club secured a seventh win in nine league games.

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Son curled a right-foot effort into the top corner in the 36th minute and then set up playmaker Maddison to score with a cool finish in the 54th.

Unbeaten in the league under new manager Ange Postecoglou, Spurs have 23 points, two more than champions Manchester City and local rivals Arsenal. They next travel to Crystal Palace on Friday with the chance to move five ahead.

Fulham, who were disappointing despite some late chances after Tottenham eased off, are 13th on 11 points.

Victory was especially sweet as the west London side knocked Tottenham out of the League Cup on penalties -- the only hiccup so far in Postecoglou's impressive start in north London.

Postecoglou, prised from Celtic and tasked with rejuvenating the club's fortunes, has now enjoyed the best start by a new manager in the Premier League.

Despite another win, the Australian was not entirely happy with his team's performance.

"It was a good result because Fulham are a tough team to break down," Postecoglou told Sky Sports. "The second half wasn't great and we didn't play anywhere near the levels we can, we were wasteful.

"You have to respect the game and if you are off it a little bit it can drag you down. We took a few liberties which I wasn't very happy with. It was our worst 45 minutes with the ball."

Tottenham's front-foot style was in evidence again as they carved out chances in the opening stages with Son denied by Fulham's former Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno.

Defender Micky van de Van also volleyed a chance over the bar and Richarlison side-footed wide after a sweeping move.

Fulham's best chance in the opening half fell to Joao Palhinha, whose header was superbly saved by Guglielmo Vicario.

The visitors offered Spurs a helping hand to break the deadlock when a poor pass by Calvin Bassey out of defence left them exposed and Richarlison found Son who skipped to his right before dispatching a curling effort beyond Leno.

Maddison was again at the heart of much of Tottenham's best work, as he has been all season since arriving from Leicester City in the close season, and he was soon rewarded.

Son rolled the ball to the England international after more slack Fulham defending and Maddison opened his body and steered a silky low finish past Leno.

With another game on Friday, Maddison, Son and Richarlison were all substituted during the second half. Tottenham lost their focus and could have paid the price, but Fulham failed to make the most of several late opportunities.

"In the second half we ramped the pressure up a bit but in the end we come away with nothing," said Fulham boss Marco Silva, who has never enjoyed a Premier League win over Spurs. "Maybe unfortunate to not score one or two and then we are talking about a different result."

HOUSTON -- Bryan Abreu's two-game suspension was upheld by an independent arbitrator but will be delayed until the start of the 2024 season, making the Houston Astros' primary setup reliever available for Game 7 of the AL Championship Series on Monday night.

Abreu was suspended in the wake of a benches-clearing incident in the eighth inning of Game 5 on Friday, when he threw a first-pitch fastball at the left arm of Texas Rangers outfielder Adolis Garcia.

Garcia, who two innings earlier had boisterously celebrated a go-ahead home run, immediately turned to Astros catcher Martin Maldonado, seemingly believing that he had called for the pitch inside, then went after him again after players from both sides had spilled onto the field during a 12-minute delay before play resumed.

MLB senior vice president of on-field operations Michael Hill on Saturday wrote that Abreu was punished for "intentionally throwing at" Garcia, adding that all six umpires had determined the pitch was intentional in ejecting him. MLB wrote that it "took into account the dangerous nature of the pitch and its potential impact on player safety."

Abreu, along with several other members of the Astros, denied he hit Garcia on purpose. The right-hander appealed the ban prior to Game 6, clearing the way for his availability Sunday night.

The appeals hearing was held Monday before John McHale Jr., special assistant to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, who determined that the suspension was reasonable but didn't think it was appropriate to affect such an important game, a source with knowledge of the situation said. Abreu also was fined an undisclosed amount.

The players' association declined to comment.

Houston manager Dusty Baker used Abreu for only one inning with the Astros trailing by just two runs late in an eventual Game 6 loss in hopes that the reliever might be available again in Game 7. That possibility prompted him to turn to Rafael Montero in the ninth, setting the stage for the five-run inning that turned Game 6 into a blowout.

"That was kind of what I was hoping for when I didn't use him in a down game two innings yesterday," Baker said Monday. "He told me he was prepared to throw as many as possible just in case he had to serve a suspension. So it's a blessing to have him for today."

Abreu would be eligible to pitch in the World Series should the Astros advance.

With 2.45 ERA in eight appearances this postseason, he has been one of Houston's top relievers.

Former Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Chase Utley was suspended two games for violently sliding into New York Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada during the 2015 National League Division Series, but Utley appealed the suspension and was able to play for the rest of the postseason because his hearing didn't take place until the following March.

In hopes of avoiding a similar issue, MLB outlined in its current collective bargaining agreement that hearings must be held within 48 hours of a player's request to appeal during the postseason. That occurred in Abreu's case, but the arbitrator nonetheless chose to push the suspension for the following season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.