NAPA, Calif. – With the difficulty factor turned up a notch at the Safeway Open, Justin Thomas switched from targeting birdies to hanging on to pars for dear life.

Swirling winds made conditions especially difficult for the third-round leaders, a group that included Thomas who started the day just three shots off the lead. While a 1-under 71 may not seem particularly spiffy, especially coming on the heels of a second-round 64, Thomas was pleased with his effort given the circumstances.

“A grind, for sure. It was tough out there,” Thomas said. “I’m proud of myself how I hung in there. I really fought hard. To only make one bogey, to drive it how I did on the back nine, hit some very poor irons and kept myself in the tournament, which is good.”

Thomas appeared headed for a missed cut after bogeys on three of his first five holes to open the tournament, but he’s been on the comeback trail ever since. Despite circling only two birdies during his third round, he’s firmly in the mix for his second win in as many months, sitting among a tie for fifth at 10 under and four shots behind leader Cameron Champ.

Thomas is the highest-ranked player in the field this week in Napa, and his record at Silverado Resort & Spa includes top-10 finishes in each of his last two appearances. It all adds up to an appetizing situation heading into a final round where conditions are expected to remain demanding.

“I just need to go out and play my game. I love this golf course, and I can make a lot of birdies, leave myself a lot of chances,” Thomas said. “Just get some rest and come out tomorrow and we’ll be ready to go.”

NAPA, Calif. – Don’t blame Sebastian Munoz for riding a hot streak.

The Colombia native has started the new wraparound season in nearly ideal fashion, chasing a T-7 finish at The Greenbrier with his first career win in a playoff last week at the Sanderson Farms Championship. He’s one of only two players to start the year with a pair of top-10 finishes, and he’s in position for more success after playing his way into Sunday’s final pairing at the Safeway Open.

Munoz started the day six shots off the lead, but a 5-under 67 combined with difficult and windy conditions helped move him all the way into a three-way tie for second at 11 under, three shots behind leader Cameron Champ.

“I went to college in Texas, so I mean, I learned how to play in the wind. So I feel comfortable,” Munoz said. “I know how to hit the shots, it’s just a matter of executing.”

Munoz had only four career top-10 finishes entering this season, and he barely hung onto his card last season. But he’s quickly transformed into a coast-to-coast success story, one he hopes to build on Sunday as he looks to become the first Tour player to win in back-to-back weeks since Bryson DeChambeau took the first two playoff events last year.

“I feel great moving up from my category (with the win). I mean, that was a huge relief for me not having to think about the reshuffle,” Munoz said. “I can play a little more aggressive, a little more free, not worrying about, like, I need these points. … I’m just playing a little more fun, a little more loose and having fun.”

MADRID -- By the end of this derbi, take my word for it, Kieran Trippier stood in the flash zone of the Wanda Metropolitano and gushed with enthusiasm for what he'd just been through.

The phrase "best derby I've ever played in" was the one he reached for. North London? Spurs vs. Arsenal? What are they?

I'm an optimist, a romantic, and therefore, sure, like everyone else I'd have loved Karim Benzema's wonderful, towering header to have sneaked into the corner of the net or Trippier's searing cross in Saturday's first half to have met the toe of Koke's boot as it was intended to and zipped past Thibaut Courtois.

We love goals, all of us. But I was inspired by this meeting of Madrid's two biggest, noisiest inhabitants.

Trippier has loved the intensity, the tension, the different kinds of questions Spanish football asked him compared to the Premier League.

More -- and typical for someone who's steadfastly set himself to learn Spanish at double-quick time, we shouldn't be totally surprised -- the Bury Beckham has pretty instantly understood the impact of this cross-capital feud.

The welcome for the Atleti bus as it nudged along Avenida Luis Aragones and reached the space-age Wanda Metropolitano was rapturous. Of course.

Vibrant, loyal, defiant, things exploding (fireworks, don't worry) and passionate about their team. As a Scot, I know how inspirational it can be to perpetually feel like the underdog -- that's the Atleti experience when Madrid lord it over them.

But before he went out and dignified this 0-0 draw with daring, athleticism, intelligence and total, total focussed attention, I guess some ghosts danced their way through Trippier's psyche.

It was in exactly this spot that he said goodbye to Tottenham. The Metropolitano was not only the disappointment of his entire playing career, even ahead of losing a World Cup semifinal with England, having put them 1-0 up against Croatia.

To reach Spurs' first European Cup or Champions League final and lose without properly competing, without fully imposing their personality, must have been truly heartbreaking.

Then, in the same part of the deep bowels of this magnificent arena, to admit, as Trippier did, that his season hadn't been up to scratch and that he had to change something, struck me as the mark of a true man.

Honesty, self-assessment and painful admission on a night when most competitors, especially proud ones, must have wanted to go and either hide or drown sorrows until they couldn't swim around the mind.

So, suddenly, he was back at the Metropolitano, not for a debut, but for the biggest test, Juventus included, of his adaptation to La Liga football.

Honestly, while he wasn't the man of the match, I thought Trippier was super.

Athleticism, yes. Diligence, yes. But also terrific application of football intelligence to the extent that he was able to test the rivals in front of him and to blunt Eden Hazard, on Madrid's left, while the Belgian was full of vitality and impishness.

Trippier's key moment came midway through the first half when, set free down the right, he made time stop and looked up in a kind of theatrical way as if to say: "Hey, LADS, I'm in a great position here ... anyone want to take advantage?"

Captain Koke did, but it was typical of the two strikers -- Diego Costa and Joao Felix, each of whom had a night when they certainly didn't want to offend any visiting player (choirboys, let's say) -- that they weren't in the vicinity.

So Koke bursts into the Madrid box, Trippier's centre is what the Oxford English Dictionary would define as "the corridor of uncertainty" and it's fizzing along at laser speed.

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Jan Oblak's save from Benzema might have been the goal-prevention moment of the raucous night, just ahead of his full-length dive to his left to push Toni Kroos' wonderful right-footed volley around the post.

But Courtois' interception of that Trippier centre, a 6-foot-4 man not only at full stretch outward into his six-yard box, but with arm extended like Clark Kent, was simply magnificent.

World Cup third/fourth playoff and Courtois wins it; first Madrid derbi and Courtois tarnishes Trippier's golden moment ...

They'll be back for more. I liked watching an English import look not only as if he was comfortable in his clothes, but utterly enjoying himself.

What added a little lustre to Trippier's night was the fact that he really worked another Belgian in a way that spoiled the chances of this being an ultra-hazardous night for the Colchoneros.

Hazard was superb last week against Sevilla, given a good rest in midweek during the Osasuna win, and I guess the concept of manager Zinedine Zidane was that this would be his star signing's five-star night -- instead, Trippier did enough harrying and fussing around the former Chelsea man that, gradually, he drifted out of the contest. Not a terrible night from Hazard, not anywhere near it. And when he's fit he's going to feast on some of La Liga's defences.

However, Trippier did a double shift of such proportions that he was a constant threat up the pitch, and he never allowed his direct rival to impose himself at the other end. Diego Simeone, even though this project with his English patient is only partially completed, will be extremely happy.

This, you have to see, isn't the Trippier who exited the Metropolitano with his head hanging low, self-castigating and out of form.

A matter of a few months later and he's buzzing that he made this move, buzzing that he's at least the equal of anyone in the Atletico team and, now, certain that his status in the Madrid neighbourhood where he lives has just rocketed.

But it would be impossible to leave this assessment of the derbi without saying two important things.

First, as impressive as Atleti's new right-back was, his place on the podium was looking up to Ghana's Thomas Partey.

The midfielder was superb -- he out-Casemiroed Casemiro.

Quick to press, clever in the tackle and superbly firm, the things which were most to savour about his performance were that he not only passed beautifully between the lines of pressure from Real Madrid, he also made his job look easy. So easy that he was often a thought or three ahead of the rivals buzzing around him.

Easily one of the best games Thomas has played for Atleti.

But, Real Madrid. Anyone who saw them in Paris 10 days ago, giving up the ghost, not chasing the ball, leaving their brilliant, elegant manager, Zidane, complaining that they "didn't put a foot into challenges" wouldn't recognise this XI.

Madrid have now gone out, sequentially, and outcompeted Sevilla in a stadium where they've lost more often this century than any other arena. And won.

Then they dealt, stylishly, with Osasuna thanks to two goals from their Brazilian babies.

Now they've come to the Metropolitano, they've not only matched Atleti but probably are the unluckier side to depart with only a point and, in my humble opinion, they are on the road to a credible La Liga season.

From the humiliation of Paris to this reaction? Seven of the next nine points, three clean sheets, successful team rotations -- crisis, what damn crisis?

St Kitts and Nevis Patrios 149 for 7 (Brooks 53, Gurney 2-23) beat Barbados Tridents 148 (Shakib 38, Cottrell 3-27, Brathwaite 3-30) by 1 run

A match that was a slow burn for most of the first 30 overs came alive in the last quarter of play with a series of dramatic twists and turns that ended with St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots booking their place in the CPL 2019 playoffs, with a one-run last-ball win over Barbados Tridents at Kensington Oval. A first-innings fifty by Shamarh Brooks set up a fighting total of 149 for 7 after Patriots had opted to bat. Tridents' steady reply then turned haywire after Patriots captain Carlos Brathwaite sparked a collapse with the key scalp of Shakib Al Hasan.

With 12 to get off the final over and two wickets in hand, Raymon Reifer looked like he would take Tridents across the line after striking an audacious six over extra cover off the first legal ball - the first ball of the over had been a wide - to bring the equation to 5 off 5. But Reifer inexplicably ran himself out coming back for a non-existent two on the next ball. The last-wicket pair of Chemar Holder and Harry Gurney took it down to two off the final ball to win, or a single to force a Super Over, before Dominic Drakes beat Gurney for pace with a length ball that pegged back the offstump.

Brooks' home-ground heroics for Patriots

Two days short of his 31st birthday, Brooks produced a career-best maiden half-century in T20 cricket on his return home to his native island. Brooks came in to bat after Mohammad Hafeez had struggled through four overs to make 6, and fired from early in his knock, with back-to-back fours in the fifth over off Chemar Holder.

He survived a massive lbw appeal from Hayden Walsh Jr on 28 after going deep in his crease missing a flick to midwicket. Brooks then rubbed salt into the wound by smashing the legspinner for four and six in the 14th just a few days after Walsh had taken the season's best figures with 5 for 19 against Trinbago Knight Riders. Walsh eventually got Brooks out bowled slog sweeping off the final ball of his spell in the 16th. Brathwaite then fell at the start of the 17th to an arm ball from Shakib to leave Patriots struggling again at 114 for 6 but a late burst from Fabian Allen and Keron Cottoy gave the visitors life heading into the innings break.

Shakib's impact with bat and ball

The Bangladesh star had started off the match with a maiden, finished with returns of 1 for 14 in four overs and was no less a menace with the bat after arriving in the third over of Tridents' chase. Regularly using his feet to the spinners, Shakib played some gloriously elegant drives through extra cover for four and over long-on for six off Hafeez in the fourth over.

He was undeterred when Alex Hales fell to a brilliant catch by Sheldon Cottrell in the eighth over, and continued to steer the innings in tandem with JP Duminy. After 11 overs, Tridents were 83 for 2 and needed just 67 off 54 balls, seemingly well on course for a stress-free conclusion.

Brathwaite's rescue act

The Patriots captain resuscitated his side's chances with a game-changing 12th over that claimed both Shakib and Jonathan Carter. Shakib found Brooks with a miscued drive to long-on off the third ball for 38. Carter then helped the pendulum swing back closer to the Patriots when his misguided attempt to open the face for a single to third man instead produced an edge dragged onto the stumps.

Rayad Emrit, who had taken Hales' wicket, then induced a slap to mid-on by Jason Holder in the 14th over. Cottrell trapped Ashley Nurse with an inswinger in the next over before another ill-fated steer by Duminy resulted in Brathwaite's third wicket, edged behind to Devon Thomas, completing a slide of 5 for 14 to make it 99 for 7 from 85 for 2.

With 37 needed off three overs, Reifer battled back fiercely, striking sixes in consecutive overs off Brathwaite and Cottrell to keep Tridents in the hunt. Then came his six off Drakes to start the final over to bring the equation down to a run a ball before madness set in. Tridents must now come back on Sunday for a do-or-die clash against St Lucia Zouks. Only one point separates the Tridents and Zouks and the winner will claim the final playoff spot in CPL 2019, regardless of the result of Tridents' last league stage match at Queen's Park Oval against Knight Riders.

Oklahoma and Notre Dame became the sixth and seventh FBS teams to earn 900 wins in program history on Saturday -- a feat the Irish accomplished for the second time.

Notre Dame originally reached 900 wins in 2017 while appealing an NCAA mandate that the school vacate 21 victories because of academic misconduct, including all 12 wins from the school's 2012 run to the national championship game, as well as nine from 2013.

The NCAA denied the school's appeal in February 2018, putting its official win total back under 900. The university's president, the Rev. John Jenkins, strongly criticized the NCAA's decision at the time, saying the school was being punished for rigorously enforcing its honor code.

The decision ultimately allowed the No. 6 Sooners to beat Notre Dame in the race to an official 900 by a matter of hours on Saturday, running away from Texas Tech 55-16 before the No. 10 Irish matched them with a 35-20 win over No. 18 Virginia.

The schools join Michigan (956), Ohio State (916), Texas (911), Alabama (910) and Nebraska (900) as the only Football Bowl Subdivision programs to achieve 900 wins. The Cornhuskers won No. 900 last weekend by beating Illinois. Yale, now in the Football Championship Subdivision, has 909 wins.

Both Oklahoma and Notre Dame have 325 losses to go with their 900 victories. The Sooners have played in 11 more ties than the Irish, 53-42.

Win forever.#ChampU #OUDNA pic.twitter.com/n1TDV5qh6F

— Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) September 28, 2019

Oklahoma is in its 125th season of football, posting the fifth-best winning percentage nationally though its first 124, with only 13 losing seasons. The Sooners own seven national championships.

Notre Dame, which started playing in 1887, has 11 national championships dating back to 1924, with the most recent coming in 1988. Entering the game against Virginia, Notre Dame had an all-time win percentage at 72.7.

ESPN's Sam Khan Jr. and Tom VanHaaren contributed to this report.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- This was supposed to be like every other Clemson game this season, a blowout win piled onto another blowout win on its easy road back to the College Football Playoff.

After all, the No. 1 Tigers went into their matchup against unranked North Carolina as 28-point favorites, and as the team with the highest probability to make it into the playoff at a whopping 76.6%. No ranked teams left on the schedule in the weak ACC? No problem.

Except teams do not always fit into neat, tidy, easy-to-predict boxes.

So it was that Clemson faced its fiercest challenge to date, as North Carolina outplayed and outcoached the top-ranked team in the country for most of the day.

But just the way the Tigers did in close games last season, they came up with the crucial play with the game on the line -- this time, stopping North Carolina's 2-point conversion attempt with 1:17 remaining to win 21-20 on Saturday.

"It's not easy to win," Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. "I know we're supposed to destroy everybody, like nobody else has scholarships, nobody else has coaches. It doesn't work that way. We're just normal people. There's nothing special about us. We're not perfect. We don't coach perfect. Unfortunately, we don't play perfect every down, every game, but we found a way to win an ugly game.

"But it's disrespectful to just put it all on us. You've got to give them some credit. Those kids played their heart out, and they coached their hearts out, and they played with tremendous will to win, but I'm proud of my guys because they found a way when we had to have it. We found a way."

The two teams were deadlocked at 14 until Trevor Lawrence threw a perfectly placed ball to Tee Higgins for a 38-yard touchdown to give Clemson (5-0, 3-0 ACC) its first lead of the game, 21-14 with 9:54 to play. But North Carolina and freshman quarterback Sam Howell marched right down the field on a 16-play drive, converting twice on third down and twice on fourth down to stay in the game.

On first-and-goal from the 3, Howell threw a 2-yard pass to Jake Bargas to put North Carolina at the 1-yard line with 1:19 left. At this point, Swinney had a feeling North Carolina coach Mack Brown would go for 2 and the win if his team successfully punched it in. Sure enough, the Tar Heels (2-3, 1-1) scored on the next play and Brown signaled for 2.

"I've always had the theory that the longer the game goes, the best team wins, and they have the best team," Brown said. "So my thought was, 'Go now.' We've got momentum, they're tired, they're on the field, so that was the best chance for us to win the game."

Brown said he asked offensive coordinator Phil Longo, "Do you have a play that you think is going to work to score to win the game, to beat the No. 1 team in the country?"

"And he said, 'Yes.'"

The call was an option for Howell, and it was a similar play to a 2-point conversion North Carolina converted earlier in the season. Clemson linebacker James Skalski said, "I think we had a good idea they were going to go with an option look, and it showed up. We were ready for it."

Howell ran to his right, and saw his receiver option covered up. He kept running, but Clemson was on him, as Skalski, Xavier Thomas and Nolan Turner converged. Howell tried to pitch, but it was too late.

"It did not unfold how we wanted to, obviously," Brown said. "Sam fought his guts to get in. You work on 2-point plays all the time and Phil was very confident. If he had said he wasn't sure, we kick."

Added Skalski: "North Carolina played their butt off. They had a good plan. They made plays, but when it mattered most, we showed up."

Going into the game, Clemson had beaten each of its past 14 opponents by double digits, helping feed into the narrative that the Tigers wouldn't face another test this season -- particularly with zero ranked teams left on the schedule.

But they were in two close contests in the first half of last season. They had to stop a 2-point conversion attempt that would have tied the score against Texas A&M. Then against Syracuse, nearly one year ago, the Tigers needed a fourth-quarter comeback to win.

"There's been a game every year the past four years or so in this program where it's been close or we lost," Lawrence said. "We know it's hard to win. Sometimes it's easy to forget that when you win so many games by so many points, but this game is only going to make us better. Obviously, we'd like to win every game by four touchdowns, but it's going to bring us closer and show us how to appreciate every win and like tonight, just finding a way."

Clemson had its worst offensive performance of the season, with lows in total points, total yards and passing yards. A big reason why is because the Tigers made crucial mistakes the entire game, from procedure penalties, to a fumble, to a missed field goal attempt, to lapses on third down.

North Carolina dared Clemson to run, taking away its talented receivers and forcing Lawrence to do more on the ground than anyone anticipated going into the season. Clemson has an off week before hosting Florida State on Oct. 12, and Swinney said he was going to relish film study on Monday when it points out all the errors his team made.

"Whether you win by one point or 50 points, it's a win," Swinney said. "It's kind of like when I make a birdie in golf. Most times when I make a birdie it usually hits off a tree, runs across the green, hits off the golf cart, bounces back up there close to the flag, and I putt it in and I write 3 on the scorecard. There ain't no pictures on the scorecard. A win is a win, and I'd rather learn lessons with a win than learn with a loss any day."

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Bodies bounced off one another during an intrasquad scrimmage that capped the Los Angeles Lakers' first practice of training camp Saturday.

LeBron James collided with Alex Caruso, causing both of them to fall to the floor. Anthony Davis and Dwight Howard got tangled up going for a rebound and the pair hit the hardwood.

It was just what first-year Lakers coach Frank Vogel wanted to see.

"You're coming to play [the] L.A. Lakers -- you're going to get hit," Vogel said after his team finished the first of their two-a-day session. "You're going to get smashed in the mouth."

Vogel, whose Indiana Pacers teams were a perennial playoff force thanks to their defensive prowess, wanted to set the tone with his new group on that end of the floor. He dedicated nearly an hour of the first practice to on-ball defensive drills and principles.

"He's a defensive coach and wants to have a defensive mindset," Davis said of Vogel. "We're going to be a defensive team. We made sure we covered a lot of defensive schemes today."

Vogel said that Howard, a three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year award winner, was particularly physical as he played with reserves against a first five of James, Davis, Danny Green, Rajon Rondo and JaVale McGee -- a lineup that Vogel was testing out together.

"I'm preaching 'play physical' -- he probably overdid it a little bit," Vogel said when asked about Howard. "You know, he's knocking guys around. Look, you got to deal with that."

James missed nearly all of training camp at the outset of the 2017-18 season -- his last with the Cleveland Cavaliers -- after turning an ankle during a scrimmage when he landed on Cedi Osman's foot. He said his collision with Caruso -- which temporarily paused practice as teammates scrambled over to help both players up -- wasn't a cause for concern.

"It was a different situation," James said. "I didn't have any flashbacks. [Just] two guys colliding and hitting the floor."

Vogel said he had only one thing enter his mind when he saw his guys take a tumble: "Are they getting up?"

In other words, a few bumps and bruises are to be expected.

"I love guys hitting the floor," Vogel continued. "We're not playing hard enough if we're not doing that, but obviously you don't want to see anybody getting hurt."

Davis said they know how to toe the line.

"Obviously, you're not going to try to injure anyone or do anything stupid," he said. "We know we have to play with physicality. We did a good job doing that today. So in a way, that makes it a lot easier against our opponent."

The Lakers ranked a respectable 13th in defensive rating last season, giving up 108.9 points per 100 possessions. They struggled on offense, ranking 24th in offensive rating by scoring 107.4 points per 100 possessions.

After a major roster overhaul and a coaching staff change in the offseason, Vogel is prioritizing defense all the same.

"You know we got a lot of firepower offensively," he said. "But establish that defensive mindset of playing hard and playing tenacious and being physical. And on offense, just beginning to get organized and talking about the importance of playing for each other."

It was a mere glimpse of the group together, but Davis was satisfied with the approach.

"I like the dynamic of the team," Davis said. "Everybody is playing physical and playing hard and coming in with the mindset of being professional and doing what we have to do to reach our goals.

"It was a good first practice."

SAN FRANCISCO -- While the Los Angeles Dodgers kept raising their win total, Hyun-Jin Ryu continued to lower his ERA.

With one game left in the regular season, they're both in good position.

Ryu secured the major league ERA title at 2.32 with seven sharp innings and the Dodgers matched a franchise record with their 105th victory, beating the San Francisco Giants 2-0 on Saturday for their sixth straight win.

The National League West champions tied the win mark of the 1953 "Boys of Summer" team based in Brooklyn that included Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider and other Hall of Famers.

"I'm very proud of that," manager Dave Roberts said. "You don't just show up and win 105 games against very good teams all year long. That's a credit to everybody and just a continued focus each day to get better. It's a really fun and good, talented group."

The Dodgers began the day one game behind Houston for the best record in baseball and one game ahead of the Yankees. Los Angeles will begin the division series next Thursday at home against the NL wild-card winner.

Ryu (14-5) allowed five hits, struck out seven and didn't walk a batter for a third straight start. He also hit an RBI single in the fifth for the game's first run.

Roberts is calling for his Korean left-hander to win the NL Cy Young Award -- even if Ryu himself is giving the nod to reigning winner Jacob deGrom, who's second in ERA at 2.43 for the Mets.

"There were so many good pitchers this season, it possibly might be a tough decision for you as well, but I honestly think Jacob deGrom deserves it and you should probably vote for him," Ryu said through an interpreter and with a wry smile.

Kenta Maeda pitched the eighth. Kenley Jansen hit Evan Longoria to start the ninth and gave up Kevin Pillar's single before striking out three for his 33rd save.

Max Muncy hit his 35th homer in the sixth off rookie Logan Webb (2-3). Webb singled in the fifth for his first major league hit.

Retiring Giants manager Bruce Bochy oversaw his 4,031st game, moving past Sparky Anderson for sole possession of seventh place on the all-time list while managing his second-to-last game with San Francisco. Bochy was honored on the field before the game by San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who presented Bochy with a key to the city.

Webb, a top pitching prospect, allowed two runs on six hits in six innings, struck out five and walked one in his eighth career start.

"We faced a very good pitcher and we were just a hit away from getting things going, just like last night," Bochy said.

MADBUM'S PLACE

Madison Bumgarner will be ready Sunday even if he's not on the mound as originally planned -- Bochy hinted "he'll have his spikes on," so perhaps be prepared for a pinch-hit appearance and one final ovation from the home crowd.

"We thought that would be the best thing for both of us," Bumgarner said Saturday.

The 2014 World Series MVP can become a free agent, so Tuesday might have been his final start for the Giants. He is wrapping up a contract singed in April 2012 that included a $12 million contract option this year, and the Giants opted not to deal him at the trade deadline.

"I'm sure I'll make my way back here one way or another," he said.

HONORING MAGOWAN

Peter Magowan, who died in January, was honored pregame with a plaque on the Giants Wall of Fame he started as San Francisco's managing general partner.

"It was good to get Peter's plaque up there, with what he's done for the San Francisco Giants and the impact he made keeping them here and really in the community," Bochy said. "I know that he'd be very proud. ... Peter, he did a lot for me."

TRAINER'S ROOM

Dodgers: LF A.J. Pollock sat out after being hit in the left knee with a pitch and leaving during the fifth inning of Friday's 9-2 win with a bruised knee. ... Roberts said 3B Justin Turner -- missing a fourth straight game with back tightness -- won't play Sunday. Instead, he will get some simulated work done during Tuesday's workout day back home ahead of the division series. Turner worked throwing and swinging in the cage again Saturday as he did Friday. "If he wasn't able to kind of move around and swing the bat, I'd probably be a little concerned, but since he's doing that I feel confident he'll be fine," Roberts said.

Giants: C Buster Posey returned to the starting lineup after three days not playing at all following a 16-inning game Tuesday in which he caught 13 of those innings.

UP NEXT

LHP Rich Hill (4-1, 2.59 ERA) makes his 13th start of the season pitching the last day, having gone 1-0 with eight strikeouts in two previous outings vs. San Francisco. RHP Dereck Rodriguez (6-10, 5.27) will start Sunday's season finale for the Giants.

Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander reached a pair of milestones Saturday night, becoming the 18th major league pitcher to reach 3,000 career strikeouts and the 19th in the modern era (since 1900) to record 300 strikeouts in a season.

Verlander, 36, entered Saturday night's game against the Los Angeles Angels with 2,994 strikeouts. He achieved the career milestone in the fourth inning when he got Kole Calhoun swinging at a slider. Calhoun reached first, though, on a wild pitch and Andrelton Simmons then gave Los Angeles a 3-0 lead with a two-run homer to left-center.

Verlander's feat was recognized on the scoreboard at Angel Stadium, and he was congratulated by teammates in the Astros dugout at the end of the inning.

According to Baseball-Reference and Retrosheet, it's the first time a pitcher has recorded his 3,000th strikeout on a wild pitch.

Verlander, who began the day with 288 strikeouts this season, got Calhoun swinging again in the sixth inning to reach 300 for the first time in his 15-year career. He and Gerrit Cole are only the second set of teammates to each have 300 strikeouts in the same season, joining Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling, who did it for the 2002 Arizona Diamondbacks. Cole has 316 strikeouts this season.

Verlander finished with 12 strikeouts in six innings and gave up three runs, four hits and no walks Saturday. He improved to 21-6, as the Astros topped the Angels 6-3 to secure the best record in baseball this season and home-field advantage through the World Series.

Verlander became only the third pitcher in the modern era to have at least 300 strikeouts at age 36 or older. Nolan Ryan had 301 strikeouts at age 42 in 1989. Randy Johnson had 347 in 2000 at age 36, 372 in 2001 at age 37 and 334 in 2002 at age 38.

Verlander is the second pitcher to reach 3,000 strikeouts this season. New York Yankees left-hander CC Sabathia accomplished the feat on April 30 against Arizona. Of the 16 retired pitchers with more than 3,000 strikeouts, 14 are in the Hall of Fame.

Before Sabathia, Atlanta's John Smoltz was the last to make it to 3,000 strikeouts, in 2008.

Verlander has the second 20-win season of his career and pitched his third no-hitter on Sept. 1 at Toronto. He is also one of the favorites to win his second AL Cy Young.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

NEW YORK -- Mets slugger Pete Alonso hit his 53rd home run of the season Saturday night, breaking the MLB rookie record that Yankees star Aaron Judge set in 2017.

Alonso launched a 93 mph fastball on a 1-2 count from Atlanta Braves right-hander Mike Foltynewicz just to the right of straightaway center field. The solo shot gave New York a 3-0 lead in the third inning, which would hold as the final score.

As his 415-foot drive landed in the seats, Alonso raised both arms in triumph while running to first base. Mets teammates came out of the dugout to congratulate him as he rounded the bases, and the crowd of 32,210 at Citi Field gave a standing ovation to a player nicknamed "Polar Bear" during spring training by teammate Todd Frazier.

"It's surreal. It was almost like an out-of-body experience,'' said Alonso, a 24-year-old who debuted on Opening Day. "Unbelievable moment.

"This is more than a dream. This is more than fantasy. I can't put it into words.''

Alonso raised both arms again when he crossed home plate, then tilted his head back and looked skyward as he stood in front of the dugout. Overcome with emotion, he had tears in his eyes when he went out to his position at first base in the top of the fourth inning.

"I was just kind of thinking about all the greats in the game of baseball. I was thinking about guys like Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, guys like Aaron Judge,'' Alonso said, "and the fact that I'm ahead of those guys as a rookie, it's mind-blowing.''

"He's not moved to tears often,'' his mother, Michelle, said on the Fox telecast. "So for him to feel that reward and be moved to tears, that warms my heart because I was certainly falling in my seat at the moment at the same time. It was a family cryfest.''

Michelle and her husband, also named Pete, were sitting in the stands along with the player's fiancée, Haley Renee -- who was recording a video of the plate appearance.

"I usually never video his at-bats because I get superstitious,'' she said. "Now I have that forever.''

Alonso's father recalled coaching his son in Little League games in Tampa, Florida.

"When that ball was in mid-flight, it was all flashing in front of me,'' his dad said. "It was like an out-of-body experience.''

The ball was caught by a father attending the game with his wife and three kids. The family gave the ball to Alonso and met with the Home Run Derby champion after the game, receiving autographed memorabilia.

Alonso heads into the final day of the regular season leading the majors in homers, four ahead of Cincinnati's Eugenio Suarez. No rookie since 1900 has won an outright home run title in the big leagues.

He also has a shot to be just the third Home Run Derby winner to finish the season with the most homers; Ryan Howard was the last to do it in 2006 (58 HRs), and Sammy Sosa did it in 2000 (50 HRs).

Alonso already has set franchise records for homers, total bases (347) and extra-base hits (85). He has 120 RBIs and 102 runs, becoming the first Mets rookie to reach triple digits in both categories. The home run was his 11th of September.

Judge offered to take Alonso to dinner in the offseason -- on Judge's dime.

"He's paying for it? Oh, dang,'' Alonso said. "Is he picking where we're eating or am I picking? I'll talk to him. But if he's picking the place, it's probably McDonald's or something, because I eat a lot. But if I get to pick and it's on him, then it may be like Peter Luger [Steak House].''

ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.