Yasmani Grandal tripled home two runs and Kenta Maeda pitched 5 2/3 innings as the Dodgers avoided a series sweep by beating the Rockies on Thursday night, 4-2, to keep pace with division leader San Francisco.

After seeing his team’s chances at a win stick in his glove in the eighth inning, A’s first baseman Yonder Alonso wanted to remove all doubt. Alonso drove an RBI double off of Angels reliever Mike Morin in the 10th inning, giving his team the lead for good as Oakland avoided a sweep with an 8-6, extra-inning win on Thursday.

A great idea for obstacle-course baseball.

There he stood, a 39-year-old former journeyman turned two-time World Series champion, on the cusp of perhaps the greatest achievement of his 19-year professional career. A little over 10 weeks earlier, Ryan Vogelsong was worried his left eye was gone and his career was over, the victim of an errant 92-mph fastball to the face.

Maybe the Baltimore Orioles are the 2016 version of the Kansas City Royals — sometimes we focus on all the wrong things. From the first day of Spring Training, plenty of us did not believe the Orioles could make the playoffs for one reason — starting pitching.

Rich Hill plans to make his first Dodgers start on Sunday against Boston, but manager Dave Roberts said he isn’t sure who will start Saturday and there are uncertainties for next week as well.

Considering how many of their players are either on the disabled list, lost for the season or simply underperforming, consider this a minor miracle: After beating the Yankees, 4-1, on Thursday to split a four-game Subway Series, the Mets found themselves one game out of a playoff berth.

After his latest gem, it’s safe to say Sean Newcomb has found a rhythm on the mound. The Braves’ No. 3 prospect (No. 57 overall) has struggled with consistency a bit this season, but he is locked in lately and in the middle of possibly his best stretch for Double-A Mississippi.

Edwin Encarnacion has become the model of consistency in a Blue Jays uniform, so it should come as no surprise that he surpassed the 30-homer plateau for the fifth consecutive year on Thursday night.

I’d watch this TV show.

A’s left fielder Coco Crisp put on a defensive clinic in the fifth inning of Thursday’s 8-6 10-inning win over the Angels.

In a battle for who would leave Camden Yards with the best record in the American League, the Rangers flashed their offensive firepower with seven extra-base hits in a 5-3 win over the Orioles, avoiding a series sweep.

Jay Bruce uncorked a three-run homer at Yankee Stadium for his first hit as a Met on Thursday night, giving the Mets a four-run lead in the fifth inning.

Is he actually his dad?

Even if the Rangers’ 5-3 win over the Orioles on Thursday doesn’t jump off the page as an offensive onslaught, it provided a glimpse of what their post-non-waiver Trade Deadline lineup can do.

Angels center fielder Mike Trout is one of baseball’s best players, but he’s not invincible. Trout was held out of Thursday’s lineup in their 8-6 10-inning loss to the A’s, marking just the second time this season he did not start. Trout previously missed a start against the Rays on July 5, but came in as a pinch-runner. Trout did play in Thursday’s game, appearing as a pinch-hitter with a pair of baserunners on and one out in the eighth inning before walking on four pitches. He would stay in the game in center field and later strike out as the tying run in the 10th

Welcome to DraftKings fantasy baseball, the Official Daily Fantasy Game of Major League Baseball. The players listed within this article are in position to provide difference-making stats for DraftKings participants on Friday.