Rockies’ road back to playoffs a bit easier

The Colorado Rockies are closer to locking up their first post-season spot since 2009 after beating the Miami Marlins 15-9 on Wednesday, setting up a weekend to remember at Coors Field in Denver.

The Rockies have three games left and cling to a 11/2-game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers, who played the Cincinnati Reds later Wednesday.

The St. Louis Cardinals trailed by three games in the wild card after falling 5-1 to the NL Centralchampion Chicago Cubs. The Cubs clinched their second consecutive Central title with the win, reaching the post-season for the third straight year.

Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton was hitless in three at-bats with three strikeouts and remained at a major league-leading 57 homers.

Meanwhile, in Phoenix, J.D. Martinez tied Ralph Kiner’s National League record with his 16th homer in September, sparking a three-run, ninth-inning rally that led the Arizona Diamondbacks past the San Francisco Giants 4-3.

Martinez has 45 homers this season, 29 of them in his 59 games with the Diamondbacks, who acquired him in a trade with the Detroit.

The major league record for September homers is 17, by Babe Ruth in 1927 and Albert Belle in 1995. Arizona will be back in action at Chase Field next Wednesday in the NL wild card game.

And in Arlington, Texas, major league batting leader Jose Altuve has a few more games to add to another 200-hit season as the Houston Astros second baseman reached 200 hits for the fourth season in a row during their 12-2 rout of the Texas Rangers.

Altuve bolstered his .347 average with a single.

He is the fourth righthanded hitter in major league history with four consecutive 200-hit seasons. The last was Michael Young, with five in a row for Texas from 2003 to 2007.