Marlins pip Yanks, clinch playoff berth
Astros claim final AL spot despite loss to Rangers
NEW YORK, Sept 26, (AP): The Marlins clinched an improbable playoff berth in their coronavirus-decimated season, beating the New York Yankees 4-3 in 10 innings to seal a postseason trip.
Miami earned its first postseason trip since 2003 when it won the World Series as the Florida Marlins, capped by a Game 6 victory in the Bronx over Miami owner Derek Jeter and his New York teammates at the previous version of Yankee Stadium.
The Marlins had the worst record in the NL last year at 57-105, then was beset by a virus outbreak early this season that prevented it from playing for more than a week.
After Jesús Aguilar hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the 10th, Marlins reliever Brandon Kintzler got major league batting leader DJ LeMahieu to ground into a game-ending double play with the bases loaded.
Miami players ran onto the field, formed a line and exchanged non socially-distant hugs.
Rangers 5, Astros 4, 10 innings In Arlington, Texas, Joey Gallo’s run-scoring fielder’s choice in the 10th inning completed a 5-4 victory for Texas as the Rangers rallied from a run down in each of the last two innings, starting with Ronald Guzman’s two-out, twostrike solo homer off Pressly in the ninth.
Alex Bregman homered in the sixth and had a sacrifice fly that put the Astros ahead 4-3 in the top of the 10th. Houston’s first run came on George Springer’s RBI triple.
Nick Solak matched Bregman’s sacrifice fly to get the last-place Rangers even in the bottom of the 10th.
Dodgers 9, Angels 5
In Los Angeles, Justin Turner homered twice and AJ Pollock, Will Smith and Edwin Ríos also went deep as the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied to beat the Angels 9-5 to open the first-ever season-closing Freeway Series.
The loss mathematically eliminated the Angels from postseason contention in Joe Maddon’s first season as manager, and gave the final AL playoff spot to the Houston Astros.
Corey Seager’s diving stop of Mike Trout at short saved the potential tying run for the third out in the seventh. Trout earlier homered off Clayton Kershaw. Pinch-hitter Joc Pederson had a RBI single with two outs in the seventh. Ríos homered with two outs in the eighth to make it 9-5. That snapped Mike Mayers’ streak of 14 straight scoreless outings.
Athletics 3, Mariners 1, 10 innings In Oakland, California, Mark Canha hit a two-out, two-run home run in the 10th inning, lifting the Oakland Athletics to a 3-1 win over the Seattle Mariners.
The Mariners had taken a 1-0 lead in the top of the 10th when pinch-runner Dee StrangeGordon – playing in his 1,000th career game – scored on a passed ball.
The A’s came back with the majors-leading sixth walkoff win.
Ramon Laureano hit a two-out double to drive in Sean Murphy, who began the inning at second base. Canha followed with a deep drive on a 1-1 pitch from Joey Gerber (1-1) that cleared the fence in right. It was Canha’s second game-ending hit this season.
Reds 7, Twins 2
In Minneapolis, Mike Moustakas homered twice, Freddy Galvis hit a solo shot and the Cincinnati Reds clinched their first playoff spot since 2013, beating the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins 7-2.
The Reds (30-28), who can finish as high as the fifth seed in the eight-team NL field, leaned hard on their bullpen and raised their record to two games above .500 for the first time since May 13, 2017.
After Wade Miley wrapped up a scoreless ninth, Cincinnati players roared from the dugout and ran out for team-wide hugs on the mound.
Joey Votto and the Reds had endured six straight losing seasons before advancing this year under manager David Bell.
Braves 8, Red Sox 7, 11 innings
In Atlanta, Freddie Freeman hit a two-run homer to lead off the 11th inning and Atlanta beat Boston to clinch the No. 2 seed in the National League playoffs.
Freeman’s homer off Jeffrey Springs (0-2) drove in Ender Inciarte, who started the inning on second base, and bolstered the Braves slugger’s case for the NL MVP Award.
Alex Verdugo’s sacrifice fly off Shane Greene (1-0) drove in Rafael Devers in the top of the 11th, giving Boston a 7-6 lead.
Kevin Plawecki had three hits, including a tiebreaking single in Boston’s two-run 10th. The Braves answered with two runs off Springs, including Dansby Swanson’s two-out, run-scoring double to right field that tied it.
Indians 4, Pirates 3
In Cleveland, César Hernández ripped an RBI double into the right-field corner with two outs in the ninth inning as Cleveland rallied for its third walk-off win in four days, keeping the Indians’ hopes alive for winning the AL Central.
Tyler Naquin drew a leadoff walk off Chris Stratton (2-1) and pinch-hitter Jordan Luplow hit an RBI double high off the wall in left. Delino DeShields - who broke up Pittsburgh’s no-hit bid with a bunt single in the seventh-hit an RBI single one out later. After Francisco Lindor lined out, it was Hernández’s turn to be a hero, and after he delivered, he was chased around the infield by his celebrating teammates.
Mitch Keller didn’t allow a hit for the second straight start, but he walked eight and was relieved after five erratic innings and 98 pitches.
Rays 6, Phillies 4
In St Petersburg, Florida Joey Wendle had a go-ahead two-run single in the eighth inning and AL East champion Tampa Bay rallied to hurt Philadelphia’s playoff hopes.
The Rays would clinch the top seed in the American League with an Oakland loss; the A’s were hosting Seattle. Tampa Bay is looking to finish with the AL’s best record for the second time, after topping the league in 2010.
Bryce Harper had a triple and drove in two runs for Philadelphia, which fell two games behind second-place Miami in the NL East and also trailed in the wide-open wild-card race.
Yoshi Tsutsdugo had one-out single in the eighth before Adam Morgan (0-1) loaded the bases on consecutive walks to Hunter Renfroe and Brett Phillips.
Héctor Neris replaced Morgan and retired pinch-hitter Brandon Lowe on a pop fly. Wendle followed with a liner to right that gave Tampa Bay a 5-3 advantage.
Padres 5, Giants 4, 7 Inning, Game 1
Padres 6, Giants 5, 7 Inning, Game 2 In San Francisco, Trent Grisham hit a gameending three-run homer with one out in the seventh inning, lifting the San Diego Padres to a 6-5 victory and a doubleheader split with the San Francisco Giants after ace Dinelson Lamet left the game with an apparent injury.
Projected No. 1 playoff starter Lamet became the second Padres pitcher to go down injured in three games. No update was given before the game ended.
Fernando Tatís Jr homered for the first time since Sept 6 with a two-run drive in the third, but Lamet’s injury in the top of the fourth left the Padres bench looking dejected.
The Giants (29-29) dropped back after Cincinnati (30-28) clinched its first playoff berth since 2013 with a victory at Minnesota.
Grisham hit a drive into the elevated rightfield arcade off Sam Coonrod (0-2).
Luis Patino (1-0) pitched the seventh for his first major league win.
Diamondbacks 4, Rockies 0, 7 Inning, Game 1
Diamondbacks 11, Rockies 5, 7 Inning, Game 2
In Phoenix, Josh VanMeter hit a three-run homer, David Peralta and Tim Locastro both had three hits and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Colorado Rockies 11-5 to sweep a doubleheader.
The Diamondbacks have won four straight games on their homestand. Zac Gallen struck out a career-high 10 over six innings to lead Arizona to a 4-0 victory in the opener.
Colorado’s loss in the first game, coupled with other results, eliminated the Rockies from playoff contention. Last-place Arizona was already out of the postseason chase.
The Diamondbacks took a 6-1 lead in the first inning of the nightcap, sending 12 batters to the plate. Antonio Santos (0-1) didn’t make it out of the first inning in his first big league start, giving up six earned runs and retiring just two batters.
Taylor Clarke (3-0) gave up four runs over five innings to get the win.
Blue Jays 10, Orioles 5
In Buffalo, New York, Randal Grichuk and Travis Shaw homered, Nate Pearson returned from an elbow injury to pitch 1-2/3 scoreless innings and playoff-bound Toronto beat Baltimore.
Shaw narrowly missed a multihomer game, hitting a double in the seventh that struck the top of the wall in right field and bounced back into play.
The Blue Jays are assured of at least a wild card and could still edge out New York for second place in the AL East.
Grichuk hit a leadoff shot off Jorge López in the second, his 11th, and Toronto scored six runs in the inning.
López (2-2) allowed eight runs and nine hits in two-plus innings.
Baltimore’s Ramón Urías and Cedric Mullins hit back-to-back solo home runs off Shun Yamaguchi in the fifth, and José Iglesias connected off the Japanese right-hander in the sixth.
Brewers 3, Cardinals 0, 7 Inning. Game 1 Cardinals 9, Brewers 1, 7 Inning. Game 2
In St. Louis, Daniel Ponce de Leon pitched one-hit ball over six innings, Tommy Edman hit a two-run homer and St. Louis earned a doubleheader split against Milwaukee.
In the opener, Christian Yelich homered and Brent Suter combined with Devin Williams and Josh Hader on a five-hitter for the Brewers in a 3-0 win.
Both teams are among the seven NL clubs still vying for three available postseason spots. Milwaukee is two games behind St. Louis, which opened the day in second place in the NL Central.
The top two teams in each division advance to the playoffs. The Brewers and Cardinals are also in contention for the two NL wild cards up for grabs as they finish the season with this five-game series.
Ponce de Leon (1-3) struck out six, and Dylan Carlson and Matt Wieters each drove in two to back him.
Josh Lindblom (2-4) has lost four of his past five decisions. He allowed three runs and four hits in 2-1/3 innings. He also struck out two and walked one.
Royals 3, Tigers 2
In Kansas City, Mo., Brad Keller threw six scoreless innings, Adalberto Mondesi had three hits and an RBI as Kansas City held off Detroit.
Keller (5-3) gave up four singles and struck out five in six innings. The eighth-round draft pick in 2013 closed out the season allowing one run in 33 innings pitched at home.
The Royals have won three in a row. The Tigers have lost eight of nine.
Mondesi was a homer away from hitting for the cycle. In his last three games, he had nine hits, six runs scored and four RBI’s.
Spencer Turnbull (4-4) went five innings for the Tigers, allowing three runs, six hits and striking out five.
Scott Barlow and Jakob Junis went a combined 1-2/3 scoreless innings, and Jesse Hahn closed the door in the ninth for his second save of the season.
Cubs 10, White Sox 0
In Chicago, Yu Darvish pitched seven strong innings for his NL-leading eighth win, Willson Contreras homered twice and the Cubs moved to the brink of clinching the NL Central title by pounding the crosstown White Sox.
Victor Caratini, Kyle Schwarber and Javier Baez also went deep as Cubs used the long ball to break out of an offensive funk and end a three-game losing streak. They reduced their magic number for securing the division crown to one game after St Louis split a doubleheader with Milwaukee.
The fading White Sox managed just three hits off Darvish and lost their season high sixth straight. Like the Cubs, the South Siders have secured a playoff spot, but slipped into a tie for second place in the AL Central with Cleveland.
Darvish (8-3) struck out five and walked one as he cruised to his first win since beating the Cardinals on Sept 4.