Brewers win keeps playoff hopes alive
Brandon Woodruff allowed two hits in eight innings and the Milwaukee Brewers kept their playoff hopes alive by beating the St. Louis Cardinals 3-0 on Saturday night.
Ryan Braun and Daniel Vogelbach hit back-to-back home runs in the fourth, the third time the Brewers have hit consecutive homers this season.
Woodruff(3-5) retired 19 straight after pitchingaround leadoff hits in thefirst and secondinningsasmilwaukee(29-30) movedwithin agameofst. Louis(29-28). Bothteamsareamongfour Nlclubsvyingfortwoopen postseasonspots. blue Jays 5, orioles 2: Cavan Biggio broke up a no-hit bid with a solo home run in the sixth inning, Randal Grichuk added a three-run shot and Toronto beat Baltimore. The Blue Jays need another victory in Sunday’s regular-season finale, and a Miami win over the Yankees, to move up to second place in the AL East and the fifth seed in the league. If not, Toronto will drop to eighth.
Rays 4, Phillies 3: Mike Zunino, Brandon Lowe and Willy Adames had two-out, runscoring singles in the fifth inning as AL East champion Tampa Bay beat Philadelphia. Andrew Mccutchen had four hits for Philadelphia, which has lost six of seven.
Twins 7, Reds 3: Luis Arraez matched career highs with four hits and three RBIS in his return to the lineup, and Minnesota beat Cincinnati to clinch home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Minnesota maintained its one-game lead in the AL Central over the Chicago White Sox.
White Sox 9, Cubs 5: Yoan Moncada homered, Jose Abreu hit a three-run double and the playoff-bound White Sox beat the crosstown NL Central champion Cubs to snap a season-high six-game skid.
Pirates 8, Indians 0: Cleveland suffered a setback in its bid to host a first-round playoff series, losing to Joe Musgrove and major league-worst Pittsburgh. Musgrove (1-5) earned his first victory in a year, allowing three hits while striking out 10 in a season-high seven innings.
Mariners 5-12, Athletics 1-3:
J.P. Crawford hit a goahead single in the eighth inning after his tying single in the sixth, and Seattle beat Oakland in the first game of a doubleheader. Robbie Grossman provided a pair of home runs in his first career multi-homer game for the AL West champions but yet again the A’s stumbled in a loss in Game 2.
Rangers 6, Astros 1: Jeff Mathis hit a tiebreaking, threerun home run in the seventh inning and Texas beat playoffbound Houston.
Rockies 10, d’backs 3: Elias Diaz and Ryan Mcmahon each hit two-run homers, German Marquez threw seven impressive innings and Colorado overcame some sloppy fielding to beat Arizona.
Tigers 4, Royals 3: Niko Goodrum and Austin Romine keyed a three-run first inning, and Detroit edged Kansas City. Notes: The Giants released veteran right-hander Jeff Samardzija on Saturday, a day after he returned from a lengthy shoulder injury and rehab. ... Former Tri-city Valleycat and four-time All-star outfielder Hunter Pence announced his retirement following 14 major league seasons. ... MLB suspended White Sox reliever Jimmy Cordero for three games and fined him an undisclosed amount for hitting the Cubs’ Willson Contreras with a pitch. Manager Rick Renteria was suspended for one game, and he and pitching coach Don Cooper were also fined. ... Astros third base coach Gary Pettis has been diagnosed with multiple myeloma and will miss the rest of the season.