Brewers, Cubs clinch postseason berths
Rockies win, overtake Dodgers for 1st in West
ST. LOUIS — The Milwaukee Brewers clinched their first playoff spot since 2011 by ensuring at least a spot in the NL wild-card game, helped Wednesday night when a rookie St. Louis pinchrunner suddenly fell on his way to the plate in a 2-1 win over the contending Cardinals.
Jhoulys Chacin pitched five shutout innings and Travis Shaw hit a pair of RBI singles as the Brewers completed a three-game sweep.
The Brewers (92-67) remained half a game behind the Chicago Cubs for first place in the NL Central.
Milwaukee advanced to the NL Championship Series in 2011 before being eliminated in six games by the eventual World Series champion Cardinals.
The Cardinals missed a big chance to tie it in the eighth inning. Matt Carpenter walked and was lifted for pinch-runner Adolis Garcia. Jose Martinez then hit a slow roller to third baseman Mike Moustakas, who threw wildly to first.
Garcia was waved home but fell halfway to the plate, allowing second baseman Hernan Perez to easily throw him out to end the inning.
CUBS 7, PIRATES 6 (10): In Chicago, shortly after their playoff spot was assured, the Cubs beat Pittsburgh when Albert Almora Jr. hit a game-ending single with two outs in the 10th inning.
The NL Central-leading Cubs clinched their fourth straight postseason appearance earlier in the evening when Milwaukee beat St. Louis.
DIAMONDBACKS 7, DODGERS 2: In Phoenix, A.J. Pollock hit a three-run homer as Arizona defeated Los Angeles to drop the Dodgers into second place in the NL West, half a game behind Colorado.
The Dodgers, though, hold a onegame lead over St. Louis for the final wild card.
Both teams have three games remaining in the regular season.
ROCKIES 14, PHILLIES 0: In Denver, German Marquez started with eight straight strikeouts to match a modernera big-league record as Colorado beat Philadelphia.
Colorado has outscored the Phillies 34-4 over the first three games of the four-game series. RAYS 8, YANKEES 7: In St. Petersburg, Fla., Masahiro Tanaka gave up four runs and six hits over four-plus innings in his final start before the playoffs in New York’s loss at Tampa Bay. New York holds a 2 ½-game lead over Oakland to host the AL wild-card game. ATHLETICS 9, MARINERS 3: In Seattle,
Matt Olson’s grand slam in a six-run fifth inning lifted Oakland past Seattle. METS 3, BRAVES 0: In New York, Jacob deGrom was dominant in what likely was his final pitch for the NL Cy Young Award, throwing eight stellar innings for New York and leaving with a major league-best 1.70 ERA.
DeGrom (10-9) made his final regular-season start, striking out 10 and allowing just two singles against NL East champion Atlanta. He retired the final 20 hitters after allowing a single to Johan Camargo. DeGrom gave up no more than three runs in his last 29 starts to extend his single-season record.
RED SOX 19-3, ORIOLES 3-10: In Boston, Chris Sale struck out eight over 4⅔ innings in his final tune-up for an expected start in the ALDS opener before Baltimore salvaged a split of a day-night doubleheader with a 10-3 victory.
Boston won the opener 19-3, dealing the Orioles a franchise-record 112th loss. J.D. Martinez had three of Boston’s season-high 22 hits, including a threerun homer that brought his major league-leading RBI total to 127.
BLUE JAYS 3, ASTROS 1: In Toronto, the Blue Jays gave outgoing manager John Gibbons a winning home send-off with a win over Houston, which afterward celebrated its second straight AL West title by virtue of Oakland’s loss the night before.
Before the game, Toronto GM Ross Atkins announced that Gibbons will not return next season. The 56-year-old Gibbons has one season left on a two-year extension he received in April 2017.
INDIANS 10, WHITE SOX 2: In Chicago, Shane Bieber remained perfect on the road (7-0) with six scoreless innings and Francisco Lindor led off the game with a home run as Cleveland beat up Chicago. NATIONALS 9, MARLINS 3 (7): In Washington, Nationals rookie Victor Robles had a career-high four hits, including a three-run homer and a tworun double, as Washington beat Miami in a rain-shortened game. ROYALS 6, REDS 1: In Cincinnati, rookie Heath Fillmyer struck out a career-high nine, and Adalberto Mondesi tripled, stole two bases and scored twice as Kansas City beat Cincinnati. ANGELS 3, RANGERS 2: In Anaheim, Calif., Shohei Ohtani hit a tie-breaking homer in the eighth inning to send Los Angeles past Texas. TWINS 11, TIGERS 4: In Minneapolis, Johnny Field homered twice as Minnesota beat Detroit.
PADRES 3, GIANTS 2: In San Francisco, Travis Jankowski homered to lead San Diego.