Red Sox clinch AL East; Rockies get last wild card
BOSTON » The hard chopper bounced off first baseman Mitch Moreland’s glove and high into the air. Second baseman Brock Holt jumped to glove the ball and flipped it to first, where David Price was covering.
When the Boston Red Sox needed him, Price was there.
The one-time ace came out of the bullpen in relief of Drew Pomeranz and squelched a dangerous seventhinning rally on Saturday, helping the Red Sox beat the Houston Astros 6-3 and clinch the first back-to-back AL East titles in franchise history.
With the win, the Red Sox avoided a possible tiebreaker against the rival New York Yankees.
“That was important: Just get it done today,” star Hanley Ramirez said afterward in the Red Sox clubhouse, where music blared, the lockers were covered in plastic and players wore goggles to protect their eyes from the spray of beer and domestic sparkling wine.
With the Boston win, the Yankees were left with a wild-card spot and a one-game matchup against the Minnesota Twins for the right to play Cleveland in the best-of-five AL Division Series. The Astros’ loss meant the Indians, with the tiebreaker over Houston and 101 wins entering Saturday, clinched the best record in the AL.
Boston’s win set up an immediate rematch with the AL West champion Astros in the ALDS, starting Thursday in Houston.
“This is a good team across the way. We’re a good team. We’re both division champions,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “We’ll obviously see a lot of each other over the next 10 days.”
Boston leads New York by two games with one to play, the remnants of what had been a five-game lead when the Red Sox returned to Fenway Park for a season-ending homestand. A loss Saturday — coupled with the Yankees’ 2-1 win over Toronto — would have forced Boston to use Chris Sale on the final day of the season to avoid a tiebreaker on Monday. CARDINALS 7, BREWERS 6 » Milwaukee was eliminated from playoff contention when it squandered a six-run lead in a loss to St. Louis, handing baseball’s final postseason spot to Colorado.
Brewers reliever Anthony Swarzak (6-4) gave up a tying, two-run single to Stephen Piscotty in the eighth inning and a go-ahead single to Harrison Bader. Milwaukee tried to rally in the ninth, but Brett Phillips struck out with a runner on second to end it.
Milwaukee’s loss clinched the second NL wild card for Colorado, which plays at division rival Arizona in the wild-card game Wednesday. The winner advances to a best-of-five Division Series against the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers. YANKEES 2, BLUE JAYS 1 » Aaron Judge hit his 52nd homer, powering the Yankees to the win.
Replacement starter CC Sabathia (14-5) won his fifth straight decision. With New York still in contention for the division title to begin the day, manager Joe Girardi opted for Sabathia to pitch on his regular four days’ rest in place of the originally scheduled Jaime Garcia. PADRES 3, GIANTS 2 » Matt Cain pitched five shutout innings for San Francisco, then raised his arms and waved his cap, fighting off tears amid a standing ovation as he walked off the mound for final time.
Cain’s decorated 13-year career came to an end and the home crowd at AT&T Park saluted the righthander, a cornerstone of the Giants’ championship era who pitched the only perfect game in franchise history. CUBS 9, REDS 0 » Jon Lester struck out seven over five innings, Kyle Schwarber hit his 30th home run and the NL Central champion Cubs earned their 15th win in 18 games. MARLINS 10, BRAVES 2 » Giancarlo Stanton remained at 59 home runs after failing to hit one in Miami’S win over Atlanta.