Cardinals top Brewers, both reach postseason on final day
ST. LOUIS » Harrison Bader tripled and homered to help the St. Louis Cardinals clinch a postseason berth on the final day of the regular season with a 5-2 win over Milwaukee, and the Brewers also earned a playoff spot Sunday via help on the West Coast moments later.
St. Louis (30-28) will be the fifth seed in the NL and open a three-game wildcard series at San Diego on Wednesday. By winning, the Cardinals avoided having to travel to Detroit for two makeup games Monday. PADRES 5, GIANTS 4 » San Francisco had its postseason hopes dashed on the final day of the regular season, finishing 29-31 under first-year manager Gabe Kapler. NATIONALS 15, METS 5 » Juan Soto became the National League’s youngest batting champion, Trea Turner hit a grand slam and drove in seven runs, and Washington beat New York.
REDS 5, TWINS 3 » Tucker Barnhart and Eugenio Suárez had RBI singles a three-run 10th inning, and Cincinnati beat Minnesota in a regular-season finale that determined postseason matchups. RANGERS 8, ASTROS 4 » Houston is going into the playoffs with a losing record after Rougned Odor homered twice for Texas in a win, the third in a row for the Rangers over the defending American League champions.
ATHLETICS 6, MARINERS 2 » Mark Canha drove in four runs and Oakland came back to beat Seattle in its final tune-up before the postseason.
BLUE JAYS 7, ORIOLES 5 » Toronto Blue is set to face the Tampa Bay Rays in the first round of the postseason after losing to Baltimore in its regular season finale. DODGERS5,ANGELS0» AJ Pollock homered twice and NL West champion Los Angeles completed a three-game sweep of the Angels. MARLINS 5, YANKEES 0» Miami ended a streak of 10 straight seasons without a winning record, beating New York behind a home run and three RBIs from rookie Jazz Chisholm.
Miami (31-29) finished third in the NL East and earned the NL’s sixth seed and a matchup at the Chicago Cubs in the first round. This will be the Marlins’ first postseason appearance since beating the Yankees in the 2003 World Series. Miami lost an NL-worst 105 games last year.
CUBS 10, WHITE SOX 8 » Reynaldo López (1-3) struggled and the White Sox tumbled out of position for a home playoff series, losing to Kris Bryant and the crosstown Cubs.
RED SOX 9, BRAVES 1 » Jackie Bradley Jr. homered and made a leaping catch as lastplace Boston won its final game under manager Ron Roenicke, beating playoffbound Atlanta.
The NL East champion Braves wound up as the No. 2 seed and will face Cincinnati in a best-of-three playoff series starting Wednesday. All games will be played in Atlanta.
INDIANS 8, PIRATES 6 » Carlos Santana had four RBIs and delivered a go-ahead, tworun double in the seventh inning as Cleveland rallied to clinch home-field advantage for its AL wild-card series.
The Indians moved into second place in the AL Central and fourth in the AL on the final day of the regular season. They will host the Yankees in a best-of-three series beginning Tuesday. DIAMONDBACKS 11, ROCKIES 3 » Madison Bumgarner pitched five scoreless innings to win his first game for Arizona in his ninth and final start this season.
Bumgarner (1-4), a former World Series MVP for San Francisco, left the Giants as a free agent for an $85 million, five-year contract to pitch in the desert. The 31-year-old left-hander never got untracked, plagued by inconsistency and a monthlong stint on the injured list with a midback strain.
ROYALS 3, TIGERS 1 » Brady Singer (4-5) finished his rookie season with a stellar performance, Alex Gordon wrapped up his long Royals career with a fond farewell and Kansas City ended its season with a win over Detroit.