Mets clinch top NL wild card
PHILADELPHIA — The New York Mets clinched a playoff spot Saturday, beating the Philadelphia Phillies 5-3 to secure the top National League wild card.
The defending NL champions will host San Francisco or St. Louis on Wednesday night at Citi Field, with the winner advancing to face the Chicago Cubs.
The only other time the Mets made the postseason in consecutive years was 1999-2000. New York won the NL East last season and went all the way to the World Series before losing to Kansas City.
And by clinching with one day to spare in the regular season, manager Terry Collins and the Mets can save AllStar ace Noah Syndergaard for the wild-card game.
Ryan Howard hit a two-run homer in what was likely his penultimate game with the Phillies.
A GIANTS 3, DODGERS 0: Rookie Ty Blach outpitched ace Clayton Kershaw with eight innings of three-hit ball to earn his first big league victory, and host San Francisco beat Los Angeles to hold on to its lead for the last NL playoff spot going into the final day of the regular season. The Giants stayed one game ahead of St. Louis for the second NL wildcard slot. Matt Moore will start for the Giants on Sunday, and a win — or St. Louis loss — puts them in the playoffs.
A CARDINALS 4, PIRATES 3: Jedd G york oh it ago-ahead homer in the eighth, and host St. Louis beat Pittsburgh to push the playoff race to the final day of the regular season.
A NATIONALS2, MARLINS1: Rookie Trea Turner hit his 13th homer, Tanner Roark tuned up for the playoffs with 52⁄ 3 innings of one-run ball, and Washington beat visiting Miami while clinching home-field advantage for its NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
A YANKEES 7 ,ORIOLES 3: On the verge of assuring at least a tiebreaker for an AL playoff berth, Baltimore stumbled. Tyler Austin tied the score with a seventh-inning home run, Austin Romine and Brett Gardner drove in two runs each in the eighth, and New York rallied from a three-run deficit to beat the Orioles at Yankee Stadium.
A BRAVES 5, TIGERS 3: Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis homered, rookie Aaron Blair had a career-high 10 strikeouts, and last-place Atlanta damaged visiting Detroit’s playoff hopes. A BLUEJAYS 4, REDSOX 3: Ezequiel Carrera’s sacrifice fly drove in Dalton Pompey for the go-ahead run in the ninth inning, and Toronto won at Boston to pull into a tie with Baltimore in the race for the top AL wild card.