Dodgers clinch spot, tie Rockies
SAN FRANCISCO — The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched baseball’s final playoff berth and gave themselves a chance to still win the NL West, getting a goahead triple from Manny Machado in the eighth inning and beating San Francisco 10-6 on Saturday.
The defending NL champions locked up their sixth consecutive trip to the postseason, assuring at least a spot in the wild-card game.
Colorado’s 12-2 loss to Washington at Denver forced a tie with the Dodgers for the division lead. If the teams finish even Sunday, there will be a one-game tiebreaker for the West title Monday at Dodger Stadium.
“We went through a lot of ups and downs, but we’ve still got a chance to win the division,” Matt Kemp said.
A surprising 16-26 start and injuries to some of their biggest stars, including a pair of disabled list stints for ace pitcher Clayton Kershaw, left the Dodgers in a hole and needing to win in the final weekend to make the postseason. YANKEES 8, RED SOX 5: Gleyber Torres and Giancarlo Stanton connected as the New York broke the major league record for home runs in a season and reached 100 wins with a victory at Boston. Torres’ two-run drive in the fourth was New York’s 265th of the year and moved it past the 1997 Seattle Mariners. Stanton pushed the record to 266 in the seventh with his 38th homer, a solo homer to left field. A fan sitting in the seats above the Green Monster threw the souvenir back, and the ball bounced into Stanton as he rounded second base.
Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia was suspended five games for hitting Rays catcher Jesus Sucre in the leg Thursday — a penalty that won’t take effect until next year after an appeal. CARDINALS 2, CUBS 1: Miles Mikolas outpitched Cole Hamels with eight sparkling innings, leading St. Louis to victory at Chicago and sending the NL Central race to the final day of the season. The Cubs still have a chance to win the division, while the Cardinals were eliminated by the Dodgers’ victory. BREWERS 6, TIGERS 5: Milwaukee moved into a tie atop the NL Central with one game remaining, getting two homers from MVP candidate Christian Yelich to beat visiting Detroit.