Cubs clinch second straight NL Central title
ST. LOUIS — Addison Russell hit a three-run homer and John Lackey pitched six strong innings as the Chicago Cubs clinched their second consecutive NL Central title with a 5-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night.
The Cubs reached the postseason for the third straight year for the first time since 1908. They are also the first defending World Series champion to win their division the next season since the 2009 Philadelphia Phillies and the first defending champion to reach the playoffs the next season since the Cardinals won the wild card in 2012.
Lackey (12-11) retired the final 10 batters he faced. The former Cardinal struck out three and gave up two hits and two walks.
• Indians 4, Twins 2 — At Cleveland: From worst to wild card, the Minnesota Twins have completed a most remarkable reversal.
A couple hours after losing 4-2 to Cleveland, the Twins earned an AL wild-card berth the Angels lost 6-4 in 10 innings to White Sox.
• White Sox 6, Angels 4, 10 innings — At Chicago: Nicky Delmonico hit a tworun homer in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift Chicago and eliminate the Angels from playoff contention.
• Rockies 15, Marlins 9 — At Denver: Ian Desmond homered during a six-run second inning and playoff-chasing Colorado won hours after Major League Baseball approved the sale of the Marlins to an investment group featuring Derek Jeter.
Charlie Blackmon reached 100 RBIs for the Rockies, who with three games left are in prime position to contend for their first postseason berth since 2009. They are 2 1/2 games ahead of Milwaukee for the second NL wild-card spot.
• Reds 6, Brewers 0 — At Milwaukee: Brewers rookie Brandon Woodruff was chased in a five-run third inning and Milwaukee’s postseason hopes took another hit.
• Red Sox 10, Blue Jays 7 — At Boston: Reigning AL Cy Young winner Rick Porcello struggled in his final playoff tuneup, and David Price relieved him to solidify his role on the postseason roster as Boston lowered its magic number to two for winning the AL East.
• Yankees 6, Rays 1 — At New York: Luis Severino cruised through his final postseason tuneup and Starlin Castro, Greg Bird and Aaron Hicks all homered in the sixth inning for New York.
• Dodgers 10, Padres 0 — At Los Angeles: Rich Hill allowed two hits over seven innings and Yasiel Puig, Curtis Granderson and Corey Seager homered to power Los Angeles. • Astros 12, Rangers 2 — At Arlington, Texas: Justin Verlander struck out 11 to win his fifth straight start since getting traded to Houston, major league batting leader Jose Altuve reached 200 hits for the fourth season in a row, and the AL West champion Astros completed a dominating three-game sweep.
• Phillies 7, Nationals 5 — At Philadelphia: Aaron Altherr had two hits and drove in two runs to lead Philadelphia over Washington.
• Mets 7, Braves 1 — At New York: Terry Collins was a winner in perhaps his final home game as manager of the New York Mets.
• Royals 7, Tigers 4 — At Kansas City, Mo.: Paulo Orlando hit a two-run homer and Kansas City sent Detroit to its ninth straight loss.
• Pirates 5, Orioles 3 — At Pittsburgh: Josh Bell hit a two-run homer and Pittsburgh beat Baltimore.