Cardinals win, dash Brewers’ postseason hopes

CARDINALS 7, BREWERS 6

ST. LOUIS — Early on, the Milwaukee Brewers were doing everything they could to keep pressure on Colorado.

By the time their game was over, though, there was no reason to care about what happened at Coors Field.

The Brewers were eliminated from playoff contention Saturday when they squandered a six-run lead in a 7-6 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, handing baseball's final postseason spot to the Rockies.

Milwaukee reliever Anthony Swarzak 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.

"It's a fun group and they found a way I think to lift each other up and that's why we were in a position we were in on the second-to-last day of the season," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "It stings."

Milwaukee's loss clinched the second NL wild card for Colorado, which plays at division rival Arizona in the wild-card game Wednesday.

"We knew what was at stake coming in," Brewers third baseman Travis Shaw said. "Unfortunately, today we didn't do our part so it really doesn't matter what happens out West. It took 161 games, but I could not be prouder to be part of this team."

The young Brewers began the day two games behind Colorado and had hoped to force a tiebreaker Monday by winning their last two regular-season games in St. Louis while the Rockies dropped their final two at home to the Dodgers.

Instead, the Brewers (85-76) blew an early 6-0 lead and their surprising season came to an abrupt end.

Milwaukee hasn't reached the playoffs since 2011.

"At the beginning of the year nobody

Saturday’s games NATIONAL LEAGUE

Chicago Cubs 9, Cincinnati 0

San Diego 3, San Francisco 2

St. Louis 7, Milwaukee 6

New York Mets 7, Philadelphia 4, 11 innings Pittsburgh 4, Washington 1

Miami 10, Atlanta 2

LA Dodgers 5, Colorado 3

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Boston 6, Houston 3

New York Yankees 2, Toronto 1 Tampa Bay 4, Baltimore 3 Chicago White Sox 2, Cleveland 1 Detroit 3, Minnesota 2

Texas 8, Oakland 4

Seattle at LA Angels, (n)

INTERLEAGUE

Kansas City 4, Arizona 3

cared, nobody thought there was pressure on us to win the division, but we still played hard, we worked hard and we played together," first baseman Eric Thames said. "We came within one game of being in a postseason spot."

With the Cardinals already eliminated, Domingo Santana hit a tworun homer and Shaw drove in two runs and scored twice as Milwaukee jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the third.

St. Louis scored four times in the bottom half, and Piscotty's single tied it in the eighth. Piscotty was initially called out trying to reach second on the throw home, but then was ruled safe following a replay review. That set up Bader's decisive hit off Swarzak (6-4 overall, 2-1 with the Brewers) with two outs.

CUBS 9, REDS 0 Jon Lester struck out seven over five innings, Kyle Schwarber hit his 30th home run and host Chicago pounded Cincinnati for its 15th victory in 18 games. Lester (13-8) allowed four hits and walked none in a possible tuneup for Game 1 of the NL Division Series against Washington. The veteran left-hander has allowed one run in 11 innings over his past two outings after posting an 8.22 ERA in his previous five starts.

PADRES 3, GIANTS 2 Matt Cain pitched five shutout innings, then raised his arms and waved his cap, fighting off tears amid a standing ovation as he walked off the mound for the final time Saturday in host San Francisco’s 3-2 loss to San Diego. Cain’s decorated 13-year career came to an end and the home crowd at AT&T Park saluted the right-hander, a cornerstone of the team’s championship era who pitched the only perfect game in franchise history.

AMERICAN LEAGUE YANKEES 2, BLUE JAYS 1

The New York Yankees wound up with an AL wild-card spot, beating visiting Toronto on Aaron Judge’s 52nd home run shortly before Boston clinched the AL East crown. The Yankees will host Minnesota in the wild-card game Tuesday. The wild-card winner will face Cleveland in the best-of-five AL Division Series.

INTERLEAGUE ROYALS 4, DIAMONDBACKS 3

Jorge Bonifacio hit a three-run homer with two outs in the sixth inning to help the Kansas City Royals to a victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Bonifacio’s homer, his 17th, came off Archie Bradley (33) with Paulo Orlando and Ramon Torres aboard. Right-hander Jake Junis (9-3) allowed two runs on five hits, including A.J. Pollock’s home run in the sixth, to pick up the win. Junis’ nine victories are tied for the American League lead for rookies. David Peralta’s fifth-inning double scored Rey Fuentes, who walked and stole second, with the first Diamondbacks’ run.