Surging Reds top Brewers, take series
Joey Votto homered for his first hit all season against Milwaukee, Trevor Bauer dominated on short rest and the Cincinnati Reds won a pivotal series for playoff contention, beating visiting Milwaukee 61on Wednesday.
The Reds are in position for a wildcard playoff berth after taking two of three from their NL Central rival. Cincinnati has won nine of 11, its best stretch of the season, to get a shot at its first playoff appearance since 2013.
The Reds are in a virtual tie with the Giants as both hold the two NL wildcard spots. The Brewers fell a game behind, tied with the Phillies.
Reflecting the urgency of winning the final game of the series, Cincinnati had Bauer (54) pitch on three days’ rest. He allowed four hits, struck out 12 in eight innings and exited with an NLbest 1.73 ERA.
Phillies 12, Nationals 3: Given a chance to DH so he could ease the burden on his bothersome back, Bryce Harper homered twice against his former team, helping visiting Philadelphia push the defending World Series champions to the brink of elimination from the playoff race. The Phillies are 28-29 and third in the NL East, right in the thick of the chase for an NL playoff berth.
Rays 8, Mets 5: Randy Arozarena homered twice and visiting Tampa Bay clinched its first AL East title in 10 years. Joey Wendle and Brandon Lowe also went deep to help Tyler Glasnow (5-1) win his fifth straight decision.
Indians 3, White Sox 2: Shane Bieber lowered his ERA to 1.63 in his final regularseason start, the lowest in the AL since Luis Tiant’s 1.60 for Cleveland in 1968, and Jordan Luplow hit a game-ending home run for Cleveland .
Twins 7, Tigers 6: Jake Cave hit a pair of home runs, Kenta
Maeda finished off his regular season with another strong start and host Minnesota took over sole possession of first place in the AL Central.
Royals 12, Cardinals 3: Salvador Perez and Franchy Cordero each had two homers and five RBIs, and out-of-contention host Kansas City pummeled playoff-chasing St. Louis.
Braves 9, Marlins 4: Dansby Swanson hit a three-run homer and host Atlanta cruised to a third straight win over Miami.
Red Sox 9, Orioles 1: Nathan Eovaldi struck out eight over six scoreless innings and Rafael Devers hit a three-run double for host Boston.
Diamondbacks 7, Rangers 3: Rookie Wyatt Mathisen hit his first two career homers, fellow rookie Daulton Varsho knocked in the go-ahead run with a triple, and host Arizona rallied.
Angels 5, Padres 2: Shohei Ohtani, Justin Upton and Anthony Bemboom homered for visiting Los Angeles.
Blue Jays 14, Yankees 1: Catcher Gary Sanchez made two of visiting New York’s season-high four errors and Toronto’s Danny Jansen homered twice.
Pirates 2, Cubs 1: Adam Frazier and Ke’Bryan Hayes led off the bottom of the first with back-to-back homers off Kyle Hendricks for host Pittsburgh.
Mariners 3, Astros 2: Nick Margevicius tossed six shutout innings, Ty France drove in a pair of runs and host Seattle kept its slim postseason hopes alive.