Pirates win, set Wed. home game
Cubs next in wild-card matchup
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates clinched the home field in the NL wild card-game, beating the Cincinnati Reds 4-0 on Sunday behind J.A. Happ’s stellar outing and Pedro Alvarez’s long homer.
The Pirates (98-64) locked up the right to host the Chicago Cubs (97-65) Wednesday night in a winner-take-all playoff with a victory on the final day of the regular season.
Despite having the second-best record in the major leagues, the Pirates finished second to the St. Louis Cardinals (100-62) in the NL Central. Pittsburgh will host the wild card game for the third straight year after beating Cincinnati in 2013 and losing to the San Francisco Giants last season.
The Pirates had 20 straight losing seasons, the longest streak in major North American professional sports history, before their current run.
“We really don’t sit back and look at it too much, as a staff or as a team,” manager Clint Hurdle said of the turnaround. “I always say that if you focus on being good long enough, then you can turn out to be great, and we’ve been able to put some good seasons together.”
Happ (11-8) pitched six innings, gave up three hits, struck out seven and walked two.
Joakim Soria, Tony Watson and Mark Melancon finished the six-hitter with one scoreless inning each.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Braves 6-2, Cardinals 0-0 at Atlanta: Matt Wisler pitched 8⅔ innings and gave up four hits as Atlanta won the finale for a doubleheader sweep that sent St. Louis to the playoffs with a 27-inning scoreless streak.
St. Louis was held to seven hits in the doubleheader, which included a loss to Shelby Miller in the first game that ended Miller’s 24-start winless streak. The Braves won 4-0 on Friday.
Wisler (8-8) won his last three starts, allowing a combined three runs.
Pinch-hitter Brandon Moss doubled with one out in the ninth to become the Cardinals’ first runner in scoring position off Wisler. Jon Jay hit a groundout to first, Tommy Pham walked and Edwin Jackson struck out Randal Grichuk to end the game.
Dodgers 6, Padres 3 at Los Angeles: Clayton Kershaw struck out seven and allowed two hits and no walks on 60 pitches over 3⅔ scoreless innings for the NL West champion Dodgers. The left-hander completed his final tuneup before the Dodgers open the NL Division Series against the New York Mets at home Friday. He is likely to start Game 1 against Jacob deGrom and the NL East champions.
The Padres announced after the game that interim manager Pat Murphy won’t lead the team next year.
Cubs 3, Brewers 1 at Milwaukee: Anthony Rizzo had a tworun single with the bases loaded in the first to reach a career-high 101 RBIs on the season as Chicago won its eighth straight. Cubs starter Dan Haren (11-9) allowed three hits in six innings.
The Cubs will play Wednesday in the NL wild card game in Pittsburgh.
Mets 1, Nationals 0 at New York: Jacob deGrom looked sharp in his abbreviated playoff tuneup, and NL East champion New York finally scored on Curtis Granderson’s eighth-inning homer.
One day after Washington ace Max Scherzer pitched a no-hitter with 17 strikeouts to complete a doubleheader sweep, the Mets (90-72) stopped a five-game losing streak that cost them homefield advantage in the Division Series against the Dodgers.
Next up, deGrom starts Game 1 in the best-of-five matchup Friday at Los Angeles.
Rockies 7, Giants 3 at San Francisco: Corey Dickerson hit a three-run homer, pinch-hitter Justin Morneau had a two-run single and Colorado rallied for seven runs in the ninth.
Colorado’s comeback spoiled former Houston High star Matt Cain’s outing. He started for the first time in six weeks and gave up two hits in five scoreless innings.
Phillies 7, Marlins 2 at Philadelphia: Dee Gordon went 3 for 4 with a home run and a double and outfielder Ichiro Suzuki pitched the eighth as the Phillies avoided their 100th loss. Luis Garcia (4-6) stranded two runners in the seventh and earned the win. Suzuki allowed a run on two doubles.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Royals 6, Twins 1 at Minneapolis: Salvador Perez added to his career-best home run total, Johnny Cueto pitched five solid innings and Kansas City secured home-field advantage throughout the postseason.
Perez hit his 21st homer in the third inning, one behind Kendrys Morales and Mike Moustakas for the team lead.
Cueto (4-7 with Royals, 11-13 overall) allowed one run over five innings, helping the Royals (95-67) finish on a five-game winning streak.
Rays 12, Blue Jays 3 at St. Petersburg, Fla: Mark Buehrle failed to become the fifth major leaguer to pitch 200 innings or more in 15 consecutive seasons for AL East champion Toronto.
Starting for the second time in three days, Buehrle (15-8) needed two innings to reach the milestone, but he failed to get through the first.
Two errors led to Buehrle allowing eight unearned runs and five hits over a career-low twothirds of an inning.
Orioles 9, Yankees 4 at Baltimore: Major league home run leader Chris Davis connected twice for Baltimore, giving him 47 this season. He also struck out for the 208th time, fifth-most in one season in big league history.
New York next plays in Tuesday’s winner-take-all game against the Astros at Yankee Stadium.
Indians 3, Red Sox 1 at Cleveland: Danny Salazar allowed one run in 5⅓ innings to win for just the second time in six starts. Salazar (14-10) tied Carlos Carrasco for the team lead in wins.
Mariners 3, Athletics 2 at Seattle: Former Ole Miss standout Seth Smith hit a two-out, solo home run in the bottom of the eighth as Seattle rallied. Smith’s 12th homer of the season came off reliever Ryan Dull (1-2).
Tigers 6, White Sox 0 at Chicago: Daniel Norris gave up one hit in five innings and Tyler Collins had a bases-clearing triple for Detroit. Norris (3-2) didn’t give up a hit until Trayce Thompson’s triple in the fourth.
INTERLEAGUE
Diamondbacks 5, Astros 3 at Phoenix: Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run homer off Chad Qualls (3-5) and A.J. Pollock had a solo shot for Arizona.
Still, Houston is going to the playoffs for the first time in a decade.
The Astros will play their first AL playoff game Tuesday night, against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.