Post-season taking shape as three more teams seal spots
NEWYORK: The Atlanta Braves, Oakland Athletics and St Louis Cardinals can start planning for the Major League play-offs after to joining the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers with guaranteed dates for the post-season.
The Braves won their first National League East crown since 2005 on Sunday and the Athletics took their second straight American League West title. The Cardinals are still trying to win the NL Central, but are assured of at least a wildcard berth.
With a week left in the regular season, the race for the two AL wildcard spots is still tangled. Tampa Bay is a half-game ahead of Cleveland, with Texas one game behind the Indians.
Kansas City, the New York Yankees and Baltimore are lagging farther behind. In the NL, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh are tied for the wildcard slots.
The Braves got two homers by Andrelton Simmons in a 5-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs that touched off a wild party in the cramped visitors’ clubhouse at Wrigley Field.
The game was in the sixth inning when Washington lost 4-2 to Miami in the opening game of a split doubleheader, giving the Braves the division championship. Simmons hit a solo drive in the fourth and a two-run shot in the eighth, giving him 17 homers on the year.
At Milwaukee, Norichika Aoki scored three times and doubled home a run as the Brewers beat St Louis 6-4 hours after the Cardinals clinched a play-off berth.
Wily Peralta (11-15) gave up five hits and walked five in five-plus innings for the Brewers. The Cardinals put the goahead run at the plate with two outs in the ninth, but closer Jim Henderson got slugger Matt Adams to strike out to end the game and earn his 26th save.
Oakland’s Coco Crisp hit a three-run homer, and Daric Barton and Jed Lowrie each had solo shots as the Athletics overpowered the Minnesota Twins 11-7.
The Athletics, who had MLB’s fourthlowest, opening-day payroll at about US$65 million, clinched their 16th division crown and 25th post-season appearance when Texas lost 4-0 at Kansas City.
Sonny Gray (4-3) gave up four runs and seven hits in five innings, while Oswaldo Arcia homered and drove in six runs for Minnesota.
The Kansas City Royals blanked the Texas Rangers 4-0 after Justin Maxwell hit a two-out grand slam in the 10th off former Royals All-Star closer Joakim Soria.
At New York, after honouring Mariano Rivera in a pre-game ceremony and celebrating Andy Pettitte’s last regular-season home start, the Yankees saw their AL wildcard hopes dim in a 2-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants.
In other AL games, the Cleveland Indians downed the Houston Astros 9-2, the Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 6-3, the Seattle Mariners edged the Los Angeles Angels 3-2 and the Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-2.
In the NL, the Cincinnati Reds trounced the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-3, the New York Mets edged the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3, the Los Angeles Dodgers shut out the San Diego Padres 1-0 and the Arizona Diamondbacks were 13-9 winners over the Colorado Rockies.