Cardinals shut out Cubs, clinch NL Central title
Rockies go down swinging with another extra-inning victory
ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Cardinals clinched the NL Central on the final day of the regular season, using Jack Flaherty’s arm and Matt Carpenter’s bat Sunday to win their first division title since 2015 with a 9-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs.
The Cubs lost on Joe Maddon’s last day as their manager. It was announced before the game that he won’t return next year.
Flaherty tossed seven impressive innings and Carpenter led a three-homer attack with a three-run drive to help St. Louis advanced to the NL Division Series, starting Thursday at Atlanta.
The second-place Milwaukee Brewers
will play at Washington in the NL wild-card game Tuesday night, with the winner going on to play Los Angeles in the NLDS.
Paul Goldschmidt and Dexter Fowler also homered for St. Louis (91-71).
Flaherty (11-8) allowed two hits, struck out six and walked one. Chicago starter Derek Holland (2-5) took the loss. ROCKIES 4, BREWERS 3, 13 INNINGS: In Denver, relegated to an NL wild-card spot, Milwaukee lost to Colorado when Jake Faria threw a wild pitch in the 13th inning that allowed the winning run to score.
The Brewers will play at Washington on Tuesday night in the wild-card game. The winner advances to take on the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
Yasmani Grandal hit a two-run homer for Milwaukee and Hernan Perez had a pinch-hit homer.
Dom Nunez homered for Colorado, which again scored the tying run in the ninth and swept the threegame series.
Bryan Shaw (3-2) picked up the win with a scoreless inning. RANGERS 6, YANKEES 1: In Arlington, Texas, Lance Lynn struck out 10, getting his career-high 16th win as Texas closed out the 26th and final season at their ballpark with a win over the AL East champion New York.
After Aaron Judge’s 27th homer in the third inning tied the game at 1-1, Lynn (16-11) retired his last 14 batters while pitching against his former team.
New York, plays Minnesota in the Division Series starting Friday, went 103-59.
Masahiro Tanaka (11-9) allowed two runs and five hits in three innings.
RED SOX 5, ORIOLES 4: In Boston, Eduardo Rodriguez missed out on a 20-win season when Boston’s bullpen blew a late lead, but the Red Sox beat Baltimore on Mookie Betts’ ninth-inning dash home.
Betts scored from first on a single by Rafael Devers with no outs.
Stevie Wilkerson chased Jackie Bradley Jr.’s fly ball to the edge of the visitors’ bullpen, leaped over the short wall and pulled back Bradley’s would-be homer while nearly tumbling into the seats.
DODGERS 9, GIANTS 0: In San Francisco, Bruce Bochy bid an emotional farewell following 2½ decades in what is certainly Hall of Fame managerial career, finishing with a 9-0 defeat to Los Angeles.
Los Angeles won its franchise-record 106th game, jumping to a 5-0 lead in the first that held up on Will Smith’s two-run homer right after a bases-clearing, three-run double by Corey Seager.
METS 7, BRAVES 6, 11 INNINGS: In New York, Mike Soroka recovered from a shaky start in his playoff tuneup, but banged-up Atlanta limped into October with a loss to New York.
REDS 3, PIRATES 1: In Pittsburgh, Aristides Aquino hit his 19th home run, Tyler Mahle pitched five shutout innings to pick up his first win since May and Cincinnati beat Pittsburgh shortly after the Pirates fired manager Clint Hurdle. MARLINS 4, PHILLIES 3: In Philadelphia, Bryce Harper got two hits and a standing ovation to close out his first season in Philadelphia, and the Phillies finished at 81-81 after a loss to Miami.
NATIONALS 8, INDIANS 2: In Washington D.C., Washington continued its surge into the playoffs by stretching its winning streak to a year-high eight games with a victory over Cleveland.
ASTROS 8, ANGELS 5: In Anaheim, Calif., Gerrit Cole earned his career-high 20th win, added to his major league-leading strikeout total and finished the best ERA in the AL in Houston’s win over Los Angeles.
BLUE JAYS 8, RAYS 3: In Toronto, Blake Snell lost in a tuneup for a potential postseason outing, and Tampa Bay was beaten by Toronto in its last game before the wild card playoff against the Oakland Athletics.
MARINERS 3, ATHLETICS 1: In Seattle, Kyle Seager hit a two-run homer in the first inning, promising prospect Kyle Lewis added an RBI single and Seattle closed out the season with a win over playoff-bound Oakland. WHITE SOX 5, TIGERS 3: In Chicago, Tim Anderson became the third Chicago player to win an American League batting title, finishing at .335 after going 0 for 2 in a season-ending win over Detroit. DIAMONDBACKS 1, PADRES 0: In Phoenix, Taijuan Walker returned from Tommy John surgery on the final day of the regular season, Tim Locastro beat out an infield grounder to drive home the winning run in the ninth inning and Arizona beat San Diego.
ROYALS 5, TWINS 4: In Kansas City, Mo., Jorge Soler locked up the AL home run crown with his 48th homer, Brett Phillips drove a game-ending sacrifice fly in the ninth inning and Kansas City beat Minnesota in manager Ned Yost’s final game.