Yanks miss shot to clinch
Relief pitcher Adam Ottavino sailed a 30-foot throw home on Albert Pujols’ tiebreaking chopper, and the sloppy Yankees lost to the Los Angeles Angels 3-2 last night in New York with a chance to clinch the AL East.
New York could still lock up the division title if Tampa Bay loses to the Los Angeles Dodgers later last night. The Yankees would have been assured a playoff spot if Cleveland had lost, but the Indians beat Detroit.
Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton stung the ball in his return from injury and CC Sabathia got an emotional sendoff in his final regularseason start in the Bronx, yet New York dropped to 99-54 after entering the night tied with Houston for the majors’ best record.
New York hasn’t won the AL East since 2012, the third-longest drought for the club since divisions were formed in 1969.
Indians 2, Tigers 1 — Yasiel Puig hit an RBI single off the top of the right field wall with two outs in the 10th inning and host Cleveland kept up its playoff push by beating Detroit.
Cleveland beat the Tigers for the 16th straight time this season, one shy of its franchise record set against Baltimore in 1954. The Indians are 17-1 against the Tigers this year, outscoring them 109-38.
A’s 1, Royals 0 — Mark Canha hit an RBI double with two outs in the 11th inning andhost Oakland edged Kansas City to hold its lead atop the American League wild card race.
Starters Homer Bailey of the A’s and Danny Duffy of the Royals each pitched seven sharp innings. Bailey, who was traded from Kansas City to Oakland in July, allowed three hits and struck out 11 while Duffy gave up two hits and fanned six.
National League
Phillies 4, Braves 1 — Bryce Harper hit a two-run homer, Zach Eflin pitched seven smooth innings and visiting Philadelphia beat NL Eastleading Atlanta for the second straight game.
Atlanta has lost three in a row for the first time since July 16-18, but still leads the division by nine games.
The Phillies, eliminated from the division race, began the night four games back and trailed three teams in the race for the second wild card.
Mets 7, Rockies 4 — Pete Alonso hit his major leagueleading 49th homer to tie the record for most by a rookie, then drew a basesloaded walk during a fourrun rally in the ninth inning that sent New York over Colorado in Denver.
The Mets began the day tied with Philadelphia, four games behind the Cubs and Milwaukee for the second NL wild card spot.
Alonso hit a long solo home run to left field in the sixth. He matched the rookie mark set by Mark McGwire for Oakland in 1987.
Jeff McNeil also went deep for the Mets, who set a franchise record with 225 home runs this season.
Cardinals 5, Nationals 1 — Adam Wainwright put on another sharp performance while outpitching Max Scherzer, right fielder Dexter Fowler made a sensational catch and tNL Central-leading St. Louis beat visiting Washington.
Wainwright (13-9) has won all four of his starts this month, allowing just one earned run in 27 innings. The 38-year-old righty limited the Nationals to an unearned run in seven innings.
Diamondbacks 5, Marlins 4 — Mike Leake worked effectively through traffic into the seventh inning, Domingo Leyba had two RBI and Arizona beat Miami in Phoenix.
Arizona had dropped to 5½ games back in the NL wild card race after a bullpen blowup led to a 12-6 loss to Miami Tuesday night.
The Diamondbacks bounced back by jumping on Sandy Alcantara (5-14) early to keep their slim playoff chances alive with nine games to go.
Interleague
Mariners 4, Pirates 1 — Kyle Lewis hit his fifth home run since debuting Sept. 10, and Seattle beat host Pittsburgh for its fourth straight win.