Marlins wrap up NL wild-card berth
The Miami Marlins' improbable September push will carry into October.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit his 19th home run, Josh Bell delivered a late two-run double and the visiting Marlins clinched the fourth playoff berth in franchise history with a 7-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday night.
Miami locked down one of the two remaining National League wild-card spots.
A.J. Puk (7-5) and seven other relievers kept the Pirates in check, rendering any scoreboard-watching pointless.
Miami began the day with its magic number whittled to one following another late comeback victory on Friday night.
One officially dropped to zero when closer Tanner Scott wrapped up his 12th save by striking out the side in the ninth.
Buoyed by first-year manager Skip Schumaker's relentless optimism and a “why not us” approach, the largely anonymous Marlins — who finished with 93 or more losses in each of the previous four non-pandemic-shortened seasons — will be in the playoffs next week while big spenders like the New York Mets and San Diego Padres will be watching from home.
Little was expected, yet the Marlins entered September at .500 (67-67) and on the fringe of an underwhelming wild-card race before hitting the gas over the last four weeks.
Miami used a 17-9 September surge to vault over the Giants, Chicago and surprising Cincinnati in the standings.
RAYS 7, BLUE JAYS 5, 10 INNINGS >> Taylor Walls delivered a go-ahead two-run single off Jordan Hicks (3-9) with two out in the top of the 10th and Tampa Bay beat Toronto.
Harold Ramírez had three hits for the Rays, including a tying two-run homer off Trevor Richards in the fifth.
PADRES 6, WHITE SOX 1 >> Chicago lost 100 games for the first time since 2018 as Ha-Seong Kim had four hits to lead San Diego to a road win.
Michael Wacha (14-4) struck out seven, walked one and allowed three hits over seven scoreless innings as the Padres, who were eliminated from playoff contention Friday, moved to above .500 (81-80) for the first time since May 10.
Jurickson Profar had two hits and drove in four runs for San Diego.
Mike Clevinger (9-9) was roughed up for six runs in 1 2/3 innings against his former team.
YANKEES 5, ROYALS 2 >> Frankie Montas earned the win out of the bullpen in his season debut for New York, and the Yankees (82-79) clinched their 31st straight winning season with one game to spare by beating host Kansas City.
Gleyber Torres drove in a pair of runs in a three-run sixth inning.
Montas had surgery on his labrum in late February and spent all season working his way back. He retired four batters while allowing two hits and a walk.