AROUND THE HORN
Brewers: Mike Moustakas and Yasmani Grandal homered in a 5-2 win over the Cardinals that moved the Brewers four games behind St. Louis for the NL Central lead. The Brewers stayed one game behind the Cubs for the second wild card. The Cubs, who beat the Pirates 14-1, cut the Cardinals’ division lead to three games. The Brewers won for the eighth time in nine games.
Mets: Rajai Davis hit a three-run double off Julio Urias with two outs in the eighth inning after a brilliant pitchers’ duel between the Mets’ Jacob deGrom and the Dodgers’ Hyun-Jin Ryu for a 3-0 Mets win. DeGrom and Ryu both pitched shutout ball for seven innings, and neither walked a batter in a game in which each team got just three hits. The Mets remained three games behind the Cubs for the second NL wild card.
Braves: Nick Markakis had four hits and drove in two runs in his second game back after missing 44 games with a fractured left wrist, and the Braves clinched a playoff berth with a 10-1 victory over the Nationals. The Braves have won the last 11 games started by Mike Foltynewicz (7-5), who pitched six solid innings. Fernando Rodney (0-6) was charged with the loss in the latest bullpen meltdown for the Nationals, whose NL wild-card lead dropped to 11⁄ games over
2 the Cubs.
Diamondbacks: Merrill Kelly pitched seven scoreless innings, Nick Ahmed’s triple led to the game’s only run and the Diamondbacks snapped a six-game losing streak by beating the Reds 1-0. The D’backs still still sit 41⁄
2 games out of the final playoff spot. Kelly allowed three hits and two walks.
Phillies: A 2-1 loss to the Red Sox dropped the Phils 31⁄ games behind the Cubs
2 for the second wild card. The Phillies were mathematically eliminated from the NL East race when the Braves beat the Nationals.
Astros: Yordan Alvarez belted a pinch three-run homer in a 6-1 win over the Royals. Alex Bregman hit his 36th homer and rookie Kyle Tucker was 4-for-4 for the AL West leaders. Zack Greinke (16-5) beat his former team, giving up one run, six hits and no walks and striking out seven in six innings.
Yankees: James Paxton won his ninth straight start, Brett Gardner homered twice and drove in five runs and the Yankees hit five home runs in a 13-3 rout of the Blue Jays. Gleyber Torres and Luke Voit went back-to-back, and Mike Ford also homered as the Yanks won for the 14th time in 19 games.
Luxury tax: The Red Sox are on track to pay a $13.05 million luxury tax for a season in which they are likely to miss the playoffs. The World Series champions’ payroll for purposes of the tax increased from $239.7 million on opening day to $242.8 million Aug. 31, according to calculations by the commissioner’s office. That is well over the $206 million threshold. Because the Red Sox are over the threshold for the second straight year, they pay 30% on the first $20 million over $206 million and a 42% rate on the next $20 million.