Phillies clinch first playoff berth since ’11
HOUSTON — Aaron Nola took a perfect game into the seventh inning and Kyle Schwarber homered twice as the Philadelphia Phillies clinched their first playoff berth in 11 years with a 3-0 win over the Houston Astros on Monday night.
After Brandon Marsh caught Mauricio Dubon’s fly ball in center for for the game’s final out, players jumped and cheered in jubilation before meeting at the mound where they hugged and bounced around some more.
The Phillies clinched at the same ballpark where they secured their last postseason trip on Sept. 14, 2011. That game was a 1-0 victory over the Astros highlighted by a complete game shutout by Hall of Famer Roy Halladay.
Philadelphia’s postseason drought was the longest active one in the majors after the Seattle Mariners clinched their first playoff berth in 21 years Friday night.
Nola (11-13) struck out nine and didn’t allow a baserunner until Yordan Alvarez singled with two outs in the seventh. David Hensley followed with a single and Nola was replaced by Jose Alvarado, who struck out Kyle Tucker to end the inning.
Zach Eflin pitched a scoreless ninth to complete the shutout and get his first save in 11 years of pro ball.
Philadelphia added some insurance when Las Vegas native Bryson Stott and Schwarber hit back-to-back solo shots off Jose Urquidy to start the eighth inning.
Mccullers allowed six hits and one run with five strikeouts in six innings.
■ Pirates 3, Cardinals 2: At Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh drew four consecutive walks in the ninth inning to force home the winning run.
St. Louis’ Albert Pujols hit his 703rd home run, breaking a tie with Babe Ruth for second place in career RBIS.
■ Red Sox 4, Rays 3: At Boston, Christian Arroyo hit a two-run double and Kiké Hernández added a tying RBI double during a three-run sixth inning for Boston, which ended a threegame skid.
■ Reds 3, Cubs 1: At Cincinnati, Hunter
Greene (5-13) and relievers Derek Law, Buck Farmer and Alexis Diaz combined on a two-hitter to stop Chicago’s winning streak at seven games.
■ Royals 5, Guardians 2: At Cleveland, rookie Drew Waters belted a three-run homer off Kirk Mccarty in the 10th inning as Kansas City won for the second time in seven games.
■ White Sox 3, Twins 2: At Chicago, Josh Harrison hit a two-run homer to back Johnny Cueto (8-10), who stopped a personal four-game slide.
■ Brewers 6, Diamondbacks 5: At Milwaukee, Hunter Renfroe homered in a ninthinning comeback and singled home the winning run in the 10th.
■ Tigers 4, Mariners 3: At Seattle, Javy Báez hit his 17th homer of the season to back Bryan Garcia (2-0), who struck out six in 6 2/3 innings.
■ Marlins 4, Braves 0: At Miami, Bryan De La Cruz hit a two-run homer to back Jesús Luzardo (4-7), who struck out 12 in six innings.
■ Blue Jays 5, Orioles 1: At Baltimore, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his 32nd homer for Toronto, which has won four straight.
■ Padres 7, Giants 4: At San Diego, Wil
Myers hit 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBIS as Josh Hader earned his 36th save.
■ Rockies 2, Dodgers 1: At Los Angeles, Sean Bouchard scored the go-ahead run off a Michael Toglia single in the ninth.