Cardinals and Brewers clinch berths
Harrison Bader tripled and homered to help the St. Louis Cardinals clinch a postseason berth on the f inal day of the regular season Sunday with a 5- 2 win over visiting Milwaukee, and the Brewers also earned a playoff spot via help on the West Coast.
The f ifth- seeded Cardinals will play a wild- card series at San Diego. The Brewers won the intradivision tiebreaker with San Francisco and locked up the eighth seed for a matchup with the Dodgers after the Padres beat the Giants.
St. Louis f inished the regular season with 23 games in 18 days because of a coronavirus outbreak in the clubhouse.
“You had to throw some of the expectations out the window not knowing what to expect after taking those couple weeks off and all those doubleheaders and so many new guys,” Cardinals f irst baseman Paul Goldschmidt said. “It was very different, very fulfilling to make the playoffs.”
Padres 5, at Giants 4:
San Francisco had its postseason hopes dashed after Mitch Moreland hit a goahead double in the fourth for San Diego.
at Rays 5, Phillies 0: Rookie pitcher Josh Fleming gave up four hits over six innings and Tampa Bay eliminated Philadelphia from the playoff race.
at Nationals 15, Mets 5:
Juan Soto walked and singled to become the National League’s youngest batting champion with a .351 average. Soto, 21, surpassed 22year- old Pete Reiser of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1941.
at Indians 8, Pirates 6:
Carlos Santana had four RBIs and delivered a goahead, two- run double in the seventh inning as Cleveland gained home- f ield advantage for its wild- card series when the Chicago White Sox lost.
at Rangers 8, Astros 4: Houston heads to the playoffs with a losing record after Rougned Odor homered twice for Texas.
at Royals 3, Tigers 1: Retiring Alex Gordon got a fond Kansas City farewell when he was pulled from his spot in left f ield. He hugged teammates and waved to his family watching in a private box.
Marlins 5, at Yankees 0:
Miami ended a streak of 10 straight losing seasons behind a home run and three RBIs from rookie Jazz Chisholm. The Marlins’ Starling Marte ( bruised ear) and right- hander Jose Urena ( hand) left the game after getting hurt early.
Orioles 7, at Blue Jays 5: Baltimore denied Toronto a chance to f inish second in the American League East and relegated it to the eighth seed.
Reds 5, at Twins 3 ( 10 innings): Minnesota clinched its second straight AL Central title despite the defeat.
Cubs 10, at White Sox 8: Reynaldo Lopez struggled and the White Sox tumbled out of position for a home playoff series, finishing with seven losses in eight games.
Red Sox 9, at Braves 1:
Jackie Bradley Jr. homered and made a leaping catch as Boston won its finale. at Diamondbacks 11, Rockies 3: Madison Bumgarner pitched five scoreless innings to win his first game for Arizona in his ninth and final start this season.
at Athletics 6, Mariners 2: Mark Canha drove in four runs and Oakland secured the No. 2 seed.
Roenicke f ired
Ron Roenicke was told he will not return as manager of the Boston Red Sox, ending a one- year, shotgun stopgap on the f inal day of a pandemic- shortened season that resulted in a last- place finish in the AL East.