Cardinals rally past Padres 3-2 as Machado, Tatis clash
ST. LOUIS — Tyler O’Neill hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning and the St. Louis Cardinals rallied to beat the Padres 3-2 Saturday night after San Diego stars Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. had a dugout dust-up.
The Cardinals pulled 2½ games ahead of the Padres for the second and final NL wild card, with Cincinnati two games back and Philadelphia also in the picture.
San Diego starter Yu Darvish dominated over seven innings, allowing three hits and striking out nine, but reliever Emilio Pagán (4-2) couldn’t get through the eighth.
Machado shouted and cursed at Tatis during a dugout tirade in the fifth.
The 29-year-old Machado and 22-year-old Tatis were separated by teammates during the incident, which came at the end of the top of the fifth. They eventually made their way to their positions.
BREWERS 6, CUBS 4
In Milwaukee, Manny Piña homered twice, Eduardo Escobar and Jace Peterson also connected, and the Brewers clinched their fourth straight postseason berth.
The Brewers won for the seventh time in nine games to ensure themselves at least a wild card after San Diego and Cincinnati lost earlier in the day. Milwaukee’s magic number to lock up the NL Central title is three over St. Louis.
BLUE JAYS 6, TWINS 2
In Toronto, Marcus Semien became the fifth second baseman to hit 40 home runs in a season, and the Blue Jays moved back into a playoff position by beating Minnesota.
Teoscar Hernández hit a three-run homer, Bo Bichette had three hits and two RBIs, and the Blue Jays improved to a big league-best 14-3 in September.
INDIANS 11, YANKEES 3
In New York, catcher Gary Sánchez failed to catch Oscar Mercado’s foul pop-up, leading to a seven-run fifth inning capped by Andrés Giménez’s three-run homer.
GIANTS 2, BRAVES 0
In San Francisco, Curt Casali hit a two-run single in the fourth that held up, Alex Wood made an impressive three-inning return from COVID-19 and the Giants blanked Atlanta.
Wood struck out four and didn’t walk a batter or allow a hit over three scoreless innings, throwing 37 pitches in his first start for San Francisco since Aug. 26. Zack Littell (4-0) relieved and struck out the side in the fourth.
RED SOX 9, ORIOLES 3
In Boston, Xander Bogaerts hit a three-run homer off Mike Baumann (1-1) and drove in four runs, carrying the Red Sox to their fourth straight win.
Bobby Dalbec added a two-run double, and Hunter Renfroe and Rafael Devers each drove in a run for Boston. Bogaerts and Devers both had three hits.
TIGERS 4, RAYS 3
In St. Petersburg, Fla., Jeimer Candelario hit a three-run homer in the first off Ryan Yarbrough (8-6) and Dustin Garneau went deep in the second. The Rays lead the AL East by 7½ games.
DODGERS 5, REDS 1
In Cincinnati, Max Scherzer (15-4) allowed two hits in seven shutout innings, struck out seven and lowered his MLB-best ERA to 2.08, improving to 7-0 with a 0.78 ERA in nine starts since Los Angeles acquired him from Washington on July 30.
Kenley Jansen got his 34th save for the Dodgers, who began the day two games behind NL West-leading San Francisco. Cincinnati entered one game behind St. Louis for the second NL wild-card spot.
ATHLETICS 3, ANGELS 1
In Anaheim, Calif., James Kaprielian pitched two-hit ball over six innings, Matt Olson hit his 36th home run and Oakland beat Los Angeles.
The A’s have won four consecutive games and seven of 10 in their race for the second AL wild card. They’re two games back of Toronto for the final postseason spot, with the Yankees also in the way.
ROCKIES 6, NATIONALS 0
In Washington, Kyle Freeland (6-8) allowed seven hits and struck out seven over six innings, and Trevor Story hit a three-run homer.
Brendan Rodgers had three hits, including his 14th homer three pitches into the game for a 2-0 Colorado lead.
PIRATES 6, MARLINS 3
In Miami, catcher Nick Fortes homered and singled in his major league debut, Cole Tucker had three hits and Bryse Wilson (3-7) allowed two runs and four hits in five innings as Pittsburgh moved within a win of its first series sweep of the season.
Hoy Park had a two-run triple, and Ke’Bryan Hayes doubled twice for the Pirates, who are last in the NL Central at 56-92 and assured of winning four straight series for the first time this year.
RANGERS 2, WHITE SOX 1
In Arlington, Texas, DJ Peters’ pinch-hit single drove in the go-ahead run in the sixth and Texas beat former teammate Lance Lynn (10-5) and AL Central-leading Chicago.
Chicago’s magic number over Cleveland to clinch the division remained at five.
Five Texas pitchers combined on a three-hitter in ending a three-game skid. Yasmani Grandal hit his 21st home run in the Chicago sixth.
ROYALS 8, MARINERS 1
In Kansas City, Mo., Kris Bubic allowed two hits over 6⅓ innings in his best start this season, and the Royals stopped a three-game skid and put a dent in Seattle’s playoff chances.
Seattle lost for the fifth time in seven games and dropped four games behind Toronto for the AL’s second wild-card berth with 14 games remaining.
PHILLIES 5, METS 3
In New York, Jean Segura had his first multi-homer game in almost five years and Aaron Nola snapped a ninestart winless streak, leading Philadelphia over the Mets.
Bryce Harper drove in two runs to help Philadelphia win its fourth in a row and hurt the Mets’ flickering playoff hopes. The Phillies closed within one game of Atlanta in the NL East.
They are 2½ games in back of St. Louis for the second NL wild-card spot.
DIAMONDBACKS 6, ASTROS 4, 10 INNINGS
In Houston, Kole Calhoun knocked in the go-ahead run with an RBI single and Daulton Varsho homered as Arizona scored three runs in the 10th inning.
Calhoun hit an run-scoring single off Yimi García (3-9) and Varsho followed with a two-run homer to center.
J.B. Wendelken (3-2) pitched a perfect ninth for the win as Arizona snapped a four-game skid. Tyler Clippard picked up his sixth save.