CHICAGO (AP) — Michael Busch homered twice and drove in four runs, and the Chicago Cubs clinched the top NL wild card with a 7-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday.
Pete Crow-Armstrong and Seiya Suzuki also connected for Chicago in its third win in four games. Jameson Taillon (11-7) pitched six effective innings.
The Cubs (91-70) will host San Diego in the first round of the playoffs. Game 1 of the best-of-three series is on Tuesday.
It’s the first postseason appearance for Chicago since 2020.
Nolan Arenado and Jordan Walker homered for the Cardinals (78-83) in their third consecutive loss. Michael McGreevy (8-4) permitted three runs and six hits in 4 2/3 innings.
Busch drove McGreevy’s first pitch deep to right-center for his fifth career leadoff homer. He doubled in the third and connected for a tiebreaking two-run shot in the fifth for his team-leading 34th homer. He added a run-scoring triple in the seventh before he was walked intentionally in the eighth.
BLUE JAYS 5, RAYS 1
TORONTO (AP) — Trey Yesavage struck out five in five shutout innings for his first major league win, Alejandro Kirk homered and Toronto stayed atop the AL East heading into the final game of the season by beating Tampa Bay.
Toronto can clinch the division title and the best record in the AL by matching or beating the New York Yankees’ outcome against the Orioles in Sunday’s regular season finale.
The Blue Jays came into Saturday tied with the Yankees in the East. Toronto holds the tiebreaker after winning eight of 13 meetings.
New York’s meant the Blue Jays couldn’t clinch the AL East with a win. The Yankees have won seven straight and 10 of 11.
YANKEES 6, ORIOLES 1
NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Ryan McMahon hit early home runs off Yomoyuki Sugano, and New York beat Baltimore to maintain at least a share of the AL East lead heading into the regular season’s final day.
New York (93-68) has won seven straight and 10 of 11, and is assured of at least a wild card. The Yankees began the day tied with Toronto, which hosted Tampa Bay later Saturday.
Cam Schlittler (4-3) struck out a career-high nine in seven scoreless innings of two-hit ball. The 24-year-old rookie right-hander had a 2.96 ERA in 14 starts.
by a 96.8 mph pitch from Grant Wolfram in the fifth. The Yankees said X-rays were negative and he will have a CT scan.
GIANTS 4, ROCKIES 3
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Justin Verlander struck out seven and walked one over six innings to win his final start in a challenging year, and San Francisco held off Colorado.
Casey Schmitt hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the second inning to support Verlander (4-11), who received 62 total runs of support in his 29 starts.
T a $15 million, one-year contract in January and wrapped up his 20th major league season with career start No. 555 — which ranks 27th all-time. He also tied Bob Feller and Eppa Rixey for 34th place on baseball’s career win list with 266.
Rafael Devers added a key RBI double in the eighth for insurance before Colorado’s Jordan Beck homered in the ninth off Ryan Walker. Walker then surrendered Brenton Doyle’s double and was done after walking Kyle Karros one out later.
Spencer Bivens entered and struck out Warming Bernabel, then plunked Ryan Ritter to load the bases. Third baseman Matt Chapman then made a tough catch in foul territory on Ezequiel Tovar’s popup to end it as Bivens earned his second save.
TIGERS 2, RED SOX 1 (AP) — Jamhai Jones hit a two-run single to rally Detroit from an early deficit, and the Tigers beat Boston to clinch a spot in the AL playoffs.
Less than 24 hours after the Red Sox , the Tigers claimed at least a wild card and eliminated the Houston Astros from the race. Detroit still could win the AL Central title but would need help from Cleveland, which played Texas on Saturday night.
Kyle Montero and four relievers held Boston to one run and seven hits. Tyler Holton (6-5) got four outs for the victory. Will Vest pitched the ninth for his 23rd save.
METS 5, MARLINS 0
MIAMI (AP) — Pete Alonso homered and drilled an RBI double, Clay Holmes combined with three relievers on a one-hitter, and New York beat Miami to push their playoff fate to the final day of the regular season.
The Mets (83-78) pulled a half-game ahead of Cincinnati (82-78) for the last National League wild card. The Reds were set to play at NL Central champion Milwaukee later Saturday.
Because the Reds hold the head-to-head tiebreaker, New York needs Cincinnati to lose at least one of its final two games against the Brewers to have a chance to reach the postseason.
Holmes (12-8) allowed one hit over six innings with three walks and a strikeout. Brooks Raley and Tyler Rogers each worked a perfect inning before Edwin Díaz got three outs to end it.
NATIONALS 6, WHITE SOX 5
WASHINGTON (AP) — James Wood hit a tiebreaking solo homer in Washington’s three-run seventh inning, and the Nationals beat Chicago.
Jacob Young and Daylen Lile also went deep for the Nationals, who had dropped eight of 11. Josh Bell had two hits and scored a run.
Colson Montgomery and Brooks Baldwin homered for the White Sox in a matchup of last-place teams. Derek Hill had two hits and drove in a run.
TWINS 5, PHILLIES 0
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Mick Abel struck out nine in six scoreless innings in his first start against his former team and Minnesota beat Philadelphia.
Byron Buxton, James Outman and Ryan Fitzgerald homered for the Twins.
Abel (3-4) allowed three hits and one walk. The 2020 Phillies first-round draft pick was as part of a package for closer Jhoan Duran.
Buxton led off with a solo homer against Philadelphia starter Ranger Suárez. It was Buxton’s 20th career leadoff home run and 11th this season, tying a franchise record set by Jacque Jones in 2002.
Outman also homered off Suárez while Fitzgerald had a solo shot off reliever Max Lazar. Ryan Jeffers added an RBI double for Minnesota.
Suárez (12-8) allowed three runs on nine hits in 4 1/3 innings.
The loss locked the Phillies into the No. 2 seed in the NL playoffs. They could still finish tied for the best record in baseball with Milwaukee, but the Brewers have the tiebreaker.
PIRATES 3, BRAVES 2
CLEVELAND (AP) — Nick Gonzales and Jack Suwinski had RBI hits in the sixth inning and Bubba Chandler pitched one-run ball through 5 2/3 innings as Pittsburgh beat Atlanta.
Chandler, from Bogart, Georgia, allowed one run on four hits with six strikeouts and no walks and improved to 4-1 on the season.
The Braves got on the board first with Marcell Ozuna’s RBI single in the second inning. Pittsburgh tied the game on catcher Henry Davis’ seventh homer of the season, a solo shot, in the third.
The Pirates went ahead to stay in the sixth when Gonzales hit an RBI double and Suwinski followed with a run-scoring single.
Dennis Santana worked one inning and picked up his 16th save.
Braves starter Spencer Strider (7-14) allowed three runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and two walks. This marked the worst record of Strider’s career, which dates to 2021, all with Atlanta, and is his first losing season.
GUARDIANS 3, RANGERS 2
CLEVELAND (AP) — C.J. Kayfus was hit by a pitch from Robert Garcia with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth inning, scoring Petey Halpin to clinch a playoff berth for Cleveland with a win over Texas.
Cleveland (87-74) is guaranteed at least an American League wild card and remains tied with Detroit atop the AL Central going into the final day of the regular season.
The Guardians own the head-to-head tiebreaker, so a victory Sunday over Texas or a Tigers loss at Boston would give Cleveland its second consecutive division title following a stirring comeback this season.
The fourth-place Guardians were 40-48 through July 6 and still 15 1/2 games out of first two days later.
Houston was eliminated from postseason contention with Cleveland’s victory. The Astros will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
Garcia (4-8) intentionally walked Gabriel Arias to load the bases before hitting Kayfus on the right arm with his second pitch to the rookie. Halpin was on third as a pinch runner for Johnathan Rodríguez, whose two-out walk began the rally.
Cade Smith (8-5) retired five batters for the win as Guardians relievers combined for 3 1/3 scoreless innings.
REDS 7, BREWERS 4
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Sal Stewart homered and hit an RBI single, Miguel Andjuar went 3 for 5 and Cincinnati moved a step closer to their first postseason berth since 2020 by beating Milwaukee.
The Reds will earn the National League’s third and final wild-card playoff spot if they beat the Brewers or the New York Mets lose to the Miami Marlins on Sunday. A Reds loss and Mets win would send New York to the playoffs instead.
Jackson Chourio homered for the Brewers, who clinched the best regular-season record in the majors and home-field advantage throughout the postseason thanks to the Philadelphia Phillies’ to the Minnesota Twins.
Cincinnati broke a scoreless tie with a six-run third inning that included four hits, two errors and a pair of walks.
Noelvi Marte led off by reaching on a throwing error by starter Robert Gasser (0-2). Marte advanced to third on Andujar’s double and scored on Stewart’s one-out single.
Cincinnati led 1-0 when Brewers rookie Jacob Misiorowski made his first major league relief appearance with the bases loaded and two outs.
Ke’Bryan Hayes greeted Misiorowski with an infield single on an 0-2 pitch. Misiorowski then walked Matt McLain. TJ Friedl singled home two runs, and McLain scored on the play as well due to left fielder Isaac Collins’ throwing error.
Cincinnati starter Andrew Abbott (10-7) allowed three runs over 5 1/3 innings. Emilio Pagán, pitching for a fourth straight day, retired the side in order in the ninth for his 32nd save in 38 opportunities.
PADRES 5, DIAMONDBACKS 1
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Fernando Tatís Jr. homered in his third consecutive game, Xander Bogaerts and Elías Díaz added two-run homers, and San Diego rolled toward the postseason with a victory over Arizona.
Several hours before the first pitch, the Padres (89-72) lost their chance for homefield advantage in next week’s NL wild card series against the Cubs when for its 91st win.
The Padres still won for the sixth time in seven games, building momentum as they head into their second straight postseason appearance.
Tatís hit a solo shot on the second pitch of the night by Eduardo Rodriguez (9-9). The San Diego star hit a grand slam Friday when he in preparation for his third career trip to the playoffs.
Geraldo Perdomo hit his career-best 20th homer for the Diamondbacks, who were eliminated from postseason contention Friday.
ASTROS 6, ANGELS 1
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Christian Walker homered twice and Houston beat Los Angeles, a couple of hours after getting
Zach Cole and Jesús Sánchez also went deep for the Astros, who will miss the postseason for the first time since 2016.
Walker was batting in the second inning when Cleveland scored in the bottom of the ninth at Progressive Field for a 3-2 victory over Texas that clinched the final American League playoff spot for the Guardians and eliminated the Astros.
That snapped Houston’s streak of eight consecutive playoff appearances, a run that featured seven straight trips to the AL Championship Series from 2017-2023 and World Series titles in 2017 and 2022.
With Saturday night’s game rendered moot, Astros manager Joe Espada pulled his top three batters — Jose Altuve, Isaac Paredes and Carlos Correa — after two innings.
DODGERS 5, MARINERS 3
SEATTLE (AP) — Kiké Hernandez hit a two-run, go-ahead double in the ninth inning and Los Angeles struck out 15 Seattle hitters in a victory over the Mariners.
Mariners closer Andrés Muñoz walked Michael Conforto and Alex Call to lead off the ninth. Both runners advanced on Miguel Rojas’ groundout to first scored when Hernandez drove Muñoz’s breaking ball down the line in left.
Edgardo Henriquez pitched the ninth for his first save of the season. The Dodgers struck out the final nine Mariners hitters in order.
Muñoz (3-3) took the loss, and Alex Vesia (4-2) got the win after a scoreless eighth for Los Angeles. The Dodgers have won five straight.
ROYALS 4, ATHLETICS 2
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Michael Wacha pitched six scoreless innings to earn his 10th win of the season, and Kansas City beat the Athletics.
Wacha (10-13) gave up two hits and three walks while striking out five for his first win in more than three weeks. It’s the fourth consecutive year and sixth time in his 13 major league seasons that Wacha has won 10 or more games.
Vinnie Pasquantino hit a two-run double and Mike Yastrzemski reached base three times and scored twice as the Royals (81-80) beat the A’s (76-85) for the first time in five meetings this season.
John Schreiber, Angel Zerpa and Jonathan Bowlan each retired two batters for Kansas City. Carlos Estévez worked the ninth for his major league-leading 42nd save.
Shea Langeliers had three hits and an RBI for the A’s. Manager Mark Kotsay was ejected in the ninth for arguing balls and strikes.
