The end is fast approaching and some teams are feeling it much more than others. Two teams managed to clinch their post-season berths today, becoming the first teams to do so in their respective leagues, but otherwise, stress ran rampant after another day of baseball.
In the American League, the New York Yankees gutted out an extra-innings win over the Seattle Mariners to become the first AL team to secure a playoff berth while the Detroit Tigers inched ever closer to a wild card spot by completing a sweep of the Kansas City Royals. They now sit a half-game back.
Meanwhile, in the National League, the Milwaukee Brewers clinched the NL Central and a playoff berth while the New York Mets continued their torrid closing stretch, demolishing the Washington Nationals and holding onto their two-game lead over the Atlanta Braves for the last wild card spot.
Here’s a roundup of all MLB games from Wednesday.
TIGERS 4, ROYALS 2
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Tarik Skubal allowed three hits over five innings for his 17th win, and the streaking Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals 4-2 on Wednesday night to move within a half-game of a playoff spot with 10 games remaining.
Riley Greene hit a go-ahead home run as the Tigers (80-73) won their fourth straight and ninth in the last 11 games. With the series sweep, Detroit won for the 25th time in 35 games to move within a half-game of Minnesota (80-72) for the third AL wild-card spot.
Skubal (17-4), who has won his last five decisions, made his case for the AL Cy Young Award stronger by matching Atlanta’s Chris Sale for the major league lead in wins and lowered his AL-leading earned run average to 2.48. He walked one and struck out seven.
Skubal had struggled against the Royals in the past, entering Wednesday with a 2-9 record and 5.05 ERA in 12 starts over 14 appearances. After allowing three hits and Yuli Gurriel’s two-out RBI single in the first inning, he threw four hitless innings.
The Royals (82-71), who lost their fourth straight, were swept for the first time at home this season and the third time overall. They remained 2 1/2 games behind Baltimore for the first wild-card spot and 1 1/2 games ahead of Minnesota for the second wild card. The Orioles and Twins both lost earlier Wednesday.
GUARDIANS 5, TWINS 4, 10 INNINGS
CLEVELAND — Brayan Rocchio singled in Andrés Giménez with the winning run as the AL Central-leading Cleveland scored three times in the 10th inning to beat Minnesota, reducing their magic number for clinching a playoff berth to one.
Kyle Manzardo and Will Brennan had RBI singles off Ronny Henriquez (1-1) before Michael Tonkin entered and gave up Rocchio’s second career walk-off hit, a chopper to right through a drawn-in infield.
Josh Naylor hit a pair of solo homers and scored three times for Cleveland, which leads the division by 5 1/2 games over Kansas City. Naylor’s first shot was a 445-foot rocket to right-center, giving him his first 30-homer season.
Carlos Correa had a two-run single off Hunter Gaddis (5-3) that gave the Twins a 4-2 lead in the top of the 10th. Correa finished with four RBIs and extended his hitting streak to 16 games, matching his career high with Houston in 2019.
RED SOX 2, RAYS 1
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Trevor Story homered in the sixth inning then scored the winning run on Jarren Duran’s single in the eighth as Boston beat the Tampa Bay Rays.
Story opened the eighth with a comebacker single off Drew Rasmussen (0-2). After stealing second and third, he scored when Duran grounded his hit to right past a drawn-in infield.
Justin Slaten (6-2) worked out of a first-and-third, no-out jam in the seventh for the win and Kenley Jansen, the fifth Red Sox reliever, worked the ninth for his 27th save in 31 chances.
METS 10, NATIONALS 0
NEW YORK — Jose Quintana extended his scoreless streak to a career-high 22 2/3 innings and Brandon Nimmo’s three-run homer capped a nine-run fourth as New York beat the Washington Nationals to finish a three-game sweep.
Luisangel Acuña homered again for the Mets (84-68), who moved a season-high 16 games above .500 and stayed tied with Arizona for the second of three NL wild cards — two games ahead of Atlanta for the league’s last playoff spot.
Quintana (10-9) allowed two hits, walked two and struck out four in seven innings to complete his season-long dominance of the Nationals, whom he blanked over 21 innings in three starts.
Quintana hasn’t allowed a run since the third inning against the Chicago White Sox on Aug. 31. His previous career-best scoreless streak was 20 2/3 innings in 2014.
BRAVES 7, REDS 1
CINCINNATI — Marcell Ozuna homered, Gio Urshela drove in three runs and Spencer Schwellenbach pitched six innings of one-run ball as Atlanta beat Cincinnati.
The win allowed the Braves to stay within two games of the Mets for the final National League wild card spot.
Ozuna greeted Tony Santillan (2-3) with his 38th home run of the season in the seventh, a solo shot that broke a 1-1 tie. The blast ended Ozuna’s home run drought at 26 games and his RBI drought at 19 games. Urshela drove in two runs with a bases loaded single, pushing the lead to 4-1.
In the eighth, Michael Harris II homered and Ozuna doubled to knock in Eli White and record his 100th RBI of the season.
PADRES 4, ASTROS 0
SAN DIEGO — Dylan Cease pitched brilliantly into the ninth inning and Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Donovan Solano hit consecutive homers in the eighth for San Diego, who beat the AL West-leading Houston.
Machado homered twice for the Padres, who won two of three against the Astros and stayed two games ahead of Arizona for the first NL wild card. The Astros came in with a five-game division lead over Seattle.
Cease (14-11), who threw his first career no-hitter on July 25 at Washington, took a one-hitter into the ninth before Mauricio Dubón beat out an infield single to shortstop. Cease struck out Jake Meyers but then shortstop Xander Bogaerts booted Jose Altuve’s grounder for an error that allowed Dubón to take third, and that was it for the right-hander after 103 pitches.
Cease retired the first 15 Astros batters before allowing a single to right field by Jason Heyward to open the sixth. Cease then retired the side.
Cease struck out five and walked none. Tanner Scott got two outs for his 21st save.
DIAMONDBACKS 9, ROCKIES 4
DENVER — Corbin Carroll hit two home runs for his third multi-homer game of the year, Eduardo Rodriguez struck out a season-high 11 and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Colorado Rockies 9-4 on Wednesday to avert a series sweep.
Randal Grichuk also homered and doubled, Christian Walker drove in a pair of runs with a single and a sacrifice fly, and Pavin Smith had a run-scoring double in the Diamondbacks’ three-run ninth inning.
The defending National League champion, Arizona (84-68) matched last year’s total for wins and moved a half-game in front of the New York Mets for the second of three NL wild cards. The Mets were set to play Washington on Wednesday night.
ATHLETICS 5, CUBS 3
CHICAGO — Tyler Soderstrom homered and was 2 for 4 and Zack Gelof hit a double to take the lead in the eighth as Oakland beat the Chicago, leading the Milwaukee Brewers to become the first major league team to earn a spot in the playoffs, on Wednesday.
Chicago’s loss clinches a playoff berth for the Brewers, who won the National League Central division for the third time in four years.
The 22-year-old Soderstrom scored two runs and batted in two more to help Oakland to a series victory over the Cubs. Brent Rooker was 2 for 3 with an RBI and a pair of walks.
Tyler Ferguson (4-2) picked up the win after throwing a hitless seventh inning, and Michel Otañez struck out two in the eighth. Mason Miller earned his 27th save of the year.
ANGELS 4, WHITE SOX 3, 13 INNINGS
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Eric Wagaman scored with one out in the 13th inning when Jordyn Adams’ grounder deflected off the glove of third baseman Miguel Vargas, and Los Angeles dealt the Chicago White Sox their 117th loss.
Instead of winning consecutive series for the first time in four months, the White Sox tied the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics for the third most losses since 1900.
Chicago (36-117) needs to go 7-2 in its final nine games to avoid the post-1900 record of 120 losses by the 1962 expansion New York Mets.
The 2003 Detroit Tigers hold the American League mark with 119 losses.
The Angels had the bases loaded in the 10th and 12th innings, but were finally able to walk it off in the 13th.
GIANTS 5, ORIOLES 3
BALTIMORE — Mike Yastrzemski homered on the game’s first pitch, Michael Conforto also hit a solo shot and San Francisco beat Baltimore.
Baltimore has lost eight of 10 to fall 4 1/2 games behind the first-place Yankees in the AL East, pending New York’s late matchup with Seattle. Before their current skid, the Orioles held a half-game lead.
For the second time in two nights, Yastrzemski put the Orioles in an immediate hole with a leadoff homer. On Tuesday, he did it on the second pitch. In this one, he hit Dean Kremer’s initial offering into the right-field seats.
Baltimore took a 2-1 lead in the third inning, but the Giants answered with a three-run fourth highlighted by a sequence that exemplified the Orioles’ shortcomings of late. With the bases loaded and no outs, Grant McCoy hit a tapper in front of the plate. Kremer (7-10) grabbed the ball and flipped it to catcher James McCann in plenty of time for the force play — but McCann’s foot was off the plate.
Casey Schmitt followed with a two-run single to put San Francisco ahead for good.
DODGERS 8, MARLINS 4
MIAMI — Shohei Ohtani stole his 49th base and moved closer to becoming the first player in major league history with 50 homers and 50 steals in a season as Los Angeles beat Miami.
Ohtani, who began the day two shy of each mark, singled to lead off the game then swiped second.
Tommy Edman hit his sixth homer in the last eight games for the NL West-leading Dodgers, who remained 3 1/2 games ahead of second-place San Diego. Enrique Hernández and Will Smith also went deep and Freddie Freeman had three hits.
Dodgers starter Landon Knack (3-4) gave up two hits over five scoreless innings. He walked two and struck out seven.
Smith gave Los Angeles an early lead with his solo homer in the second. He drove a fastball from Miami starter Ryan Weathers over the wall in left for his 19th homer.
The Dodgers broke it open with a five-run fourth against Weathers (3-6). Edman hit a two-run homer and Hernández added a three-run drive.
RANGERS 2, BLUE JAYS 0
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Adolis García hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning, Cody Bradford pitched seven strong innings after the worst start of his career, and Texas beat Toronto.
García launched a first-pitch sinker over the left-field wall off Toronto starter Bowden Francis (8-5) after Wyatt Langford singled.
Bradford (6-3) allowed five hits and no walks while striking out six.
He was perfect through four innings before Alejandro Kirk opened the fifth with a smash back to the mound that caromed off Bradford’s left foot and rolled into right field for a single. It extended Kirk’s hitting streak to a career-high 12 games.
BREWERS 2, PHILLIES 1
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Jake Bauers hit an RBI single in the ninth inning and Milwaukee beat Philadelphia to prevent the Phillies from securing a playoff berth.
Bauers’ single off Phillies closer Carlos Estévez (4-5) scored Jackson Chourio, who had tripled.
Milwaukee closer Devin Williams (1-0) struck out Alec Bohm, Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh in order in the ninth.
Milwaukee’s Freddy Peralta, making his career-high 31st start of the season, allowed one run on two hits in five innings, striking out nine and walking two.
Philadelphia starter Aaron Nola, among the NL leaders in innings pitched, went seven innings, allowing one run on three hits while striking out nine and walking one. He had given up 10 earned runs in nine innings in his previous two starts.
CARDINALS 10, PIRATES 5
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jordan Walker hit a bases-loaded double to highlight a six-run seventh inning, lifting Cardinals to a victory over Pittsburgh.
Brendan Donovan hit a two-run homer and Masyn Winn added a solo homer. Nolan Arenado drove in a run, scored twice, had three hits and walked twice.
Billy Cook, who was called up Sept. 8, hit his first big league homer — a three-run blast — for the Pirates, who acquired him from the Orioles at the trade deadline.
Rookie Michael McGreevy (2-0) pitched the final three innings without allowing a run. He struck out four and gave up only two hits.
David Bednar (3-8) took the loss, giving up three runs, two earned, in 1/3 inning in relief.
YANKEES 2, MARINERS 1, 10 INNINGS
SEATTLE (AP) — Anthony Rizzo hit a tiebreaking double in the 10th inning and drove in both runs for New York as the Yankees clinched a playoff spot with a win over Seattle.
Rizzo lined the first pitch of the inning from Mariners reliever Collin Snider (3-4) down the right-field line to score automatic runner Jasson Domínguez from second base.
The Yankees managed only two hits against Mariners starter Bryce Miller, but scored two runs produced by Rizzo, who gave them an early lead with a run-scoring single in the second for his first RBI since Sept. 2.
Miller struck out eight over six innings while issuing four walks (one intentional). After a bumpy first few innings, Miller worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the third and retired the final 10 hitters he faced.
But the Seattle offence failed to push a run across against former Mariners pitcher Nestor Cortes, who allowed four hits and struck out six in six shutout innings.
