Dylan Carlson, Nolan Arenado and Jose Rondon homered to back Adam Wainwright, and the St. Louis Cardinals extended their winning streak to 17 games and clinched an NL wild card berth with a 6-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night.
St. Louis will play in the NL wild-card game on Oct. 6 at the Los Angeles Dodgers or San Francisco, whichever does not win the NL West.
St. Louis was 71-69 on Sept. 11 before the winning streak, the longest in team history and the longest in the major leagues since Cleveland took 22 in a row in 2017.
Wainwright (17-7) allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings, throwing 102 pitches and stranding seven runners.
With the score 2-2 in the fifth, Paul Goldschmidt doubled off Jandel Gustave (1-1) and Tyler O’Neill followed with a single to right. The ball went under the glove of Avisail Garcia for a two-base error, and Nolan Arenado’s sacrifice fly made it 4-2.
BRAVES 2, PHILLIES 1
ATLANTA (AP) — Charlie Morton threw seven scoreless innings, Jorge Soler hit a two-run single and Atlanta escaped a ninth-inning jam to beat Philadelphia and move closer to its fourth consecutive NL East title.
Atlanta reduced its magic number to three games in the division race and extended its lead to 3 1/2 games over the second-place Phillies, who no longer control their fate with five games left. The loss eliminated Philadelphia from contention for an NL wild card.
Will Smith survived a wild ninth inning, allowing an unearned run, for his 36th save in 42 chances.
Morton (14-6) gave up singles to his first two batters and gave up only one more hit. He struck out 10 and walked two.
Zack Wheeler (14-10) was almost as impressive, allowing two runs and four hits with seven strikeouts in seven innings.
YANKEES 7, BLUE JAYS 2
TORONTO (AP) — Giancarlo Stanton hit a three-run home run, Aaron Judge homered and New York beat Toronto to extend its lead atop the AL wild-card standings.
Gio Urshela added a solo homer and Anthony Rizzo had a pair of hits and drove in a run as New York (90-67) won its seventh straight and moved two games in front of Boston in the wild card race with five games left.
Toronto dropped three games behind the Yankees but remains a game behind Boston for the second wild card.
Judge’s solo homer off left-hander Hyun Jin Ryu (13-10) in the third gave the Yankees at least one home run in 19 consecutive games, extending their season-high streak. Judge’s homer was his 37th.
Michael King (1-4) relieved injured starter Jameson Taillon and gave up one run in 2 2/3 innings for the second victory of his three-year big league career.
ORIOLES 4, RED SOX 2
BALTIMORE (AP) — Rookie Ryan Mountcastle hit his 32nd home run to help Baltimore rally past Chris Sale and stall Boston’s bid to enhance its playoff position.
Boston lost its fourth straight but remained a game ahead of Toronto for the second AL wild card. The Yankees lead the wild-card race.
Sale (5-1) coasted through five innings, but in the sixth Kelvin Gutiérrez beat out an infield hit and Mountcastle went deep to tie it. Austin Hays followed with a single to end Sale’s night before Severino delivered his go-ahead hit off Hansel Robles.
Marcos Diplán (2-0) pitched two innings, Joey Krehbel retired all six batters he faced and Cole Sulser worked the ninth for his eighth save.
ASTROS 4, RAYS 3
HOUSTON (AP) — Tampa Bay’s JT Chargois walked two batters with the bases loaded in the ninth inning as Houston snapped a four-game skid and moved closer to securing a postseason berth.
Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve homered for the Astros.
The Rays took a 3-2 lead when Randy Arozarena hit a solo homer off Phil Maton (5-0) with one out in the ninth.
Yordan Alvarez singled on a grounder off Josh Fleming (10-7) to start Houston’s ninth. Later in the inning, Chargois took over and walked Chas McCormick on his 10th pitch to tie it. He then walked pinch-hitter Jason Castro on eight pitches.
ROYALS 6, INDIANS 4
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Salvador Perez hit his major league-leading 47th home run and Kansas City beat Cleveland.
Perez also leads the majors in RBIs (118). He trails Jorge Soler (2019) by one for the club record in homers.
Nicky Lopez tripled in the eighth to put the Royals ahead to stay and scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-4.
Josh Staumont (4-3), the Royals’ seventh pitcher, got the final out of the eighth and worked a perfect ninth. Blake Parker (2-1) took the loss.
WHITE SOX 7, REDS 1
CHICAGO (AP) — Luis Robert homered twice, Reynaldo Lopez pitched two-hit ball over a season-high six innings, and Chicago beat Cincinnati as the Reds were eliminated from postseason contention.
The Reds had won four straight but were knocked out of the NL playoff hunt mid-game when the St. Louis Cardinals beat Milwaukee to lock up the second wild card.
The AL Central champion White Sox have won three straight.
Lopez (4-3) hasn’t issued a walk over his last 11 1/3 innings.
Robert has hit 11 home runs in 39 games since returning from the injured list Aug. 9. He hit a solo shot in the first off Riley O’Brien (0-1), who was making his major league debut. Robert added a two-run shot in the eighth off Amir Garrett.
METS 5, MARLINS 2, GAME 1
METS 2, MARLINS 1, GAME 2
NEW YORK (AP) — Noah Syndergaard looked sharp in his brief but long-awaited return from Tommy John surgery, and New York swept a doubleheader against Miami.
In the opener, Francisco Lindor homered and drove in three runs to help the Mets stop a five-game losing streak. Marcus Stroman (10-13) went five innings for his 10th win.
Brandon Nimmo tripled on the third pitch from rookie opener Zach Thompson (2-7) and scored on Lindor’s single. Edwin Díaz worked the seventh for his 31st save in 37 chances.
Syndergaard started the nightcap and threw nine of 10 pitches for strikes in a perfect first inning. Reliever Brad Hand (6-7) worked a perfect inning for his first win with the Mets.
Javier Báez dashed home from third base with the winning run in extra innings as Anthony Bass (3-9) fumbled James McCann’s slow bouncer between the mound and home plate.
PIRATES 8, CUBS 6
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Colin Moran hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs as Pittsburgh rallied to hand Chicago its seventh straight loss.
The Pirates scored four times in the sixth to move ahead 7-6 and Moran singled home an insurance run in the seventh.
Enyel De Los Santos (2-1) pitched one scoreless inning for his first win since the Pirates claimed him off waivers from Philadelphia earlier this month. Adam Morgan (1-1) took the loss after relieving starter Alec Mills in the sixth.
Chris Stratton worked a scoreless ninth for his seventh save.
ROCKIES 3, NATIONALS 1
DENVER (AP) — Kyle Freeland efficiently pitched into the seventh inning before running into trouble, Trevor Story lined a long solo homer and Colorado beat Washington.
Freeland (7-8) was cruising along until the seventh, when he walked in a run with two outs to make it 2-1. Reliever Tyler Kinley got Alcides Escobar to fly out and end the threat.
Carlos Estévez pitched the ninth to earn his 10th save in 16 chances.
Patrick Corbin (9-16) tied a season high with nine strikeouts as he threw six innings. He allowed two runs — an RBI double by Ryan McMahon in the fourth and Story’s 24th homer of the season in the fifth.
TWINS 3, TIGERS 2
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Miguel Sanó homered and Minnesota pitchers shut down Detroit until the ninth inning.
Caleb Thielbar (7-0) was one of four relievers with scoreless innings in relief of starter Charlie Barnes. Alexander Colomé allowed two runs in the ninth, yet earned his 17th save.
Sanó led off the seventh with 30th homer of the season, which reached the second deck in left field.
Tyler Alexander (2-4) surrendered just one run in six innings for Detroit, which has lost four of five.
RANGERS 5, ANGELS 2
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Rookie Andy Ibanez’s two-run single highlighted a four-run second inning for Texas and fellow rookie A.J. Alexy won for the third time in four career starts as the Rangers beat Los Angeles.
Ibanez had three hits for the Rangers (58-99), who haven’t lost 100 games since 1973.
Max Stassi hit a two-run home run for the Angels, who have lost nine of 11.
Alexy (3-1) allowed three hits, beginning with Stassi’s second-inning homer, in five innings and threw a career-high 91 pitches. Joe Barlow celebrated his 26th birthday by pitching a scoreless ninth for his 10th save in 11 opportunities.
Angels starter Packy Naughton (0-4), another rookie, gave up four runs in two innings on four hits and three walks.
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