Brewers lose 4-1 to Cardinals, but get a little help from Braves to clinch NL Central

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Milwaukee Brewers clinched the National League Central title for the third time in six seasons despite a 4-1 loss to the last-place St. Louis, with the help of a come-from-behind win by the Atlanta Braves.

The Brewers clinched the division crown when the Chicago Cubs dropped a 7-6 decision to the Braves, eliminating the wild-card contending Cubs from the division race.

St. Louis starter Miles Mikolas (8-13) allowed one run and five hits in seven innings. He struck out five batters and walked two, throwing 101 pitches. Ryan Helsley struck out all three batters in the ninth inning for his 13th save.

Milwaukee took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Christian Yelich scored on a double by Carlos Santana.

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The Cardinals took a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning on a double by Richie Palacios. They extended their lead to 4-1 in the fifth following a two-base error by second baseman Brice Turang.

Milwaukee starter Adrian Houser (7-5) retired the first nine batters, then allowed four runs.

PHILLIES 3, PIRATES 2

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Johan Rojas hit an RBI single in the 10th inning that sent Philadelphia to a win over Pittsburgh that clinched a National League wild-card berth.

Rojas’ single off Pirates reliever David Bednar (3-3) scored pinch-runner Christian Pache and sent the crowd of more than 30,000 fans into a frenzy while the Phillies mobbed each other in celebration.

Brandon Marsh homered for the Phillies and Bryce Harper tacked on a sacrifice fly in the sixth for a 2-0 lead.

Jeff Hoffman (5-2) tossed a scoreless 10th for the win.

Bryan Reynolds and Henry Davis hit homers for the Pirates.

The Phillies celebrated their first clinch of a postseason spot at Citizens Bank Park since Sept. 18, 2011, when they won their fifth straight NL East title.

BRAVES 7, CUBS 6

ATLANTA (AP) — Sean Murphy reached on a two-run fielding error by right fielder Seiya Suzuki in the eighth inning and Atlanta Braves overcame a six-run deficit to beat Chicago.

Suzuki ran to his right and called off center fielder Cody Bellinger, but apparently lost the fly ball in the lights and dropped it. Drew Smyly (11-10) aided the comeback by throwing two wild pitches in the eighth, letting Matt Olson advance to third and setting the stage for pinch-runner Forrest Wall to steal second.

Both runners easily scored on Suzuki’s error. Brad Hand (5-2) worked a scoreless eighth to win it. Raisel Iglesias got his 31st save in the ninth after facing four batters.

The Braves cut it to 6-3 in the sixth on Kevin Pillar’s homer, Olson’s RBI single and Marcell Ozuna’s RBI double. Ronald Acuña Jr. hit his 41st homer, a two-run shot to right in the seventh, to make it 6-5.

The Cubs led 2-0 with two outs in the second on Yan Gomes’ RBI infield single and Miles Mastrobuoni’s RBI single. Suzuki made it 4-0 in the second when he tripled into the gap in right-center, and Bellinger’s RBI single padded the lead to 5-0 in the fourth.

DIAMONDBACKS 15, WHITE SOX

CHICAGO (AP) — Christian Walker homered twice and drove in six runs and Arizona helped its wild-card chances with a victory over Chicago.

Walker hit a solo shot in the second inning and a two-run drive in the sixth. He also lined a tiebreaking, three-run triple into the gap in right-center in the fifth.

Ryne Nelson (8-8) got the win, tossing 4 2/3 scoreless innings in relief.

Arizona moved one game ahead of the Chicago Cubs for the second of three NL wild cards. The Cubs blew a six-run lead in a 7-6 loss at Atlanta.

Eloy Jiménez hit a three-run homer and an RBI single for the White Sox, who hurt themselves with two big errors. José Ureña (0-7) surrendered seven runs — four earned — and four hits in four-plus innings.

MARINERS 6, ASTROS 2

SEATTLE (AP) — George Kirby escaped an early bases loaded jam to throw six shutout innings, Seattle took advantage of three Houston errors, and the Mariners snapped a four-game losing streak with a win over the Astros.

Seattle pulled within a half-game of Houston for the final wild card spot in the American League and trail Toronto by two games after the Blue Jays lost at home to the Yankees. The Mariners also gained a game on Texas in the AL West after the Rangers lost to the Angels.

Houston didn’t help its cause matching a season-high with the three errors, two of which directly led to runs. Jose Altuve’s errant relay throw in the third inning allowed Mike Ford to score. In the fifth, Kyle Tucker’s throw from right field skipped away from third baseman Alex Bregman and into the Houston dugout allowing Julio Rodríguez to score.

Seattle also got a sacrifice fly from Rodríguez, and RBI singles from Cal Raleigh and Teoscar Hernández. Ty France homered for the first time since Aug. 15 with a solo shot in the eighth.

Kirby (12-10) allowed five hits and struck out four.

Altuve had three hits and an RBI and Cristian Javier (9-5) took the loss.

ORIOLES 1, NATIONALS 0

BALTIMORE (AP) — Rookie Gunnar Henderson homered, Kyle Bradish had another dominant start and Baltimore beat Washington hours after the team announced that Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson had died.

Bradish (12-7) allowed three hits, struck out four batters and had a pair of walks over a season-high eight innings. Yennier Canó picked up his eighth save for the Orioles, who have won seven of their last 10 games.

Henderson led off the first with a homer on a seven-pitch at-bat off Josiah Gray. Gray (8-13) did not allow another run through six innings. He gave up five hits with seven strikeouts and two walks.

The Orioles held a moment of silence for Robinson, who died Tuesday at the age of 86. Robinson played his entire 23-year career in Baltimore beginning in 1955. He was named to 18 All-Star games and was a member of the 1966 and 1970 World Series championship teams.

YANKEES 2, BLUE JAYS 0

Austin Wells hit a two-run home run in the ninth inning and New York beat Toronto.

Michael King and two relievers combined on a three-hitter as the Yankees improved to a major league-best 18-9 since Aug. 28.

Facing Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano (5-7), Gleyber Torres singled to begin the ninth. Wells followed with a first-pitch drive into the left-field bullpen.

Romano, who blew his first save opportunity since May 20 on Saturday at Tampa Bay, took the loss for a second straight outing.

Jhony Brito (9-7) pitched two innings for the victory and Clay Holmes finished for his 23rd save in 26 chances.

ANGELS 9, RANGERS 3

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Brandon Drury had three hits, including a home run, Reid Detmers threw seven solid innings and Los Angeles rolled to the victory over Texas, preventing the Rangers from getting another step closer to wrapping up their first playoff appearance since 2016.

Eduardo Escobar and Michael Stefanic both drove in a pair of runs for the Angels, who won for just the seventh time in 24 games in September.

With Houston also losing, Texas maintained a 2 1/2 game lead in the AL West.

Detmers (4-10) allowed only one run on four hits in seven innings and struck out seven.

Drury gave the Angels a 3-1 lead in the first inning when he connected on a low fastball from Cody Bradford (4-3) and hit it down the left-field line. The Angels broke it open with five in the fifth.

Josh H. Smith hit a two-run homer for the Rangers in the ninth inning.

PADRES 4, GIANTS 0

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Seth Lugo allowed three hits and came within an out of his first career complete game, Juan Soto homered twice and San Diego beat San Francisco to stay alive in the NL wild-card race.

The teams are tied at 78-80, 4 1/2 games behind the Chicago Cubs for the final NL wild-card spot. They also are three games behind Cincinnati and four games in back of Miami.

Lugo (8-7) had seven strikeouts and worked around three walks while throwing 123 pitches for his career-best eighth victory.

Soto hit a solo shot off John Brebbia (3-3) in the first inning to extend his on-base streak to a career-best 29 games. Soto connected for a two-run drive off Ryan Walker in the seventh for his 35th homer, another personal best.

TWINS 11, ATHLETICS 3

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Matt Wallner hit a grand slam in a five-run first inning, Alex Kirilloff added a two-run homer and Minnesota beat Oakland

With its 109th loss, Oakland set a record for most defeats since the franchise moved to the city in 1968, topping the 108 losses in 1979.

Christian Vázquez added a three-run double for Minnesota.

Bailey Ober (8-6) pitched the first five innings to earn the win for the Twins. He allowed two hits and faced just one over the minimum in his five innings.

Seth Brown had a two-run homer for Oakland and in his second inning of work. Paul Blackburn (4-7) gave up five earned runs in three innings for the loss.

RAYS 9, RED SOX 7

René Pinto hit a two-run home run, Manuel Margot added a pair of RBI singles as part of a four-hit night, and Tampa Bay held on to beat Boston.

Rays starter Zach Eflin (16-8) yielded three runs off five hits over five innings to earn his third victory in four starts. Pete Fairbanks struck out three in a scoreless ninth to pick up his 25th save.

Boston has lost five of its last six games. Emmanuel Valdez had three hits and a career-high four RBIs and Wilyer Abreu added a two-run double for the Red Sox.

Tampa Bay jumped out to a 7-0 lead before Valdez got Boston on the board with a three-run home run in the fifth.

The Red Sox trimmed it to 7-5 in the sixth via Abreu’s two-run double and made it 7-6 in the seventh on Justin Turner’s bloop RBI single.

Tampa Bay stretched the lead back to three runs in the eighth off Harold Ramirez’s RBI groundout and Jonathan Aranda’s RBI single.

Boston starter Tanner Houck (5-10) gave up seven runs and 10 hits in three innings.

TIGERS 6, ROYALS 3

DETROIT (AP) — Akil Baddoo and Parker Meadows hit consecutive homers to lead off a four-run eighth inning and Detroit pulled away from Kansas City.

Baddoo and Meadows gave the Tigers the lead against Taylor Clarke (3-6). Andy Ibañez and Zach McKinstry added RBI singles later in the eighth inning.

Jason Foley (3-3) worked an inning of relief and earned the win.

Kansas City’s Zack Greinke pitched five shutout innings, and saw his winless streak grow to 22 games (19 starts) since a 6-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles on May 3. Greinke retired 14 of the 15 batters he faced but his bullpen couldn’t hold on.

Nick Pratto, Salvador Perez and Nick Loftin drove in runs for the Royals.

REDS 11, GUARDIANS 7

CLEVELAND (AP) — Rookie Elly De La Cruz had his first two-homer game and drove in four runs, Luke Maile had three RBIs and Cincinnati improved its slim playoff hopes with a victory over Cleveland.

De La Cruz hit a solo shot in the fourth off Lucas Giolito and hit a 467-foot blast to right in the eighth against Xzavion Curry. Fellow rookie Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Maile and TJ Friedl also homered for Cincinnati.

Bo Naylor belted a three-run homer and Kole Calhoun had a two-run shot for the Guardians.

Sam Moll (2-3) got the win with two scoreless innings of relief.

The Reds took an 8-7 lead in the fifth on Maile’s two-run double off James Karinchak (2-5).

ROCKIES 4, DODGERS 1, 1st GAME

DODGERS 11, ROCKIES 2, 2nd GAME

DENVER (AP) — Chase Anderson pitched five scoreless innings for his first win in 17 starts this season, Nolan Jones homered and Colorado snapped a seven-game losing streak by beating the Los Angeles in the opener of a doubleheader.

In the second game, Freddie Freeman hit a two-run homer to back the strong seven-inning start by rookie Bobby Miller (11-4) as Los Angeles sent the Rockies to their first 100-loss season.

David Peralta and Chris Taylor each hit two-run singles in a five-run second inning off Ryan Feltner (2-4), James Outman added four hits and Max Muncy and Kiki Hernandez had three hits apiece in the nightcap. Elehuris Montero homered for Colorado.

Brendan Rodgers added three hits and an RBI for Colorado in the first game. Anderson (1-6), who was claimed off waivers from Tampa Bay on May 12, allowed five hits. He walked two and struck out four.

The Rockies built a 3-0 lead off starter Caleb Ferguson (7-4), who went 2/3 innings. Jason Heyward had three hits for the Dodgers and scored a run in the sixth.

MARLINS-METS PPD

NEW YORK (AP) — The series opener between Miami and New York was postponed because of unplayable field conditions caused by Tropical Storm Ophelia. The game will be made up Wednesday as part of a single-admission doubleheader beginning at 4:10 p.m.

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