Matt Vierling and Riley Greene each drove in a run as the host Detroit Tigers clinched their first playoff berth in 10 seasons with a 4-1 win over the Chicago White Sox on Friday night.
The White Sox (39-121) set the modern-day record for most losses in a single season, surpassing the expansion 1962 New York Mets. The Tigers, who won their sixth straight game, secured an American League wild-card berth.
Detroit opener Brenan Hanifee allowed one hit in two scoreless innings. Brant Hurter (6-1) gave up one run on two hits over the next four frames.
Chicago starter Garrett Crochet tossed four scoreless innings, allowing four hits and a walk while striking out six. Zach DeLoach hit his first career homer in the top of the sixth.
Padres 5, Diamondbacks 3
Luis Arraez went 3-for-5 with two doubles, a triple, a run and an RBI to help San Diego post a victory over Arizona in the opener of a pivotal three-game series at Phoenix.
Jackson Merrill and David Peralta each had two hits and one RBI as San Diego clinched the top wild-card spot and No. 4 seed in the National League playoffs. The Padres will host a yet-to-be determined opponent beginning on Tuesday.
Arizona lost for the fourth time in five games and is part of a three-way virtual tie for the other two wild-card spots with the Atlanta Braves and the New York Mets. Corbin Carroll homered and Eugenio Suarez had two hits for the Diamondbacks.
Brewers 8, Mets 4
Rhys Hoskins hit a first-inning grand slam and Milwaukee went on to hand visiting New York a costly loss, in the opener of a three-game series with significant postseason implications.
The Mets, playing for the first time since Tuesday after a pair of hurricane-related postponements in Atlanta, dropped into a tie for the final two National League wild-card spots with the Braves, who blanked the Kansas City Royals 3-0, and the Arizona Diamondbacks (88-72), who lost 5-3 to the San Diego Padres.
The Brewers, who clinched the NL Central last week, have secured the No. 3 seed in the playoffs and will host a wild-card series next week.
Braves 3, Royals 0
Max Fried scattered three hits over 8 2/3 scoreless innings and Sean Murphy belted a two-run homer to lift host Atlanta over Kansas City.
Marcell Ozuna scored on a throwing error in the eighth inning for the Braves, who have won four in a row to move within a half-game of both the New York Mets and Arizona Diamondbacks for one of the final two wild-card spots in the National League. The Mets and Diamondbacks were playing their respective games later Friday night.
Michael Massey had two doubles for the Royals, who saw their three-game winning streak end. Kansas City still punched its ticket to the postseason after the Minnesota Twins fell to the Baltimore Orioles.
Cubs 1, Reds 0
Jameson Taillon scattered four hits across seven scoreless innings as host Chicago blanked Cincinnati in the opener of a three-game set.
Taillon (12-8) walked two and fanned two in his final outing of the season. He finished the 2024 campaign strong, going 4-0 with a 1.63 ERA over his last six starts.
Reds starter Nick Martinez (10-7) traded zeros with Taillon until the fifth. Nico Hoerner opened the frame with a double, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt from Pete Crow-Armstrong and scored on Miguel Amaya’s sacrifice fly to put the Cubs up 1-0. That was all the Cubs could muster against Martinez, who gave up the one run on five hits in a career-high eight innings.
Dodgers 11, Rockies 4
Shohei Ohtani added to his record-breaking season with four hits, including a home run, and four RBIs, and Los Angeles moved closer to clinching the best record in the majors with a win over Colorado in Denver.
Ohtani also stole his 57th base to set a single-season record by a Japanese-born player. Ohtani singled twice, doubled and hit a three-run homer into the second deck in right field during Los Angeles’ four-run sixth inning, his 54th. Los Angeles can clinch the best record in baseball with a win Saturday night.
Ezequiel Tovar and Nolan Jones had two hits apiece for Colorado (61-99).
Nationals 9, Phillies 1
Stone Garrett made an emphatic return to the majors, driving in three runs while finishing a triple shy of a cycle as Washington pounded visiting Philadelphia.
Garrett had not played in the majors since breaking his leg in a game more than 13 months ago. He batted fifth as the designated hitter on Friday and was at the center of a 16-hit attack for the Nationals. Juan Yepez, Jacob Young and Luis Garcia Jr. joined Garrett in the three-hit club for Washington, while Keibert Ruiz drove in three runs.
Austin Hays homered for the Phillies, who are running out of opportunities to catch the Los Angeles Dodgers for the top seed in the National League playoffs. Ranger Suarez (12-8) lasted only two innings, allowed six runs on seven hits and two walks.
Cardinals 6, Giants 3
Lars Nootbaar homered, tripled and drove in three runs as visiting St. Louis rallied for a victory over San Francisco.
Masyn Wynn doubled, singled and scored twice for the Cardinals. Miles Mikolas (10-11) allowed three runs and seven hits in five innings, and Ryan Helsley pitched the ninth for his 49th save.
Jerar Encarnacion homered for the Giants. Landen Roupp (1-2) gave up six runs and nine hits in 3 2/3 innings.
Rays 2, Red Sox 1
Josh Lowe went 2-for-3 with an RBI double and Taj Bradley worked six shutout innings as Tampa Bay edged host Boston to begin their season-ending, three-game series.
In a two-run seventh inning for the Rays, Lowe knocked in the game’s first run, and he later scored when Christopher Morel drew a bases-loaded walk. Bradley (8-11) struck out seven — including at least one in each of his innings — while allowing just three hits and one walk. Tampa Bay snapped a three-game losing streak.
Vaughn Grissom went 3-for-4 and Nick Sogard drove in a run for the Red Sox, who wasted 6 2/3 innings of four-hit ball from starter Nick Pivetta (6-12).
Orioles 7, Twins 2
Ryan O’Hearn and Colton Cowser each homered, and Baltimore cruised past Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Ryan Mountcastle finished 3-for-5 with a double for the Orioles, who won the opener of a three-game series. Anthony Santander went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Carlos Santana had a two-run single to lead Minnesota. The Twins were eliminated from playoff contention with the loss.
Pirates 4, Yankees 2
Bryan Reynolds hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the eighth inning as Pittsburgh beat host New York.
Reynolds homered in consecutive at-bats and had his seventh career multi-homer game. He lined a shot into the right field seats off Yankees starter Carlos Rodon in the sixth inning to tie the game at 2, then went deep again his next at-bat against Tommy Kahnle. Nick Gonzales also connected off Rodon for the Pirates, who are 5-9 in their past 14 games.
The Pirates prevented the Yankees from clinching the top record in the AL. New York is still a full game ahead of the Cleveland Guardians, who lost to the Houston Astros on Friday. If the teams finish with the same record, the Yankees win the head-to-head tiebreaker because they won four of six meetings. After clinching the AL East on Thursday, the Yankees rested Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Anthony Rizzo and lost for the third time in four games.
Astros 5, Guardians 2
Victor Caratini and Zach Dezenzo clubbed back-to-back home runs in support of Ronel Blanco, who capped a breakout season with five scoreless innings, as visiting Houston beat Cleveland.
Blanco (13-6) allowed one hit and two walks, striking out three. He worked around a pair of walks in the bottom of the first, benefiting from a double-play grounder. He induced another double play in the second before retiring the Guardians in order in the third and fourth.
Cleveland rookie starter Joey Cantillo (2-4) gave up three runs on six hits and two walks over 3 2/3 innings. He struck out seven. The Guardians, who have won the American League Central, remain one game behind the AL East champion New York Yankees for the best record in the American League. Both teams have secured first-round playoff byes. Houston, the AL West champion, will be the No. 3 seed in the AL playoffs.
Marlins 15, Blue Jays 5
Xavier Edwards had four hits, including a major-league-record-tying three triples, and four RBIs for visiting Miami.
Jonah Bride added a two-run home run and a solo shot for the Marlins and Griffin Conine added a solo shot in the opener of a three-game series.
Ernie Clement homered, and Alejandro Kirk went 2-for-5, extending his hitting streak to 18 games, for Toronto.
Toronto right-hander Jose Berrios (16-11) failed to earn his 100th career win, allowing six runs, six hits and three walks in three innings. He struck out four.
Rangers 5, Angels 2
Carson Kelly finished a triple shy of the cycle for Texas, which beat Los Angeles in Anaheim, Calif., to open the final series of the year for both teams.
Wyatt Langford and Adolis Garcia hit back-to-back homers in the first for the Rangers, who improved to 12-12 this month. Marcus Semien added an insurance run with a solo homer in the ninth and finished with three hits.
Eric Wagaman had an RBI single while Nico Kavadas laced a run-scoring double for the Angels, who fell to 7-17 in September. The 97 losses extend the single-season team record for Los Angeles.
Mariners 2, A’s 0
Bryan Woo pitched five scoreless innings as Seattle defeated visiting Oakland.
Mitch Garver and Cal Raleigh homered for the Mariners, who were eliminated from the American League’s wild-card race a day earlier when they had a bye. Woo (9-3) allowed just three hits, walked one and struck out eight.
The A’s are wrapping up the regular season on the road after playing their final game at the Coliseum on Thursday afternoon. Oakland left-hander JP Sears (11-13) took the loss despite finishing with a quality start. Sears gave up two runs on four hits over six innings, with three walks and four strikeouts.
–Field Level Media