Playoff Push: Royals, Tigers move closer to securing playoff berth

With only a weekend of baseball still on the docket (unless you're the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets), the post-season brackets are starting to take shape. However, a couple of scenarios remain in play, and Thursday set the scene for them.

In the American League, three teams are still vying for the two final wild-card spots, but the path to the post-season became a lot darker for the Twins after a loss to the Marlins. The Royals and Tigers, meanwhile, cut their magic numbers down to one.

In the National League, there wasn't much movement in the standings with the high-stakes set between the Mets and Braves delayed due to Hurricane Helene. However, the Los Angeles Dodgers had a chance to clinch the NL West crown in an outing against the San Diego Padres.

Here is where things stand after Thursday's action.

ROYALS 7, NATIONALS 4

WASHINGTON — Kansas City trimmed their magic number to one with a victory over Washington and a Minnesota Twins loss to the Miami Marlins.

Pinch hitter Adam Frazier’s one-out, line drive base hit to left field in the top of the ninth drove in two runs, breaking a 4-4 tie and guiding the Royals to their third straight win following a seven-game losing streak.

Salvador Perez’s second single of the game scored Frazier, chasing Nationals closer Kyle Finnegan (3-8).

Hunter Renfroe hit his 14th homer of the season to open the scoring, a 424-foot shot that left the park at 108.4 mph.

Kris Bubic (1-1) earned the win with a scoreless eighth inning. Royals closer Lucas Erceg recorded his third consecutive save in the series — and 14th of the season — with a shutdown ninth inning.

Starter Michael Wacha pitched five innings, allowing four runs (three earned) and five hits, striking out two and walking one on 83 pitches, 58 for strikes.

TIGERS 4, RAYS 3

DETROIT — Justyn-Henry Malloy’s eighth-inning sacrifice fly helped Detroit rally from a 3-0 deficit to move closer to the postseason with a win over Tampa Bay.

Detroit, who have won five straight, entered the game tied with Kansas City for the second and third American League wildcard spots, two games ahead of the Minnesota Twins.

The Tigers trailed 3-2 with one out in the eighth, but Riley Greene singled off Garrett Cleavinger (7-5) and Matt Vierling drew a walk.

Colt Keith tied the game with an RBI single, bringing up Malloy — the last position player on the Tigers bench — to pinch hit for Kerry Carpenter. He lifted a fly ball to medium center and Vierling easily beat Jose Siri’s throw.

Beau Brieske (4-4) got the win with two innings of relief. Jason Foley pitched the ninth for his 27th save.

MARLINS 8, TWINS 6 (13)

MINNEAPOLIS — Otto Lopez doubled home the go-ahead run in the 13th inning as Miami beat reeling Minnesota.

Carlos Correa homered for the Twins, who were 2 for 19 with runners in scoring position and stranded 15 on the night.

The Twins (82-77) have lost six of their last eight and now trail the Tigers and Royals by three games in the race for the last two AL wild card spots. They would be eliminated with one more loss or one victory by Detroit or Kansas City.

In the 13th inning, Lopez drove home automatic runner Dane Myers with a one-out drive down the left field line off Cody Blewett (1-1). Griffin Conine put the game out of reach with a two-out, two-run single off Justin Topa.

Anthony Maldonado (1-1) pitched two scoreless innings to earn his first career victory. Darren McCaughan allowed one run in the 13th, picking up his first save.

Trailing 4-0 after five innings, the Twins battled back, tying it on Brooks Lee’s two-run double in the eighth.

DODGERS 7, PADRES 2

LOS ANGELES — Will Smith hit a tying, two-run homer and Los Angeles scored three more runs in the seventh to beat San Diego and clinch the NL West title.

The rally was dampened by an apparent injury to All-Star slugger Freddie Freeman, who left the game after awkwardly colliding with Luis Arráez and the first base bag trying to avoid being tagged for the second out of the inning. Freeman grabbed at his lower right leg before hobbling off the field.

The Dodgers had not clinched at home since the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, when cardboard cutouts replaced fans. The last time fans were on hand for a clincher at home was 2018.

The Padres led 2-0 as Joe Musgrove pitched six shutout innings.

But the Dodgers got to him in the seventh. Musgrove gave up a leadoff walk to Max Muncy. Smith followed with a 426-foot blast to center, tying the game at 2-2. It was the Dodgers’ first home run of the three-game series.

YANKEES 10, ORIOLES 1

NEW YORK — Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 58th home run, going deep for the fifth straight game to help New York wrap up their second AL East title in three years with a victory over Baltimore.

Giancarlo Stanton had four RBIs that included his 27th homer, Alex Verdugo also homered and Gerrit Cole outpitched Corbin Burnes in a possible postseason preview. Judge and Stanton homered in the same game for the 14th time this year, tying Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris in 1961 for the most in Yankees history.

New York assured itself a first-round bye and home-field advantage in a best-of-five AL Division Series starting Oct. 5.

Baltimore, which clinched a postseason berth by winning Tuesday night’s opener of the three-game series, will be in a best-of-three Wild Card Series starting Tuesday.

Stanton homered in the second to put the Yankees ahead and hit a three-run double in a six-run sixth.

ATHLETICS 3, RANGERS 2

OAKLAND, Calif. — JJ Bleday hit an RBI single and made a magnificent catch in center field, Shea Langeliers had a sacrifice fly, and the Oakland Athletics went out winning in their final scheduled game at the Coliseum by beating the Texas Rangers 3-2 on Thursday for a series victory.

Bleday and Zack Gelof delivered defensive gems to delight a sellout crowd of 46,889 under a cloudless blue September sky. Fans alternated chants of “Sell the team!” and “Let’s go Oakland!” amid the mixed emotions and nostalgia at the Coliseum, where the A’s have played since 1968 and enjoyed so many memorable moments.

The ninth inning featured two fans jumping the fences to run onto the grass, bottles being thrown into center field and smoke bombs set off and tossed into right. Toilet paper and other debris also came down before manager Mark Kotsay took the microphone after the game with a heartfelt thank you to the fans and one last round of “Let’s go Oakland!”

The A’s plan to play the next three years in Sacramento with hopes of opening a new ballpark in Las Vegas ahead of the 2028 season.

Green “SELL” banners hung from the outfield railings as fans were treated to a trip down memory lane. Former left-hander Barry Zito sang the national anthem to huge applause, while Rickey Henderson and Dave Stewart tossed out ceremonial first pitches.

BREWERS 5, PIRATES 2

PITTSBURGH — Aaron Civale pitched six scoreless innings in his last start before the postseason and Joey Ortiz was a home run short of the cycle as Milwaukee defeated Pittsburgh.

Civale (8-9) allowed three hits, struck out five and walked one. He is 6-1 with a 2.57 ERA in his last nine starts.

Ortiz, a rookie third baseman, tripled in the third inning and came home on Brice Turang’s ground out to open the scoring. Ortiz also doubled in a run in the sixth to increase the Brewers’ lead to 5-0.

The National League Central champion Brewers will open a best-of-three NL Wild Card Series at home starting next Tuesday. They finish the regular season by hosting the contending New York Mets in a three-game series that begins Friday night.

The Brewers have won five of their last seven games and went 46-35 on the road this season.

WHITE SOX 7, ANGELS 0

CHICAGO — Chicago averted a record-breaking loss for the third straight day, beating Los Angeles behind Chris Flexen’s sharp pitching performance.

Chicago improved to 39-120 with its three-game sweep of Los Angeles. It has been tied with the 1962 New York Mets for the modern major league record for losses since Sunday’s 4-2 setback at San Diego.

The White Sox have three games left this weekend at Detroit. They finished their home schedule with a 23-58 record.

Flexen (3-15) struck out seven in 6 1/3 innings in his first win since May 8. The right-hander was winless in his previous 23 starts, a franchise record.

Los Angeles dropped to 63-96 to set a franchise record for losses in a season. It went 1-6 on its final trip to finish with a 31-50 road record — the most road losses for the team since it went 27-53 in 1996.

ROCKIES 10, CARDINALS 8

DENVER — Charlie Blackmon had three RBIs and three runs in one of the final games of his professional career, Michael Toglia had three hits and two RBIs, and Colorado avoided a sweep with a come-from-behind victory over St. Louis.

A two-run, game-tying double from Ezequiel Tovar was the catalyst of a five-run eighth inning for the Rockies, who had lost five of their previous six games. The double was Tovar’s National League-leading 45th of the season. Ryan McMahon’s double to right field in the next at-bat brought home Tovar for what would be the game-winning run.

Tovar, McMahon, Jake Cave and Aaron Schunk each finished with two hits. McMahon entered the game hitting just .192 in 54 games since he was Colorado’s lone representative at the All-Star Game.

Blackmon’s two-run home run in the second inning was the 227th of his 14-year career, tying Carlos Gonzalez for the fifth-most in franchise history. Blackmon, 38, announced Monday he would be retiring at the end of the season. His three RBIs were his most in a game since May 27. His father threw out the game’s ceremonial first pitch, a strike.

Angel Chivilli (2-3) picked up the win for the Rockies while Ryan Fernandez (1-6) took the loss for St. Louis after giving up four of Colorado’s five eighth-inning runs.