ATLANTA (AP) — Gerrit Cole retired the final 17 hitters he faced, and the surging Pittsburgh Pirates clinched a spot in the playoffs with a 3-2 win over the free-falling Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night.
The Pirates’ win combined with Milwaukee’s loss to Cincinnati assured Pittsburgh of no worse than an NL wild card. The Pirates wrapped up their berth exactly one year after clinching a place in the 2013 playoffs.
They reacted to the final out on Tuesday with little emotion. The Pirates exchanged high-fives in a line on the field before sharing hugs in front of their dugout.
Starling Marte gave Pittsburgh the lead with a sixth-inning double. The Pirates, who are still chasing St. Louis for the NL Central title, have won 11 of 13.
Royals 7, Indians 1
CLEVELAND (AP) — Rookie Yordano Ventura blanked Cleveland’s punchless offense for seven innings as the Kansas City Royals kept pressure on first-place Detroit in the AL Central with a win over the Indians.
The hard-throwing Ventura (14-10) allowed four singles and threw a 100 mph fastball on his 104th pitch.
Salvador Perez’s two-out, two-run double off Danny Salazar (6-8) put the Royals ahead 5-0 in the fifth and they turned their attention to the left-field scoreboard to monitor the Tigers’ score. Kansas City entered one game out of first and with a grasp on one of the league’s two wild-card spots.
Dodgers 4, Giants 2
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Justin Turner homered twice and Matt Kemp had a two-run shot in a testy first inning, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the second-place Giants to stretch their NL West lead to 4 1/2 games.
The Giants’ seventh loss in 10 games kept them from clinching a playoff berth after Milwaukee lost at Cincinnati.
Angels 2, Athletics 0
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Gordon Beckham homered and the Angels dropped the Athletics into a tie for the top AL wild card.
Sonny Gray whiffed Mike Trout three times among his career-best 12 strikeouts, one month to the day after Jon Lester fanned the Angels slugger three times at the Coliseum. But Gray had nothing to show for it as the Athletics were shut out for the seventh time since Aug. 1.
Tigers 4, White Sox 3
DETROIT (AP) — Miguel Cabrera’s RBI single in the bottom of the ninth lifted the Tigers to a key victory over the White Sox.
The win kept Detroit a game ahead of Kansas City atop the American League Central and dropped their magic numbers to five for the division and two for the postseason.
Nationals 4, Mets 2
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nationals center fielder Denard Span left in the third inning after making a diving, tumbling catch, and NL East champion Washington went on to a victory over the Mets.
Jays 10, Mariners 2
TORONTO (AP) — Dalton Pompey hit his first major league homer and the Blue Jays roughed up Felix Hernandez for a career worst-tying eight earned runs in a victory over the Mariners that further dented Seattle’s fading wild-card chances.
Reds 3, Brewers 1
CINCINNATI (AP) — Johnny Cueto kept his hopes of a 20-win season in play, and Todd Frazier and Devin Mesoraco hit back-to-back homers, sending the Reds to a victory that pushed the Brewers to the verge elimination from wild card contention.
Cueto (19-9) gave up Carlos Gomez’s homer over eight innings. He’ll pitch Cincinnati’s final game on Sunday against Pittsburgh at Great American Ball Park.
Marlins 2, Phillies 0
MIAMI (AP) — Henderson Alvarez pitched into the eighth inning to outduel Cole Hamels and the Marlins beat the Phillies.
Rangers 2, Astros 1
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Nick Martinez pitched 6 2-3 scoreless innings and Robinson Chirinos homered to lead the Rangers to a victory over the Astros.
Cubs 4, Cardinals 3
CHICAGO (AP) — Welington Castillo homered and drove in the winning run with a 10th-inning single, giving the Cubs a victory over the Cardinals that tightened the NL Central race.
St. Louis’ lead was reduced to 1 1/2 games over second-place Pittsburgh, which clinched a playoff berth by beating Atlanta. With four games to play, the Cardinals, who secured a postseason spot last weekend, still have a magic number of four to wrap up their second consecutive division crown.
Twins 6, D-Backs 3
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Kyle Gibson matched a career high with eight strikeouts, Chris Parmelee hit a tworun single after entering the game for an injured Joe Mauer, and the Twins beat the Diamondbacks.
Rockies 3, Padres 2
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Drew Stubbs hit a tiebreaking home run leading off the eighth and left fielder Brandon Barnes robbed Rene Rivera of a tying shot in the bottom of the inning to lead the Rockies to a victory against the Padres.
Orioles 5, Yankees 4
NEW YORK (AP) — Nelson Cruz hit his major league-leading 40th home run and the Orioles pushed Derek Jeter and the Yankees to the brink of playoff elimination, beating New York.
The Yankees fell five games behind for the second AL wild card with only five games left.
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