SAN FRANCISCO — The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched baseball’s final playoff berth and gave themselves a chance to still win the NL West, getting a go-ahead triple from Manny Machado in the eighth inning Saturday and beating the San Francisco Giants 10-6.
The defending NL champions locked up their sixth straight trip to the postseason, assured of at least a spot in the wild-card game.
Los Angeles began the day one game behind Colorado for the division lead, and the Rockies hosted Washington on Saturday night. The regular season is scheduled to end Sunday – if Los Angeles and Colorado finish even, there will be a one-game tiebreaker for the West title Monday at Dodger Stadium.
After the final out, the Dodgers exited their dugout and high-fived in a tame celebration. Manager Dave Roberts waved to hundreds of fans in the outfield bleachers.
CARDINALS 2, CUBS 1: Chicago wasted a solid performance by Cole Hamels in a loss at home to Miles Mikolas and the St. Louis Cardinals, leaving the NL Central title up for grabs.
The Cardinals briefly kept alive their chance for a wild card, but were eliminated by the Dodgers’ win.
The Cubs would have wrapped up their third straight division championship with a victory and a loss by the Brewers. Instead, the teams enter Sunday tied atop the division. They would meet in a tiebreaker at Wrigley Field on Monday if they wind up with identical records, with the loser then playing in a wild-card game at home on Tuesday.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
ASTROS 4, ORIOLES 3: Justin Verlander struck out 10 in six sharp innings, Carlos Correa homered and hit a tiebreaking RBI double in the ninth, and Houston beat host Baltimore in the opener of a doubleheader.
INTERLEAGUE
BREWERS, 6, TIGERS 5: Milwaukee got two homers from MVP candidate Christian Yelich to beat the visiting Tigers and draw even with the Cubs in the NL Central.
Yelich turned on an 0-1 pitch from left-hander Daniel Stumpf (1-5) and lined it into the second deck in right to break a 5-all tie in the seventh inning, sending the Brewers to a sixth straight win.
He also hit two-run shot in the third.
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