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Major league roundup: Dodgers fill final playoff spot
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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, assuring at least a spot in the wild-card game. The Dodgers joined Colorado, Atlanta, the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee in the NL playoff field.
Los Angeles began the day one game behind Colorado for the division lead, and the Rockies hosted Washington later in the day. 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.
The Dodgers’ win eliminated St. Louis from playoff contention. The Cardinals beat the Cubs earlier in the day to preserve their postseason chances for another few hours.
St. Louis 2, Chicago Cubs 1: The Chicago Cubs are going to the final day of the season with a shot at the NL Central championship.
Whether they take it outright or have to play a tiebreaker remains unclear. They could wind up in a wild-card game, too.
So much uncertainty for a team hoping for another big run.
The Cubs wasted a solid performance by Cole Hamels in a 2-1 loss to Miles Mikolas and the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday, making for a muddled NL playoff picture.
The Cardinals kept alive their chance for a wild card, but were eliminated by the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 10-6 victory at San Francisco.
The Cubs have locked up a playoff spot, but that’s all they know at this point.
American League
N.Y. Yankees 8, Boston 5: Gleyber Torres and Giancarlo Stanton connected as the New York Yankees broke the major league record for home runs in a season and reached 100 wins with an 8-5 victory over the Boston Red Sox.
Torres’ two-run drive in the fourth was the Yankees’ 265th of the year and moved them past the 1997 Seattle Mariners for the mark.
Houston 4, Baltimore 3: Justin Verlander looked playoff-ready in a 10-strikeout performance, Carlos Correa homered and hit a tiebreaking RBI double in the ninth inning, and the Houston Astros beat the Baltimore Orioles 4-3 in the opener of a doubleheader.
Verlander made a case for his second AL Cy Young Award with a dominant outing that began with seven strikeouts over three perfect innings. The right-hander allowed three hits and walked one in six innings.
Sabathia suspended 5 games: New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia was suspended five games for hitting a Tampa Bay batter, a penalty that won’t take effect until next year.
Sabathia appealed the ban that was issued by Major League Baseball. Any games he misses will come at the start of the 2019 season.
The Yankees will host Oakland in the AL wild-card game Wednesday.