Sep 30, 2018 5 min read

The playoff-bound Colorado Rockies are headed to Los Angeles for a tiebreaking game to decide the NL West title after routing the Washington Nationals 12-0 Sunday behind Charlie Blackmon’s cycle.

Tied atop the division with the Dodgers entering the last day, the Rockies won for the ninth time in 10 games, while Los Angeles routed San Francisco 15-0 to send the season to game 163.

The one-game tiebreaker will be Monday at Dodger Stadium, and the loser goes to the Chicago Cubs or Milwaukee for Tuesday’s wild-card game.

Nolan Arenado hit two of the Rockies’ five homers and took over the National League lead with 37, one more than teammate Trevor Story – who also went deep. David Dahl homered for the sixth time in seven games.

Colorado (91-71), is trying for its first division title.

Blackmon finished off his first career cycle and the ninth in Rockies history with a double in the eighth. He tripled in the first, homered in the third, singled in the fifth and struck out in the sixth.

Tyler Anderson (7-9) didn’t look the least bit bothered by a sore shoulder that sidelined him for about a week. He scattered four hits over 7 2/3 inninhs for his first win since July 4.

Arenado got the Rockies rolling in the first, with a two-run shot off Erick Fedde (2-4), who was starting after the Nationals elected to skip NL Cy Young Award candidate Max Scherzer. Blackmon added a two-run drive in the third.

Fedde lasted four innings and gave up four runs in place of Scherzer, who wound up with an MLB-best 300 strikeouts.

The Rockies went 19-9 in September, marking the second-most wins in the month in franchise history. The team record is 20 in 2007, when the Rockies made a late surge and beat San Diego in a play-in game to climb into the postseason. They used the momentum to propel them all the way to their only World Series appearance, where they were swept by Boston.

Milwaukee 11, Detroit 0: Triple Crown contender Christian Yelich and the Milwaukee Brewers advanced to an NL Central tiebreaker against the Chicago Cubs, putting themselves in that position Sunday with an 11-0 romp over the Detroit Tigers.

The Brewers will play the Cubs at Wrigley Field today in a one-game matchup for the division title. The loser will host the NL wild-card game Tuesday vs. the loser of the Colorado-Los Angeles Dodgers tiebreaker in the NL West.

The Brewers won their seventh in a row, and Chicago beat St. Louis 10-5 on the final scheduled day of the regular season.

Yelich went 0-for-2 with two walks and scored twice, ending his 10-game hitting streak. He is hitting .323 in his first season with Milwaukee, locking up the first batting title in Brewers’ history.

Yelich has 109 RBI, tied with Colorado’s Nolan Arenado and two behind leader Javier Baez of the Cubs. Yelich’s 36 home runs are tied with Colorado’s Trevor Story and St. Louis’ Matt Carpenter, one behind Arenado.

The tiebreakers are considered game No. 163 of the regular season, meaning Yelich’s stats – and those of Arenado and Baez – from today’s game will count in the totals. The last NL player to win the Triple Crown was Joe Medwick in 1937 for the Cardinals.

The Brewers (95-67) already had secured their first playoff appearance since 2011, the last time they won the NL Central.

Chicago Cubs 10, St. Louis 5: Anthony Rizzo had four hits and scored three times, and the Chicago Cubs set up a tiebreaker game for the NL Central title with a 10-5 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. Shortly after Milwaukee completed an 11-0 victory over Detroit, Jorge De La Rosa worked a hitless ninth inning to move the Cubs back into a tie with the Brewers at 95-67. The crowd of 39,275 roared in delight after Francisco Pena flied to right for the final out on a wet, cool afternoon at Wrigley Field.

N.Y. Mets 1, Miami 0: Noah Syndergaard pitched his first major league shutout and the New York Mets wrapped up a disappointing season with their second consecutive 1-0 victory over the Miami Marlins.

Boston 10, N.Y. Yankees 2: The Boston Red Sox picked up a couple more titles on the final day of baseball’s regular season. Mookie Betts claimed the batting title and J.D. Martinez clinching the RBI crown in a 10-2 victory over the New York Yankees.

Rick Porcello pitched two no-hit innings in his final playoff tuneup. The Yankees will play Oakland in the AL wild-card game, with the winner advancing to the division series against Boston.

Cleveland 2, Kansas City 1: Carlos Carrasco and Trevor Bauer combined for a five-hitter, Francisco Lindor homered and scored twice, and the Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals 2-1.

Carrasco was working with a limited pitch count in a tuneup before an anticipated start in Game 2 of the American League Division Series against Houston on Saturday.

Scioscia decides to resign: Mike Scioscia has stepped down as manager of the Los Angeles Angels after 19 seasons, ending the longest current tenure in the majors with a come-from-behind victory. The Angels rallied for a 5-4 victory over playoff-bound Oakland, sending Scioscia out a winner despite the club’s third straight losing season.