This story was originally published by Dead Spin
Shohei Ohtani fell short in his bid to become the first National League Triple Crown winner since 1937, but Chris Taylor’s home run helped power the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 2-1 win over the Colorado Rockies on Sunday in Denver to spoil Charlie Blackmon’s final game.
Ohtani, who led the NL in home runs (54) and RBIs (130), finished with a .310 average after going 1-for-4 on Sunday. San Diego’s Luis Arraez went 1-for-3 to all but lock up the title with a .314 average. Atlanta’s Marcell Ozuna finished Sunday at .304 and will have a slight chance to win the batting title on Monday, when the Braves and Mets play a doubleheader in Atlanta.
Ohtani also stole his 59th base and Teoscar Hernandez had two hits for the Dodgers (98-64), who finished the season with the best record in baseball.
Blackmon, who is retiring after 14 major league seasons spent entirely with the Rockies, was given a standing ovation before the game. He went 1-for-2 before being removed in the third to another standing ovation. Sam Hilliard homered, but Colorado (61-101) sent Blackmon into retirement with a loss.
Mets 5, Brewers 0
David Peterson tossed seven innings of one-hit ball and earned the win, and visiting New York beat Milwaukee to ensure itself an opportunity to play for a postseason berth Monday.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Mets (88-72), who can clinch a National League wild-card spot by winning at least once in Atlanta against the Braves during Monday’s makeup doubleheader. The teams had the final two games of their series postponed last week due to Hurricane Helene.
The Mets are in a virtual tie for the final two wild-card spots with the Arizona Diamondbacks (89-73) and the Braves (88-72). Francisco Lindor was 2-for-4 with a homer, two RBIs and two stolen bases against the NL Central-winning Brewers (93-69), who are slated to begin an NL wild-card series Tuesday against the sixth seed.
Diamondbacks 11, Padres 2
Ketel Marte’s two-run home run highlighted a six-run fourth inning as Arizona kept its wild-card playoff hopes alive with a victory over San Diego in Phoenix.
Eugenio Suarez and Randal Grichuk also homered for the Diamondbacks (89-73), who now await the results of the Mets-Braves doubleheader on Monday. Arizona starter Brandon Pfaadt (11-10) allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits over 5 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out nine.
Elias Diaz and Jake Cronenworth drove in runs for the Padres (93-69), who will host a wild-card playoff series beginning Tuesday.
Royals 4, Braves 2
Visiting Kansas City got home runs from Michael Massey and Hunter Renfroe to beat Atlanta, salvaging a game from their three-game series and preventing the hosts from clinching a spot in the postseason.
Gio Urshela homered for the Braves (88-72), who now need one win over the Mets in Monday’s doubleheader to secure a wild-card spot.
Alec Marsh (9-9) pitched five solid innings and allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits and two strikeouts for the Royals (86-76), who head into a wild-card series against the Baltimore Orioles.
White Sox 9, Tigers 5
Lenyn Sosa hit a three-run homer and visiting Chicago closed out its season with a win over playoff-bound Detroit.
Sosa had three hits and scored three runs and Bryan Ramos supplied two hits, two runs and two RBIs for the White Sox (41-121), who won five of their last six games.
Kerry Carpenter blasted a grand slam for the Tigers (86-76), who clinched an American League wild-card playoff berth when they beat the White Sox on Friday. Detroit will travel to Houston to face the AL West champion Astros in the playoff opener on Tuesday.
Orioles 6, Twins 2
James McCann hit a three-run home run, Jordan Westburg drove in a pair and Baltimore pulled away to defeat Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Heston Kjerstad hit a solo home run for the Orioles, who completed a three-game sweep to finish the regular season. The Orioles will return home to host the Royals in the American League wild-card series, beginning Tuesday.
DaShawn Keirsey Jr. hit his first career home run for Minnesota. Carlos Santana hit a solo shot for the Twins, who finished the season with 27 losses in their last 39 games to squander a shot at the postseason.
Phillies 6, Nationals 3
Kyle Schwarber and Weston Wilson each drove in two runs as Philadelphia wrapped up its regular season with a road victory over Washington.
Kody Clemens made a game-saving catch in left field to seal the victory for Philadelphia (95-67), which finished with its highest win total since going 102-60 in 2011. The Phillies will head to the playoffs for the third straight season — this time as the No. 2 seed in the National League — and will play their postseason opener Saturday at home.
In his final tune-up for the postseason, Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola (14-8) struck out seven in five innings. He gave up three runs and nine hits, including a liner off his right hip, although he stayed in the game. Washington finished 71-91 for the second straight season, marking the club’s fourth straight 90-loss-plus campaign. Dylan Crews went 3-for-3 and Luis Garcia Jr. homered.
Yankees 6, Pirates 4
Alex Verdugo hit a tiebreaking two-run single with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning and New York held on for a win against visiting Pittsburgh.
Trent Grisham had a two-run home run and an RBI single and Gleyber Torres had two doubles and scored twice for the Yankees (94-68), who will open the American League Division Series at home next Saturday.
Joey Bart had two hits, an RBI and a run and Joshua Palacios drove in two runs for the Pirates (76-86), who finished last in the National League Central.
Reds 3, Cubs 0 (10 innings)
Elly De La Cruz drove in a pair on a go-ahead triple while Jake Fraley finished 3-for-4 as visiting Cincinnati beat Chicago in 10 innings.
After nine scoreless innings, De La Cruz slashed a two-run triple off Ethan Roberts (1-1). Tyler Stephenson then added an insurance run with a single, extending the Reds’ lead to 3-0. Cincinnati (77-85) snapped a five-game losing streak but missed the playoffs for the fourth straight year.
Chicago had its two-game winning streak snapped as the offense mustered just three hits. The Cubs finished 83-79 for a second consecutive year and missed the playoffs for a fourth straight season.
Red Sox 3, Rays 1
Quinn Priester limited visiting Tampa Bay to one run on four hits in five innings to help Boston avoid a three-game sweep.
Priester, called up from Triple-A Worcester on Sunday, was making his debut with Boston after being acquired from Pittsburgh at this year’s trade deadline. He struck out two and walked one. Priester (3-6) went 2-6 with a 5.04 ERA in 10 games with the Pirates earlier this year.
The victory ended Boston’s three-game losing streak. The Red Sox (81-81) finished third in the American League East. The Rays (80-82) posted their first losing season since 2017 and finished fourth in the East.
Cardinals 6, Giants 1
Brendan Donovan homered, Alec Burleson drove in three runs and visiting St. Louis denied San Francisco a .500 season with a season-ending victory.
Rookie Michael McGreevy (3-0) completed an unbeaten season with eight strong innings, helping the Cardinals take two of three in the series to wrap up a 6-2 year-ending run. St. Louis (83-79) finished in a tie with the Chicago Cubs for second place in the National League Central.
Hayden Birdsong (5-6) was pulled after Burleson’s hit, charged with three runs on four hits in 4 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out 11. Casey Schmitt had two hits and a run for the Giants (80-82), who took fourth place in the NL West.
Marlins 3, Blue Jays 1
Jonah Bride had two hits, a walk and two RBIs as visiting Miami defeated Toronto to complete a three-game sweep.
Otto Lopez — a former Blue Jay — and Xavier Edwards added two hits each for Miami (62-100), which won its last four games.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went 0-for-2 with two walks for Toronto (74-88) to finish the season with 199 hits. He was trying to become the sixth Blue Jay to reach 200 hits in a season. Toronto finished the season with a 1-5 homestand and dropped eight of its final nine contests.
Rangers 8, Angels 0
Nathan Eovaldi worked seven scoreless innings and rookie Dustin Harris went 2-for-4 with three RBIs to help Texas sweep the series against Los Angeles in Anaheim, Calif.
Eovaldi (12-8) struck out five while yielding four hits for the Rangers (78-84), and Harris hit his first major league home run in his second career game.
Starter Jack Kochanowicz (2-6) gave up three runs on six hits in seven innings for the Angels (63-99), who dropped six in a row and nine of their final 10 games.
Mariners 6, Athletics 4
Logan Gilbert took a perfect game into the sixth inning and Cal Raleigh homered for a third consecutive game as Seattle defeated visiting Oakland to sweep the three-game series.
Gilbert (9-12) retired the first 17 batters he faced before Oakland’s Nick Allen lined a single to left field with two outs in the sixth. That was it for the right-hander, who struck out seven. Justin Turner added a two-run double for the Mariners (85-77), who fell short of the playoffs despite winning eight of their last 10 games.
Tyler Nevin and Darell Hernaiz both drove in two runs for the A’s (69-93), who were wearing their gray road uniforms with “Oakland” stitched across the front for the final time.
–Field Level Media
