Rockies' Charlie Blackmon Hits For Cycle; NL West, Central Still Undecided; Boston's Mookie Betts Captures AL Batting Crown

Players of the Day for Sunday, September 30, 2018

American League

Betts: AL batting champ

While Boston's 10-2 win over the Yankees in the regular season finale meant nothing in terms of the post-season, it did provide conclusive confirmation of the AL batting champion, Mookie Betts, who went 1-for-2, finishing the regular season with a .346 batting average.

Betts finished ahead of teammate J.D. Martinez, who ended the season second to Oakland's Khris Davis with 34 home runs to Davis' 38. Martinez did lead in RBI, however, with 130. Davis was second with 123.

The Yankees claimed another record in the game. Miguel Andujar tied the AL rookie record for doubles in a season with his 47th, equalling Boston's Fred Lynn 1974 mark. Lynn won the AL MVP award that season, and, while Andujar has been sensational, he's likely to win only the rookie of the year award. Betts or Martinez are favored to be named league MVP.

The Yankees host the Oakland A's in the wild card game on Wednesday. Boston will play the winner in the AL division series.

National League

Blackmon hits for cycle

The Rockies are in the playoffs, but whether they'll be a wild card or the NL west champion still needs to be decided.

Charlie Blackmon hit for the cycle and the Rockies closed out the regular season with a 12-0 romp over the Washington Nationals. The Dodgers, who entered the day in a flat-footed tie with Colorado atop the NL West, also romped home with a 14-0 defeat of the Giants in San Francisco.

Likewise, the NL Central ended in a tie for first place as the Cubs and Brewers both finished in style, the Cubs topping the Cardinals, 10-5, while the Brewers routed the Tigers 11-0. There will be a pair of one-game playoffs to determine post-season seedings.

Blackmon, batting in his usual leadoff spot, got the hardest part of the cycle out of the way on the second pitch he saw from Nationals' starter Erick Fedde, tripling to right field in the bottom of the first. He scored on Nolan Arenado's home run, beginning the slaughter. Arenado's home run was his 37th, enough to lead the NL in home runs. Matt Carpenter of St. Louis, Milwaukee's Christian Yelich and Arenado's teammate, Trevor Story each ended the season with 36.

In the third inning, Blackmon's 29th homer brought in two runs for a 4-0 lead. He beat out an infield single in the fifth and scored again on David Dahl's three-run homer. After striking out in the sixth, Blackmon doubled, driving in two runs, to complete the cycle.

Blackmon batted .289 for the season, with 70 RBI and led the league in runs. His 119 runs scored was one more than Milwaukee's Christian Yelich, who captured the batting title with a .323 average.

The Rockies play at Los Angeles Monday at 4:00 pm EDT to determine the division champion and wild card. At 1:00 pm EDT, the Cubs host the Brewers for the Central division title. The loser of that game will host Wednesday's NL wild card game.