George Springer Leads Astros to MLB-Best Record; Cardinals Snag NL Central Behind Jack Flaherty

Players of the Day for Sunday, September 29, 2019

American League

Spinger: 4-4, HR, 2 RBI

With all the playoff spots and home fields already set in the AL, only one of the five playoff squads came up with a win on the final day of the regular season.

Houston, led by George Springer's 4-for-4 effort, bombed the Angels, 8-5, finishing with the best record in the majors, at 107-55.

The Astros scored in each of the first four innings and coasted to the win. Springer singled to open the game and scored on Jose Altuve's double. In the second, Springer spanked his 39th home run of the year, a solo shot that put the Astros up, 3-0. In the fourth, Springer doubled in a run and later scored. He finished with a fifth-inning infield single and was lifted for a pinch runner.

Houston's 107 wins are a franchise record, topping last season's mark of 103. In 2017, the Astros captured the first World Series in franchise history, dating back to 1962, when they were established as a National League expansion team known as the Colt .45s.

The Astros will host the first two games of the best-of-five division series starting Friday, October 4, facing the winner of the wild card contest between the A's and the Rays, which is scheduled for Wednesday, October 2.

The Yankees host Minnesota in the other divisional series, also starting on Friday, October 4.

National League

Flaherty clinches for Cards

It took until the final day of the season, but the St. Louis Cardinals are champions of the NL Central, ripping the Cubs, 8-0, behind yet another sparkling performance by Jack Flaherty, who has been one of the best pitchers in either league over the second half of the season.

Flaherty blanked the Cubs on two hits over seven innings while his teammates feasted on Chicago pitching, slugging three home runs as they scored in each of the first four innings.

Going 7-2 in his last 15 starts, Flaherty gave up just 10 earned runs over 99 1/3 innings for an ERA of 0.71. Over that span, Flaherty fanned 124 and walked 23 batters. For the year, he finished with 213 strikeouts.

St. Louis captured the division by two games over Milwaukee, who ended the regular season with a 4-3 loss at Colorado.

The Cardinals will open the best-of-five divisional series at Atlanta on Thursday, October 3, while the Nationals and Brewers play a one-game wild card playoff Tuesday, the winner advancing to meet the Dodgers in the other divisional series, which opens in Los Angeles, also on Thursday.

A's Grab WC Home Field on Ramon Laureano's HR; Ian Happ, Cubs Thwart Cardinals in NL Central

Players of the Day for Saturday, September 28, 2019

American League

Laureano's HR wins for A's

The Oakland A's wrapped up home field for their upcoming wild card playoff game against Tampa Bay with a 1-0 win at Seattle Saturday.

Ramon Laureano roped a third-inning solo home run to left and Brett Anderson and a trio of relievers made it hold up, giving the A's a one-game edge over the Rays in the wild card hunt.

Laureano's home run was his 24th of the year.

Oakland's victory assured that he A's would host Wednesday's AL wild card game (8:00 pm ET), the winner going on to face the Houston Astros, the loser going home. Even if Oakland loses its final regular season game Sunday at Seattle, they would still own the tie-breaker over Tampa Bay, as they took the head-to-head season series over the Rays, 4-3.

The other playoff positions in the AL are set. Minnesota will open agains the Yankees in New York in the other five-game divisional series.

National League

Happ: 2 HR, 4 RBI

A week ago, St. Louis all but eliminated the Cubs from playoff contention, sweeping their NL Central rivals four straight in Chicago.

Now, the Cubs are bent on getting revenge.

St. Louis, on the verge of capturing the division crown for the first time since 2015, has dropped the first two games of their regular-season-ending series with the Cubs and have just one game remaining.

After losing the opener, 8-2, Friday, the Cubs clubbed the Cardinals again, 8-6, on Saturday.

Ian Happ socked a pair of two-run homers off Cardinal starter, Adam Wainwright, to lead the Cubs assault. A bench-clearing non-brawl erupted in the second inning after Yadier Molina was hit by a pitch from Cubs' starter, Cole Hamels.

The Cardinals, who have lost four straight, remain a game to the good over the Brewers, thanks to Colorado, who have cooled off the Brewers by taking the first two games of their three-game series.

St. Louis faces the Cubs one last time on Sunday, while the Rockies host the Brewers. Should the Brewers and Cards tie for the division title, they would play one game - in St. Louis on Monday - to determine the wild card and division. The winner would play Atlanta in one divisional series; the loser would play at Washington in the one-game wild card elimination game, Tuesday

Raimel Tapia Slams Brewers, Rockies Win; Tommy Pham, Tyler Glasnow Lead Rays Into Playoffs; A's Also Qualify

Players of the Day for Friday, September 27, 2019

American League

Glasnow: 4 1/3 hitless

Cleveland is out. The Rays and A's are in the playoffs.

Tommy Pham's third inning, two-run homer broke a scoreless tie and Tyler Glasnow tossed 4 1/2 innings of no-hit ball, as the Rays went on to defeat the Blue Jays, 6-2, Friday in Toronto.

Pham's homer was his 21st of the year; Glasnow fanned four and issued two walks, setting down the last eight batters he faced before being lifted with one out in the fifth inning.

Pham: 2-run homer

The win, combined with Cleveland's 8-2 loss at Washington, put the Rays into the playoffs for the first time since 2013, taking a wild card spot.

Oakland, falling 4-3 at Seattle, also qualified as a wild card, but fell into a flat-footed tie with the Rays. Both teams are 96-64, with two games left.

Should the two finish tied for the wild card spots, Oakland would be the home team, as they won the season series over the Rays, four games to three. Wherever it is played, the AL wild card game will be played Wednesday, October 2nd.

Cleveland, which had been in contention not only for a wild card, but also for the Central division, played itself right out down the stretch, losing four of its last six.

National League

Tapia's slam buries Brewers

On their path the the playoffs, the Milwaukee Brewers finally ran into a game the could not win, a team they could not beat, as the Colorado Rockies out-slugged them, 11-7, Friday night.

After Lorenzo Cain put the Brewers up 2-1 in the fourth inning, the floodgates opened for the Rockies, scoring seven times in the sixth inning, capped by Raimel Tapia's grand slam. Colorado tacked on three more in the seventh and though the Brewers posted a pair in the eighth and three in the ninth, it was not nearly enough.

Tapia's home run was his ninth of the season and upped his RBI total to 44.

Milwaukee's loss was only their second in their last 11 games. The Brewers are having a September to remember, going 20-5 to overtake the Cubs in the Central division and gain, at least, a wild card spot. Despite losing, the Brewers remain one game behind St. Louis in the division, as the Cardinals were bombed by the Cubs, 8-2. Both teams have two games remaining.

Should the Brewers and Cardinals tie for the division title, they would play a one-game playoff, the loser to face Washington in another one-game elimination, while the division winner would open a five-game divisional playoff series in Atlanta. The wild card team would head to Los Angeles to meet the Dodgers.

Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers Ready for Playoffs; Matt Chapman Gets A's Closer to wild Card

Players of the Day for Thursday, September 26, 2019

American League

Chapman belts 2-run HR

Game by game, little by little, the Oakland A's continue to charge toward the playoffs.

On Thursday, the A's took a 3-1 win at Seattle, holding a one-game lead over Tampa Bay for the first wild card.

Matt Chapoman's second inning, two-run homer off Felix Harnandez was all the A's needed in support of Sean Manaea's six innings of four hit ball. Manaea allowed one run, before the Oakland bullpen took over, holding the Mariners hitless over the final three innings.

Chapman's home run was his 36th. He's driven in 91 runs this season.

Oakland's win, and Cleveland's 8-0 loss to the White Sox, left the A's one win short of clinching a playoff spot. The A's will close out the regular season this weekend, playing three more games in Seattle, while the Rays finish with three in Toronto and the Indians have three in Washington against the Nationals.

National League

Kershaw: 6 scoreless

Clayton Kershaw is ready for October baseball.

In a final tuneup in preparation for the playoffs, the Dodgers' ace shut out the Padres Thursday night on two hits over six innings, improving to 16-5 with a 1-0 win at San Diego. Kershaw threw just 90 pitches for the win, striking out seven with one walk.

The Dodgers have already locked up home field for the duration of their National League playoff run.

In other games that mattered, the Washington Nationals topped the Phillies for the fifth straight time, maintaining their one-game lead over Milwaukee in the wild card race. The Brewers won again, defeating the Reds in Cincinnati, 5-3.

Milwaukee remains alive for the Central division crown. They are one game behind St. Louis in the division race.

The Brewers close out their season with three games at Colorado. St. Louis hosts three with the Cubs, while the Nationals finish up at home, hosting three games with the Cleveland Indians.