WASHINGTON (AP) — The Washington Nationals assured themselves of hosting the NL wild-card game by holding on to beat the already-eliminated Cleveland Indians 10-7 Saturday with the help of a grand slam in a nine-run second inning from Gerardo Parra.
Nationals Park will be the site of a win-or-go-home game Tuesday night between Washington, which will send three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer to the mound, and either the St. Louis Cardinals or Milwaukee Brewers. One of those clubs will be the NL Central champion; the other will be the league’s second wild-card entry.
Washington starter Patrick Corbin got hit around, giving up six runs in 4 1/3 innings — on three homers. Daniel Hudson (3-0), the fifth of six Washington pitchers, struck out two in a perfect eighth.
Cleveland’s Adam Plutko (7-5) lasted 1 1/3 innings and was charged with eight runs and seven hits.
Jordan Luplow hit a solo homer, Franmil Reyes had a two-run drive and Eric Haase added a three-run shot for the Indians, who have lost four in a row. Luplow added another drive to left off Sean Doolittle with two outs in the ninth that allowed Cleveland to break the franchise record for homers in a season with 222.
DODGERS 2, GIANTS 0
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Hyun-Jin Ryu pitched seven sharp innings and Los Angeles posted its 105th win to match the highest total in franchise history.
The NL West champions won their sixth straight and tied the win mark of the 1953 “Boys of Summer” team based in Brooklyn that included Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider and other Hall of Famers.
The Dodgers began the day one game behind Houston for the best record in baseball and one game ahead of the Yankees. Los Angeles will begin the Division Series next Thursday at home against the NL wild-card winner.
Ryu (14-5) allowed five hits, struck out seven and didn’t walk a batter. He also hit an RBI single. Kenta Maeda pitched the eighth. Kenley Jansen struck out three for his 33rd save.
Max Muncy hit his 35th homer in the sixth off rookie Logan Webb (2-3), who allowed two runs on six hits in six innings, struck out five and walked one.
BLUE JAYS 4, RAYS 1
TORONTO (AP) — Tampa Bay managed just three hits and lost to Toronto, damaging the Rays’ chances of hosting the AL Wild Card Game.
Matt Duffy homered in the seventh inning for Tampa Bay. Duffy finished with two hits and Tommy Pham singled for the team’s other hit.
The Rays, who clinched a postseason berth Friday when they beat Toronto and Washington beat Cleveland, began the day tied with Oakland in the wild-card race.
Oakland visited Seattle on Saturday night. Tampa Bay could still host the wild-card game if the Athletics lose their final two and the Rays beat the Blue Jays on Sunday.
Teoscar Hernandez hit his 25th homer for Toronto, and Trent Thornton (6-9) pitched five effective innings. Rowdy Tellez had two hits and drove in a run.
Ryan Yarbrough (11-6) allowed three runs before he recorded his first out of the game. He allowed three runs and five hits in five innings.
METS 3, BRAVES 0
NEW YORK (AP) — Pete Alonso hit his 53rd home run to break the rookie record Yankees star Aaron Judge set in 2017, and New York beat playoff-bound Atlanta.
Alonso has already set franchise records for homers, total bases (347) and extra-base hits (85). He has 120 RBIs and 102 runs, becoming the first Mets rookie to reach triple digits in both categories. The home run was his 11th of September.
Steven Matz (11-10) allowed two hits and five walks in six innings, finishing with a winning record for the first time since his first full season in 2016. Jeurys Familia, Brad Brach and Edwin Díaz finished the three-hitter. Diaz struck out two in a perfect ninth for his 26th save in 33 chances.
Mike Foltynewicz (8-6) gave up three runs and three hits in his final start for the NL East champions before the Division Series against St. Louis or Milwaukee.
TWINS 4, ROYALS 3
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) —Minnesota lost third baseman Luis Arraez to an apparent right leg injury in the seventh inning of a win over Kansas City.
Arraez collided with first baseman Willians Astudillo while chasing Hunter Dozier’s pop fly at the mound. Astudillo caught the ball and Arraez grabbed the back of his right leg as he tumbled to the ground. Arraez had to be carted off the field.
Nelson Cruz hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth for Minnesota, which has won six in a row and eight of nine overall. Mitch Garver had two doubles and scored twice, and Astudillo had two hits and two RBIs.
Kansas City slugger Jorge Soler went deep twice to move into the AL lead with 47 homers. Soler snapped a tie with the Angels’ Mike Trout, who is out with an injury.
ORIOLES 9, RED SOX 4
BOSTON (AP) — Renato Núñez homered in his second straight game and was one of four Baltimore players to go deep in a win over Boston.
DJ Stewart, Richie Martin and Trey Mancini also homered for Baltimore, which won its 54th game of the season and has a chance to close out a dismal year with a three-game sweep of the defending World Series champion Red Sox.
Xander Bogaerts and J.D. Martinez homered for the Red Sox, who lost their third straight.
John Means (12-11) pitched five solid innings for the Orioles, allowing three runs on five hits. He walked two and struck out five.
Jhoulys Chacín (3-12) lasted just 2 2/3 innings for Boston. He allowed four runs on five hits, struck out three and walked one.
WHITE SOX 7, TIGERS 1, 1st GAME
TIGERS 4, WHITE SOX 3, 2ND GAME
CHICAGO (AP) — Pinch-hitter John Hicks connected for a three-run homer in the ninth inning, and Detroit beat Chicago for a doubleheader split.
Detroit was down 2-1 when Ronny Rodriguez reached on an error on shortstop Tim Anderson leading off the ninth. One out later, Travis Demeritte singled to put runners on the corners.
Hicks, batting for catcher Jake Rogers, then drove a 1-2 pitch from Alex Colomé (4-5) deep to left for his 13th homer.
Buck Farmer (6-6) pitched a scoreless eighth and Joe Jiménez got three outs — giving up a pinch-hit solo homer to Yoán Moncada — for his ninth save.
Anderson, who is looking to become the third White Sox player to win a batting title, went 0 for 2 with two walks after sitting out the opener. He is batting .337.
In the first game, Reynaldo López tossed five-hit ball into the ninth inning to lead Chicago.
Eloy Jiménez and Danny Mendick went deep for the White Sox.
Miguel Cabrera homered for Detroit, which has 113 losses on the season, the second-most in franchise history.
López (10-15) allowed one run and five hits with nine strikeouts.
Matthew Boyd (9-12) allowed four runs, two earned, and six hits in four innings.
PHILLIES 9, MARLINS 3
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bryce Harper hit one of three Philadelphia home runs, and Zach Eflin pitched 7 2/3 strong innings in a win over Miami.
Cesar Hernandez and Maikel Franco also went deep for Philadelphia, which evened its season record against the Marlins at 9-9. The Phillies (81-80) will need to complete a three-game series sweep in Sunday’s season finale to clinch their first winning record since going 102-60 in 2011.
Philadelphia tied a club record for homers in a month with 44. Harper has 114 RBIs.
Eflin (10-13) gave up three runs on six hits with six strikeouts and two walks.
Caleb Smith (10-11) allowed six runs, five earned, on five hits in three innings.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports