Tarik Skubal threw seven scoreless innings while Teoscar Hernandez and Kyle Tucker homered as the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds 4-1 on Monday to clinch a playoff spot.
Skubal (10-7) allowed three hits, all singles, while striking out nine and walking one for Los Angeles, which earned a postseason berth for the 14th straight year and pulled within two games of the Milwaukee Brewers for the National League’s best record. Skubal is 2-0 with a 1.73 ERA in his past four starts.
Reds starter Nick Lodolo (3-5) gave up four runs on three hits in seven innings, his longest outing of the season.
Elly De La Cruz homered in the ninth inning for the Reds’ only run. Cincinnati has dropped six of its last seven, and its elimination number dropped to one.
Yankees 8, Twins 3
Aaron Judge blasted a three-run homer into the third deck of the left field bleachers and New York celebrated clinching a postseason berth by posting a win over Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Jose Caballero went 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs for the Yankees, who are headed to the playoffs for the ninth time in the past 10 seasons. The Yankees learned during their game that they had reached the postseason because of a loss by the Toronto Blue Jays to the Detroit Tigers, and New York topped the Twins to punctuate the night.
Yankees reliever Tim Hill (5-2) allowed one run in his lone inning, and John Schreiber got the last four outs for his second save. Emmanuel Rodriguez hit a two-run triple for the Twins, and Josh Bell finished 2-for-4 with a solo home run.
Orioles 2, Mets 1
Gunnar Henderson hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning as visiting Baltimore beat New York.
Dedniel Nunez (1-1) retired the first two batters of the eighth — including former Mets star Pete Alonso — before Henderson homered to right-center. Alonso went 0-for-3 with a walk in his first game at Citi Field since signing a five-year deal with the Orioles last December. He received multiple ovations from the New York fans.
Yennier Cano (3-3) got one out for the win, and Rico Garcia retired all three batters in the ninth for his ninth save. A.J. Ewing homered for the Mets, who were eliminated from postseason contention.
Cubs 7, Braves 3
Pete Crow-Armstrong continued his MVP push with a home run, four hits and four RBIs as host Chicago defeated Atlanta.
David Peterson (8-8) threw six-plus innings of one-run ball for the Cubs, who have won three of four. Nico Hoerner had two hits and scored twice.
Reynaldo Lopez (4-5) yielded six hits and five runs in three innings for the Braves, who have dropped two in a row. Mike Yastrzemski hit a two-run homer.
White Sox 7, Guardians 3
Miguel Vargas hit a two-run home run and Kyle Teel had a two-run double in a decisive six-run sixth inning to lead visiting Chicago past Cleveland.
Andrew Benintendi was 3-for-5 with a run and an RBI, and Sean Burke (9-7) pitched five innings of relief, allowing one unearned run on four hits. Vargas finished with two hits and two runs as the White Sox extended their American League Central lead to 1 1/2 games over the Guardians.
Pinch hitter David Fry hit a two-run shot for the Guardians. Gavin Williams (13-8) allowed two runs on four hits over five-plus innings.
Padres 8, Rockies 7
Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. homered as surging San Diego won its eighth game in a row, defeating Colorado in Denver.
Ty France and Jackson Merrill had three hits each, Jake Cronenworth finished with two hits and Mason Miller earned his 37th save for the Padres, who moved within a game of the Philadelphia Phillies for the second NL wild card.
Cole Carrigg homered among his two hits and Hunter Goodman also had two hits before leaving the game in the seventh inning with right thumb soreness for the Rockies, who have lost eight straight.
Tigers 6, Blue Jays 5
Zach McKinstry scored the go-ahead run from second base on a ninth-inning error as visiting Detroit defeated Toronto.
McKinstry reached on a fielder’s choice, then stole second and later scored when Toronto closer Louis Varland (5-6) could not handle Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s long throw. Tigers reliever Tyler Kinley (7-5) pitched a perfect eighth inning, and Kenley Jansen tossed a scoreless bottom of the ninth for his 20th save.
Kazuma Okamoto hit a three-run homer for the Blue Jays, who remained one game behind the Guardians in the race for the third AL wild card. Jose Soriano allowed four runs on five hits in 6 1/3 innings.
Cardinals 2, Giants 1
Quinn Mathews pitched 6 2/3 effective innings and another St. Louis rookie, catcher Leo Bernal, contributed three hits and an RBI in a victory against San Francisco.
Alec Burleson added a go-ahead single in the fifth, and the Cardinals’ bullpen pitched out of jams in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings to help St. Louis win for the third time in four games. Mathews allowed a run and four hits while striking out a season-best eight.
The Giants, who went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position, have dropped four in a row. Landen Roupp (9-14) allowed two runs on five hits over 4 1/3 innings.
Angels 6, Mariners 4
Reid Detmers allowed three runs and struck out eight over six innings and Jose Siri went 3-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and two runs as Los Angeles snapped a three-game losing streak with a victory over Seattle in Anaheim, Calif.
Detmers (6-8) gave up seven hits and walked one en route to his seventh straight quality start. Zach Neto tripled, singled, scored twice and had an RBI and Denzer Guzman hit a two-run single for the Angels. Ben Joyce pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up his team-leading fifth save.
Cal Raleigh hit a three-run home run, J.P. Crawford homered among his two hits and Randy Arozarena had a double and a single for Seattle, which guaranteed itself a non-winning season with the loss. Seattle rookie Kade Anderson (1-2) permitted five runs on seven hits in 4 1/3 innings.
Diamondbacks 8, Marlins 7
Corbin Carroll hit a two-run walk-off homer with one out in the ninth inning for Arizona, which overcame two three-run deficits to beat Miami in Phoenix.
The D-backs remained 2 1/2 games behind the San Diego Padres for the third and final National League wild-card spot. Lars Nootbaar homered among his three hits and Carroll added a run-scoring single for Arizona. Jordan Lawlar had two hits.
Javier Sanoja and Jakob Marsee hit back-to-back homers in the fourth inning and combined for five hits and four RBIs for the Marlins. Xavier Edwards had two hits and an RBI for the Marlins, who had won two in a row. Miami starter Sandy Alcantara gave up four runs on seven hits in five innings.