Atlanta Braves clinch N.L. East; N.Y. Yankees claim A.L. wild card spot

The Atlanta Braves capped a most surprising season by clinching their first N.L. East crown since 2013, with Mike Foltynewicz taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning Saturday in a 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in Atlanta.

A year after going 70-92, manager Brian Snitker and his Baby Braves surged back into the playoffs. A loud crowd at SunTrust Park joined the celebration as star Freddie Freeman, rookie Ronald Acuna Jr. and the rest of the Braves reveled.

Atlanta makes its first postseason appearance since 2013 on Oct. 4 in the N.L. Division Series. It has not yet been determined who or where the youth-filled club will play in the best-of-five round.

The Braves won their fourth straight game and beat second-place Philadelphia for the third day in a row. The Phillies, who led the division in early August, faded while going 6-14 this month.

Foltynewicz tipped his cap to a standing ovation as he left with runners on first and second in the eighth with a 4-0 lead.

Arodys Vizcaino, in his first save situation since June 17, closed out the ninth for his 16th save in 18 chances.

Yankees 3, Orioles 2 (11): Aaron Hicks doubled home the winning run in the 11th inning, and New York clinched an A.L. wild card spot, defeating Baltimore in New York.

Rookie manager Aaron Boone will lead the Yankees into the winner-take-all Oct. 3 wild-card game, most likely against Oakland.

Hicks and Luke Voit homered in the second inning, but the Orioles tied the score with runs in the third and the fifth off Lance Lynn.

The Yankees finally broke through after Didi Gregorius singled off Paul Fry (0-1) starting the 11th.

Giancarlo Stanton struck out. Hicks fouled a pitch off his left foot, then took a ball. He lined a low, inside slider down the left-field line, and Gregorius sped home, sliding in headfirst ahead of shortstop Jonathan Villar’s relay throw. Gregorius spread his arms wide, and the Yankees poured out of the dugout to celebrate.

Cubs 8, White Sox 3: Javier Baez homered and the visiting Cubs took advantage of a huge mistake by Ryan LaMarre to move 2 1/2 games ahead of second-place Milwaukee in the N.L. Central. LaMarre allowed Daniel Murphy’s fifth-inning drive to left to sail over him for an RBI double, and Ben Zobrist followed with a two-run single. The Cubs’ Jon Lester (17-6) labored through five innings to move into a tie with Washington ace Max Scherzer for the N.L. lead in wins. The left-hander allowed three runs, two earned, and eight hits in his second straight victory.

Pirates 3, Brewers 0: Trevor Williams (14-9) combined with three relievers on a five-hitter, cutting visiting Milwaukee’s wild-card lead to two games over St. Louis. Pittsburgh’s 16 shutouts are one behind Detroit, the major league leader.

Dodgers 7, Padres 2: Manny Machado hit a three-run homer on his bobblehead night to highlight a five-run third inning, and Los Angeles maintained a 1 1/2 -game lead over second-place Colorado in the N.L. West, defeating San Diego in Los Angeles.

Yasmani Grandal and Joc Pederson also homered to back Rich Hill (10-5), who allowed one run and four hits in seven innings and improved to 8-1 since the All-Star break. Hill is the only Dodgers pitcher with as many as 10 wins this season.

Cardinals 5, Giants 4: Tyler O’Neill hit a solo home run off Mark Melancon with two outs in the 10th inning, and host St. Louis remained 1 1/2 games ahead of Colorado for the second N.L. wild-card spot. Yadier Molina also homered for St. Louis, which won for the fifth time in six games.

Rockies 5, Diamondbacks 1: Antonio Senzatela allowed three hits in seven innings for Colorado and the Rockies defeated Arizona in Phoenix. Patrick Corbin allowed four runs, five hits and four walks in a season-low three innings.

Astros 10, Angels 5: Jose Altuve capped a nine-run eighth with a two-run homer as Houston overcame a 5-1 deficit to defeat Los Angeles in Houston. The A.L. West-leading Astros remain 3 1/2 games ahead of Oakland.

Athletics 3, Twins 2: Stephen Piscotty doubled leading off the ninth and scored on a wild pitch by Trevor Hildenberger as Oakland cut its magic number to one for a wild-card berth with its second straight walk-off win over Minnesota in Oakland, California. Marcus Semien homered for Oakland, which opened a 7 1/2-game lead over Tampa Bay for the A.L.’s second wild card.

Mariners 13, Rangers 0: Robinson Cano hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in the fifth off Mike Minor, and Marco Gonzales (GU) allowed one hit over six innings as Seattle routed Texas at Arlington, Texas.

Cano, who added an RBI double and had three hits, has nine homers – five since returning from an 80-game drug suspension Aug. 14.

Dee Gordon connected for his third homer, a two-run shot in the eighth off Bartolo Colon in the 45-year-old’s fourth relief appearance.

Indians 5, Red Sox 4: Michael Brantley singled in the winning run in the 11th inning off Drew Pomeranz, delaying visiting Boston’s bid for a club record 106th victory and home-field advantage throughout the postseason. Tyler Olson (University High, GU) pitched two scoreless innings for the win.

Indians starter Mike Clevinger struck out six in five innings and raised his total to 202, making the Indians the first team in major league history to have four pitchers reach 200 in the same season. Carlos Carrasco (217), Trevor Bauer (215) and Corey Kluber (205) are the others.

Tigers 5, Royals 4: Mikie Mahtook hit a two-run homer in the eighth, and Detroit was a winner in Victor Martinez’s final major league game, defeating visiting Kansas City. With the score tied at 3, Niko Goodrum led off the eighth with his third hit of the game, a single off Jason Hammel (3-14). Mahtook then lined Hammel’s 1-0 slider over the left-field fence. The 39-year-old Martinez, who made his debut with Cleveland in 2002, hit an infield single in his first at-bat and was removed for pinch-runner Ronny Rodriguez. Fellow Venezuelans Salvador Perez and Alcides Escobar came out of the Royals’ dugout to embrace the five-time All-Star as he walked off the field to a standing ovation.

Marlins 5, Reds 1: Austin Dean homered and drove in three runs, and five pitchers combined on a six-hitter in a matchup of last-place teams in Miami.

Nationals 6, Mets 0: Rookie Austin Voth and four relievers combined on a one-hitter and Washington posted the shutout of visiting New York just a few hours after being officially eliminated from playoff contention.

Voth, making his second major league start, allowed only an infield single to Michael Conforto leading off the fourth inning. Voth struck out five with two walks in five innings.

Blue Jays 5, Rays 2: Rookie left-hander Thomas Pannone pitched 6 2/3 innings to win his third straight start, Rowdy Tellez homered and drove in three and Toronto dealt another blow to visiting Tampa Bay’s faint playoff hopes.

Tellez singled in the second, hit a two-run homer in the fourth, and added an insurance run with an RBI double in the eighth.