PHILADELPHIA — Bryce Harper and Edmundo Sosa homered, and Zack Wheeler delivered like a Game 7 ace to bring the Philadelphia Phillies back from the brink of collapse and send them into the playoffs with a 7-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday that clinched the final National League wild-card berth.
Jhoan Duran struck out Nick Fortes to end it. The Phillies will play Game 1 in a best-of-three Wild Card Series on Tuesday in Atlanta.
The AL East champion Rays earned a post-season bye last week and will play the winner of the Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees series beginning Saturday. Jonny DeLuca homered twice for the Rays.
The Phillies could have clinched a playoff berth as early as Wednesday before they lost four straight games and nearly coughed up their wild-card lead to Arizona.
Bryson Stott had an RBI double in the first inning off Rays starter Nick Martinez (15-6) that seemed to ease some pressure off the Phillies.
J.T Realmuto snapped an 0-for-34 skid in the second with an RBI double and Kyle Schwarber ripped a two-run double and belly-flopped into second base. That made it 4-0 and got a rise out of the crowd on a rainy day at the ballpark.
Harper hit a solo shot and Sosa added a two-run drive in the fifth for a 7-1 lead. The Phillies had 12 hits.
NATIONALS 6, METS 4
WASHINGTON — Andrés Chaparro homered twice and Washington defeated New York in the season finale for both teams.
Francisco Lindor hit his 300th career home run, Ronny Mauricio went deep for the third time in two days and rookie Carson Benge had three hits for his 45th multihit game and 14th with three or more for New York.
The Mets, who opened the season with a major league-record $358.4 million payroll, slid nine games from last year to 74-88 — their worst mark since going 70-92 in 2017. They finished last in the NL East for the first time since 2003.
New York was 34-47 under manager Carlos Mendoza, who was fired June 26, and 40-41 under Andy Green. The Mets lifted Green’s interim tag Tuesday and gave him a three-year contract through 2029.
The Nationals improved 11 games to 77-85 in manager Blake Butera’s first season. They finished fourth in the NL East while recording their seventh consecutive losing season since winning the 2019 World Series.
Chaparro led off the third and fifth innings with home runs against Mets starter Sean Manaea (6-8). It was Chaparro’s second career multihomer game and first since July 17.
After waiting out an hour-long rain delay at the start, New York built a 4-1 lead with the help of Mauricio and Lindor’s back-to-back home runs in the second. Lindor had not homered since Sept. 12.
ROYALS 3, GUARDIANS 2
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Vinnie Pasquantino homered twice and Kansas City snapped a three-game skid with a victory over Cleveland.
Pasquantino hit solo homers in the fifth and eighth innings off Austin Peterson (0-1), who was recalled from Triple-A Columbus before the game.
The Royals (69-93) won for just the seventh time in September, finishing last in the AL Central with 13 fewer wins than last season’s third-place finish (82-80).
Nate Peterson (3-4) recorded two outs in the eighth and Lucas Erceg struck out one and earned his 13th save.
Salvador Perez’s RBI single put the Royals ahead in the first inning. Kansas City scored a first-inning run in seven of their final 10 games.
Cleveland’s Daniel Schneeman hit his seventh home run leading off the third inning, tying the game 1-all.
Pasquantino hit a solo homer, his 16th, 434 feet to center with two out in the fifth. Then, Jo Adell tied the game at 2 with a 440-foot home run in the sixth, his 23rd.
WHITE SOX 4, ROCKIES 2
CHICAGO — Randal Grichuk and Brenton Doyle homered in Chicago’s four-run third inning, powering the playoff-bound White Sox over Colorado.
The White Sox, locked into the final AL Wild Card slot, finished at 84-78 and one game behind division champion Cleveland in the AL Central. They’ll open a three-game series Tuesday at the AL West winner, Houston or Texas.
Chicago managed a 24-win improvement over 2025 when it was last in the AL at 60-102, becoming the first team to qualify for the post-season after consecutive 100-loss seasons. Chicago’s 84 wins set a record for a team that had lost 100 or more games in three previous seasons.
Cole Carrigg hit a solo shot for the Rockies, who lost 18 of their last 22 and finished 58-104, worst in the majors for a second straight season. Colorado was 43-119 in 2025, setting a franchise record for losses.
Colorado became the first team with four straight 100-loss seasons since the 1962-65 New York Mets
PIRATES 4, TIGERS 2
DETROIT — Konnor Griffin homered and Pittsburgh recorded its first winning season in eight years with a victory over Detroit.
Pittsburgh (82-80), which improved by 11 wins over 2025, hadn’t finished with a record over .500 since going 82-79 in 2018.
Detroit, which made the post-season the previous two years, finished 76-86, an 11-win drop from 2025.
Griffin led off the game against River Ryan (0-1) with his sixth homer, and the Pirates doubled the lead in the second on an RBI single by Jake Mangum. Pittsburgh had the bases loaded with one out later in the inning, but Beau Brieske came out of the bullpen to get Griffin to hit into an inning-ending double play.
Pittsburgh increased the lead to 4-0 with a pair of runs in the fourth. Billy Cook’s two-out double brought home Nick Gonzales, and Griffin followed with an RBI single.
BREWERS 6, CARDINALS 4
MILWAUKEE — Jacob Misiorowski allowed two hits in 5 1/3 shutout innings to cap his brilliant season as the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 6-4 on Sunday.
The Brewers improved to 103-59 and closed the regular season with five straight victories, matching their longest streak of the season. The Brewers’ 103 wins broke the franchise record they had set a year earlier when they went 97-65.
Milwaukee has home-field advantage throughout the post-season as it gears up for its eighth playoff appearance in nine years.
St. Louis closed a fourth straight non-playoff season with a 77-85 record, one game worse than the Cardinals’ finish last year.
Misiorowski (16-5) struck out five and walked two while improving his ERA to 1.80, the best in the majors. Misiorowski also has an MLB-leading 252 strikeouts.
TWINS 6, RANGERS 4
MINNEAPOLIS — Texas was eliminated from post-season contention on the final day of the regular season with a loss to Minnesota, who got a home run and three RBIs from Josh Bell to back Dean Kremer’s seven innings of one-run pitching.
Texas (80-82) needed a win and a Houston loss to the Athletics. Houston (80-81), which held the division tiebreaker, was leading 8-0 in the eighth inning when the Rangers game ended.
Minnesota finished 77-85, a seven-win improvement in manager Derek Shelton’s first season.
Kremer (5-5) gave up three hits, retiring 15 of his last 16 hitters. He went 4-1 with a 3.48 ERA in 10 starts after the Twins acquired him from Baltimore on Aug. 1.
Bell’s first-inning sacrifice fly was offset by Danny Jansen’s third-inning solo homer for the Rangers. Bell put the Twins ahead for good at 3-1 with a two-run homer off reliever Chase Silseth (0-2).
MARLINS 5, BRAVES 3
MIAMI — Major league-innings leader Sandy Alcantara got his third save, Heriberto Hernández and Griffin Conine homered and Miami beat the the playoff-bound Atlanta.
Alcantara worked around an error in a hitless ninth to remain perfect in three save chances. The Marlins ace finished 13-11 with a 3.87 ERA in 33 starts and three relief appearances.
NL East champion Atlanta, which hosts Philadelphia in a best-of-three Wild Card Series starting Tuesday, finished 94-68 for an 18-win improvement over last year’s fourth-place finish.
Miami improved by one win to 80-82 but finished with its third straight losing season and 15th in 17 years.
Braves slugger Matt Olson and infielder Ozzie Albies played in every game this season. Olson has not missed a game with Atlanta since he joined the club in 2022 and his consecutive games streak of 944 began on May 2, 2021, while with the Oakland Athletics.
BLUE JAYS 5, REDS 1
TORONTO — Max Scherzer struck out seven over seven-plus innings for his 225th career win, Brandon Valenzuela and Charles McAdoo homered and Toronto beat Cincinnati.
A two-time World Series champion and three-time Cy Young Award winner, Scherzer (4-9) boosted his career strikeout total to 3,557. That’s the ninth-highest mark in big league history — three behind former teammate Justin Verlander, who made the final start of his decorated career Saturday.
One year after going 94-68 to win the AL East, the Blue Jays finished 79-83.
The Reds won the final NL wild-card spot in 2025 with an 83-79 record. They went 75-87 in 2026.
Scherzer allowed one run, six hits and a walk. He threw a season-high 114 pitches, 77 strikes.
Scherzer, who turned 42 in July, started on short rest after throwing 93 pitches in five innings at Baltimore last Wednesday.
The sellout crowd of 42,131 rose for a standing ovation when Scherzer took the mound alone before the game. Scherzer stepped off and saluted the crowd with a wave.
CUBS 6, RED SOX 2
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Alex Bregman went 4 for 4 with two home runs and four RBIs in his second game back from a frightening injury, and Chicago beat Boston.
Chicago is the No. 5 seed in the National League playoffs and will play a best-of-three Wild Card Series at fourth-seeded San Diego beginning Tuesday night.
Boston is the No. 5 seed in the American League playoffs and will travel to New York to open its Wild Card Series the same night against the rival Yankees.
Major League Baseball moved the Cubs-Red Sox season finale to Florida because of a weekend nor’easter that was expected to batter the Boston area into Monday. Ahead of the storm, the Red Sox swept a doubleheader from the Cubs on Friday at Fenway Park.
Bregman went 0 for 4 with a strikeout at designated hitter in the opener — five days after sustaining facial fractures when he was struck in the face by a foul ball while standing in the on-deck circle.
DODGERS 5, GIANTS 1, 10 INNINGS
SAN FRANCISCO — Alex Call hit a run-scoring double with two outs in the 10th inning and Andy Pages added a three-run homer as Los Angeles ended their season with their 100th victory, a decision over San Francisco that completed a three-game sweep.
Call’s double to left-center came off Duncan Davitt (0-1) and scored the placed runner, Miguel Rojas. After an intentional walk to Max Muncy, Pages took Davitt deep to left for his 23rd home run of the season.
Alex Vesia (3-1) was one of seven L.A. pitchers who combined for 16 strikeouts. The Dodgers won the final eight meetings with the Giants this season.
The Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani went 1-for-3 as the designated hitter. After he was reinstated from the injured list (right biceps discomfort) Wednesday, Ohtani went 5-for-21 with a double, an RBI, two walks and 10 strikeouts.
The Dodgers’ 100-62 record is seven games better than their mark last year when they earned a second straight World Series title.
Los Angeles finished this season with a 49-32 road mark, the best in the majors.
ASTROS 9, ATHLETICS 0
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Houston won their fifth AL West title in six years despite finishing with the worst record for a first-place team, beating the Athletics behind Lucas Spence’s two-run triple to finish at 81-81.
Nick Allen had just doubled leading off the eighth with the Astros leading by eight runs when Texas lost at Minnesota, assuring the Astros of their ninth post-season trip in 10 years after missing out in 2025.
Houston will host the Chicago White Sox in a best-of-three Wild Card Series starting Tuesday. The Astros finished one game ahead of Texas (80-82) but would have earned the division title even with a defeat because they held the tiebreaker.
Houston had the lowest winning percentage for a team reaching the post-season in a non-shortened year, breaking the mark set when the 2005 San Diego Padres went 82-20.
Yordan Alvarez finished as the major league batting leader at .316, going 1 for 4.
The Athletics went 64-98 in their second season at a Triple-A ballpark in West Sacramento before a planned move to Las Vegas in 2028, down from 76-86 last year. They drew 10,022 for their season finale at Sutter Health Park and finished with a major league-low 799,240 home attendance, the only team not to reach 1 million.
Jose Altuve’s RBI groundout, Yainer Diaz’s run-scoring double and Spence’s two-run triple built a 4-0 lead in the third against Brady Basso (1-4), who allowed four runs and three hits in one inning.
MARINERS 7, ANGELS 3
SEATTLE — Logan Gilbert struck out eight in four no-hit innings and five Seattle pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts as Seattle beat Los Angeles.
Gilbert retired the first 12 batters he face and after walking Moises Ballesteros at the start of the fifth inning was lifted and left to a standing ovation from the Mariners fans.
The Mariners took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Weston Wilson drove in Cole Young with a grounder to third base.
Seattle scored two more runs in the third on Cal Raleigh’s RBI single off Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi, and Dominic Canzone scored on a groundout by Josh Naylor to make it 3-0.
Kikuchi (1-7) allowed three runs on six hits over five innings, with one walk and seven strikeouts.
Bryce Teodosio scored for the Angels on a sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth inning, but the Mariners responded with three in the bottom half when Young scored on an Angels throwing error and Randy Arozarena drove in two with a double to make it 6-1.
Jose Siri hit a two-run homer for the Angels in the eighth, and Leo Rivas scored for the Mariners in the bottom half on a wild pitch.
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