NEW YORK -- Center fielder Ender Inciarte robbed Yoenis Cespedes of a game-winning home run for the final out, and the New York Mets were handed another costly defeat by last-place Atlanta when the Braves rallied for a 4-3 victory Wednesday night.
With two runners on in the bottom of the ninth inning, Cespedes launched a drive to deep right-center. Inciarte raced a long way to the wall and timed his jump perfectly, catching the ball just above the orange line atop the fence.
He held up his glove in excitement as Cespedes turned and walked slowly off the field. Some fans in the stunned crowd of 32,187 at Citi Field still had their hands on their heads as they filed up the aisles toward the exits.
New York remained tied with St. Louis in the NL wild-card race, a half-game behind the Giants pending San Francisco's late game at Dodger Stadium. The teams began the day in a three-way tie for the league's final two playoff spots.
Bartolo Colon and Jeurys Familia failed to protect a three-run lead for the Mets in a late-season thriller. An error by normally sure-handed first baseman James Loney helped Atlanta tie the game with an unearned run in the eighth.
Inciarte had an RBI groundout against Familia (3-4) in the top of the ninth, sending the feisty Braves to their fifth consecutive victory. They completed their second consecutive three-game sweep at Citi Field, including one in June.
Ian Krol (2-0) struck out pinch-hitter Kevin Plawecki with the bases loaded to end the eighth -- moments after Cespedes nearly put New York ahead. His high fly to deep left field was knocked down by a leaping Matt Kemp at the top of the fence, with the ball glancing off Kemp's glove and dropping to the ground for a double.
ROCKIES 11, CARDINALS 1 Nolan Arenado hit a grand slam, German Marquez pitched five solid innings for his first major league victory and Colorado slowed visiting St. Louis' playoff chase.
NATIONALS 8, MARLINS 3 Max Scherzer pitched 62/3 innings to tie for the National League victory lead with 18, helping Washington beat host Miami.
CUBS 9, REDS 2 John Lackey pitched seven solid innings for his first victory in six weeks and Miguel Montero drove in three runs, helping Chicago sweep visiting Cincinnati.
PIRATES 4, BREWERS 1 Sean Rodriguez hit a home run and a two-run single, rookie Chad Kuhl pitched six strong innings and Pittsburgh beat host Milwaukee.
DIAMONDBACKS 3, PADRES 2 Paul Goldschmidt homered twice, including a go-ahead, two-run shot in the sixth inning, and Zack Greinke pitched six strong innings to lead visiting Arizona to a victory over San Diego.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
RED SOX 5, ORIOLES 1 Boston scored five unearned runs in the sixth inning after first baseman Chris Davis' throwing error and beat host Baltimore to pad its AL East lead.
YANKEES 11, RAYS 5 Rookie Gary Sanchez hit two more home runs and drove in five runs as visiting New York beat Tampa Bay.
MARINERS 2, BLUE JAYS 1 (12) Robinson Cano drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the 12th inning and host Seattle beat Toronto.
INDIANS 4, ROYALS 3 Corey Kluber allowed 2 runs and struck out 9 in 61/3 innings, and Cleveland beat visiting Kansas City.
ANGELS 5, RANGERS 4 Mike Trout hit his 28th home run and Jered Weaver went six innings, helping Los Angeles beat host Texas.
ASTROS 6, ATHLETICS 5 Evan Gattis homered twice, catcher Jason Castro threw out a runner to end the game and visiting Houston beat Oakland.
INTERLEAGUE
PHILLIES 8, WHITE SOX 3 Tommy Joseph homered, doubled and drove in three runs as host Philadelphia beat Chicago.
Sports on 09/22/2016