MILWAUKEE — Pinch-hitter Tommy La Stella drew a bases-loaded walk off All-Star closer Corey Knebel with one out in the 10th inning, helping the Chicago Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-4 on Friday night to tighten their grip on the NL Central.
The Cubs hold a five-game lead with nine days left in the regular season after winning their second straight tense game over the Brewers. Milwaukee dropped into third in the division, 5½ games behind Chicago, after St. Louis beat Pittsburgh.
The Brewers had the tying run at first with one out in the bottom of the 10th, but Eric Sogard was called out at second trying to advance on a ball in the dirt. Shortstop Addison Russell appeared to hold the tag as Sogard’s foot lifted off second for a split-second, and the call was confirmed on review.
Knebel (1-4) took the loss after allowing three walks and two hits over two innings. Carl Edwards Jr. (5-4) got the win with 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.
CARDINALS 4, PIRATES 3 Randal Grichuk scored after an error by shortstop Jordy Mercer, capping a frantic ninth-rally that lifted surging St. Louis over Pittsburgh. The playoff-chasing Cardinals won their fourth straight, despite trailing by a run entering the ninth. Stephen Piscotty led off with a double to right against closer Felipe Rivero (5-3), and Jedd Gyorko followed with a pinch-hit RBI single. After Tommy Pham’s single, Grichuk pinch-ran for Gyorko at third. He scored when Mercer misplayed Dexter Fowler’s sharp groundball. Former Pirates reliever Juan Nicasio (4-5) got the win after working the eighth and ninth. Fowler and Piscotty had two hits each.
METS 7, NATIONALS 6 Travis d’Arnaud hit two home runs and New York ended a three-game skid, rallying past a watered-down Washington lineup. Nationals manager Dusty Baker said he needed to “give my big boys much needed rest” with the playoffs nearing, and not a single regular started for the NL East champions.
BRAVES 7, PHILLIES 2 Kurt Suzuki homered twice, Nick Markakis drove in three runs and Atlanta beat Philadelphia. Sean Newcomb (4-8) won his second straight start, allowing two runs in 5 1/3 innings. Atlanta scored five runs in the first off Ben Lively (3-7) on Ozzie Albies’ RBI single, Markakis’ two-run single and Suzuki’s two-run homer.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
BLUE JAYS 8, YANKEES 1 Ryan Goins successfully pulled off a hidden-ball trick and hit his second career grand slam, leading Toronto over Masahiro Tanaka (12-12) and ensuring New York had to wait at least one more day to clinch a playoff berth.
MARINERS 3, INDIANS 1 Nelson Cruz hit a game-ending two-run homer in the ninth inning, lifting the Seattle Mariners over the Cleveland Indians. Cruz lined a 2-1 pitch from closer Cody Allen (3-7) out to deep right-center field, snapping Seattle’s six-game skid and improving its very slim wild-card hopes. The Mariners are five games behind Minnesota for the last AL playoff spot with eight games remaining.
ATHLETICS 4, RANGERS 1 Rookie Matt Olson hit his sixth home run in seven games, a second-inning drive off Nick Martinez that helped the Oakland Athletics beat Texas and damage the Rangers’ playoff hopes. Olson homered following a leadoff walk to Khris Davis, his 13th home run in September and his 16th in his last 23 games. Texas, which had won four straight, dropped 3½ games behind Minnesota for the second AL wild card.
ASTROS 3, ANGELS 0 Justin Verlander pitched one-hit ball over seven innings to remain perfect with Houston and Yuli Gurriel hit a three-run homer to propel the Astros. Verlander (14-8) walked two and struck out six to improve to 4-0 since being traded from Detroit on Aug. 31. Gurriel connected off Yusmeiro Petit (5-2) on his 18th home run to give Houston a 3-0 lead in the seventh.
TWINS 7, TIGERS 3 Max Kepler and Brian Dozier homered, Byron Buxton had three hits and playoff-chasing Minnesota beat Detroit. Buxton’s two-run double in the fourth put the Twins ahead to stay against a Detroit team that announced before the game that manager Brad Ausmus will not be back in 2018. Minnesota came into the night leading the race for the American League’s second wild card by 2½ games over Texas and the Los Angeles Angels.
WHITE SOX 7, ROYALS 6 Matt Davidson drove in three runs with his 26th homer and a double, Yoan Moncada hit a two-run drive and Chicago overcame a four-run deficit to beat Kansas City. The Royals dropped 4½ games behind Minnesota for the second AL wild card with nine games left.
RAYS 8, ORIOLES 3 Wilson Ramos hit his third career grand slam, Evan Longoria also went deep and Tampa Bay throttled Ubaldo Jimenez and Baltimore. Alex Cobb (12-10) earned his career-high 12th win for the Rays, who interrupted a 4-9 slide and kept alive their slim playoff hopes. Jimenez (6-11) gave up six runs and eight hits in three innings.
INTERLEAGUE
RED SOX 5, REDS 4 Rafael Devers hit a three-run homer and Boston extended its AL East lead to four games by overcoming Scooter Gennett’s fourth grand slam of the season. Boston added to its lead with the help of the Yankees’ loss at Toronto.