The New York Mets clinched the NL East title for their first post-season berth since 2006, beating Cincinnati 10-2 on Saturday behind Lucas Duda’s first career grand slam and another dominant start by Matt Harvey.
Harvey (13-7) was most appropriate to pitch the clincher, the Mets’ sixth division crown. He was the NL’s starter for the 2013 All-Star game at Citi Field, but needed Tommy John surgery and missed all of last season.
Duda sparked a warmup celebration with his first swing. His first career grand slam in the first inning off left-hander John Lamb (1-4) got thousands of blue-clad NY fans chanting: “Let’s go Mets!”
Jeurys Familia fanned Jay Bruce to end it, sending the Mets streaming into a huddle in front of the mound.
GIANTS 14, ATHLETICS 10
In Oakland, California, Rookie Jarrett Parker became the first Giants player with at least three homers and seven RBIs in a game since Willie Mays in 1961, overshadowing the shaky starts in the feel-good matchup of Tim Hudson and Barry Zito.
Parker hit a tiebreaking grand slam in the eighth for his third home run. Mays, the Hall of Famer, had four homers and eight RBIs on April 30, 1961, at Milwaukee.
Parker’s grand slam came against Ryan Dull (0-1) after a solo shot off Zito in the second and a two-run drive in the seventh.
Hardly at their old best of yesteryear when they dominated for Oakland, Hudson and Zito shared their brief moment to say goodbye to the Bay Area baseball fans in what began as a nostalgic moment and ended with Parker’s power surge.
Josh Osich (2-0) pitched two innings for the win and Santiago Casilla recorded two outs for his 36th save.
ANGELS 3, MARINERS 2
In Anaheim, California, David Freese led off the ninth inning with a homer to center, and the Los Angeles Angels kept pace in the AL wild-card race with their fourth straight victory.
Freese connected off Danny Farquhar (1-5), keeping the Angels a half-game behind Houston for the second wild-card spot.
Mike Trout made a jaw-dropping catch high above the center field wall in the fourth inning, robbing Seattle’s Jesus Montero of a three-run homer.
Angels closer Huston Street had to be helped off the field in obvious pain after finishing his follow-through on a pitch in the ninth inning. Fernando Salas (4-2) got the win.
TWINS 6, TIGERS 2
In Detroit, Eduardo Escobar homered and drove in three runs as the Minnesota Twins kept pace in the AL wild-card race by beating Detroit.
The Twins blew a late lead on Friday and, with Houston winning, remained 1.5 games short of the second wild-card spot.
Tigers general manager Al Avila announced before the game that Brad Ausmus will return as the team’s manager next year.
Rookie Tyler Duffey (5-1) allowed two runs on eight hits and one walk in six innings.
Alfredo Simon (13-11) allowed four runs on eight hits and a walk in eight innings.
YANKEES 2, WHITE SOX 1
In New York, Chase Headley and Alex Rodriguez hit consecutive run-scoring doubles off John Danks in the sixth inning, Adam Warren combined with his bullpen on a three-hitter and the New York Yankees beat the Chicago White Sox.
New York stayed four games behind AL East-leading Toronto with eight games remaining and maintained a four-game lead over Houston for the top AL wild card.
Warren (7-7) won for the first time since July 25.
In other MLB action, it was:
‧ Indians 9, Royals 5
‧ Red Sox 8, Orioles 0
‧ Cardinals 5, Brewers 1
‧ Nationals 2, Phillies 1, 12 inns
‧ Rockies 8, Dodgers 6
‧ Marlins 6, Braves 2
‧ Padres 3, Diamondbacks 0
‧ Pirates 4, Cubs 0
‧ Astros 9, Rangers 7
‧ Blue Jays 10, Rays 8
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