Stephen Piscotty’s alert baserunning helped the Oakland Athletics inch closer to their first playoff berth in four years.
Piscotty doubled leading off the ninth inning and scored the winning run on Trevor Hildenberger’s bases-loaded wild pitch with two outs. The A’s cut their magic number to clinch a spot in the post-season to one with their second straight walk-off win over the Minnesota Twins, 3-2 on Saturday.
Marcus Semien homered for Oakland, who opened a 7.5-game lead over Tampa Bay for the American League’s second wild card. The A’s trailed AL West-leading Houston by 3.5 games and were 1.5 games behind the New York Yankees, who clinched the first wild card earlier on Saturday with a 3-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles.
Photo: AFP
It’s the first time the A’s have won on a wild pitch in their final at-bat since April 26, 1997.
“It was a different route this time to score that run, but we put pressure on them,” Semien said. “We’ve got 94 wins. Nobody expected that, but now that we’re here we have to play well.”
Elsewhere, the Atlanta Braves capped a surprising season by clinching their first National League East crown since 2013, with Mike Foltynewicz taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning in a 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Braves won their 18th division title, tying the New York Yankees for the most in the majors since division play began in 1969.
In other games, it was:
‧ Blue Jays 5, Rays 2
‧ Cubs 8, White Sox 3
‧ Pirates 3, Brewers 0
‧ Cardinals 5, Giants 4
‧ Dodgers 7, Padres 2
‧ Astros 10, Angels 5
‧ Mariners 13, Rangers 0
‧ Indians 5, Red Sox 4
‧ Nationals 6, Mets 0
‧ Tigers 5, Royals 4
‧ Diamondbacks 1, Rockies 5
‧ Marlins 5, Reds 1
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