And That Happened

Tigers 6, Royals 3: Before the season began I said something to the effect of “if I had to bet the lives of my children on the outcome of any division, it would be the Tigers winning the AL Central.” I repeated that line on the radio a bunch of times.  I was sweating it until game 160, but Mookie and Carlo: you’re safe now. Daddy won’t have to give you to the evil gamblers.

White Sox 11, Indians 0: I imagine the beating that Chicago administered to Cleveland felt good for a while, but the Tigers win over the Royals sealed their fate. Hector Santiago shut out the Tribe for seven and Dayan Viciedo drove in five, but it’s all over now, baby blue.

Pirates 2, Braves 1; Phillies 2, Nationals 0: That’s about as happy as you’ll ever see a team after they get shut out. The Nats don’t care, they still won the division. And they partied like rock stars, too. In some way this is the best reasonable outcome for Atlanta. The Braves’ chance at winning the East was tiny, and by losing on Monday instead of, say, Wednesday, they can be sure to rest the pen and whoever else needs it for the Wild Card game on Friday.

Athletics 4, Rangers 3: The A’s clinch a playoff spot and with that eliminate the Rays and Angels. Oh, and they move to within one game of the Rangers for the AL West. Because they’re already going to the playoffs, no one seems to be talking about The Rangers woofing the division away. They’ve been in first place since April 9, and had a lead in the division as big as six games as late as Aug. 23.

Yankees 10, Red Sox 2; Rays 5, Orioles 3: Baltimore falls a game back after getting beaten by the surging yet, unfortunately for them, now-dead Rays. Meanwhile, the Yankees beat the walking dead Red Sox who possibly had two major leaguers in that lineup last night. In other news, Fernando Rodney was a bit shaky, but he got out of trouble to get his 47th save in 39 chances and lowered his ERA to 0.61. Which is nutzoid.

Cardinals 4, Reds 2: Dodgers 3, Giants 2: The Cardinals clinch at least a tie for the second Wild Card. They’re winners of 11 of their last 14. Meanwhile, the Dodgers do what they can to stay alive, winning their sixth straight. They need to make it eight, however, and hope for two straight Cardinals losses in order to force a tie for the Wild Card. Elian Herrera hit a walkoff single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth.

Angels 8, Mariners 4: The A’s win eliminates the Angels, so Mike Trout’s 4 for 5, double, triple and three RBI apparently means nothing now. At least that’s what people tell me.

Marlins 3, Mets 2: The Mets went up 2-0, but Giancarlo Stanton started the comeback with a homer and his mates completed it. Easy to forget in the hot mess that is the end of the Marlins season, but a 22 year-old just hit his 37th homer.

Blue Jays 6, Twins 5: In May, extra innings between teams like this is referred to as “free baseball.” On Oct. 1, it’s referred to as “excessive.” Anthony Gose singled home the winning run in the 10th inning in front of the smallest Rogers Centre crowd of the season.

Astros 3, Cubs 0: Welcome to the 100-loss club for the first time since 1966, Chicago!

Brewers 5, Padres 3: Ryan Braun doubled and went 2 for 4. A couple of big games and I think it’s still possible for him to finish with an OPS over 1.000. Which would be handy for those who want to argue about how boned he was in the MVP voting this year.

Rockies 7, Diamondbacks 5: Even more free baseball. This one went to the 13th tied at three. Colorado scored four in the top of the 13th, Arizona scored two and that was that. The Rockies’ win ensures that they won’t lose 100. Which is something, I guess.