CINCINNATI -- Austin Jackson hit a three-run homer, Anthony Rizzo added an RBI double and the Chicago Cubs kept alive their slim hopes for home-field advantage in the wild-card game with a 5-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday.
Chris Denorfia also drove in a run and the Cubs overcame two errors to move within two games of idle Pittsburgh in the race for home field in Wednesday's NL wild-card playoff game. Both teams have three to play -- Chicago in Milwaukee and the Pirates against the Reds in Pittsburgh.
Joey Votto's seventh-inning RBI single extended to 47 his streak of consecutive games in which he's reached base at least once, the longest since Kevin Millar's 52-game stretch in 2007. Votto's streak is second-longest in Cincinnati franchise history to Pete Rose's 48-game stretch in 1978, when he tied the NL record with a 44-game hitting streak.
The Reds finished 0-7 on their last home stand of the season.
Dodgers 3, Giants 2
SAN FRANCISCO -- Brett Anderson pitched two-hit ball into the eighth in his final regular-season start, and the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers wrapped up their road schedule with a victory over the San Francisco Giants.
Anderson (10-9) retired 14 straight batters following Kevin Frandsen's one-out single in the third before Jarrett Parker singled to start the eighth. The lefty made his 31st start for a career high, topping his 30 outings in 2009 as a rookie with Oakland. Healthy for the season again, he also reached a high for innings with 180 1-3.
Just three balls left the infield against Anderson and no San Francisco runner reached second base until an eighth-inning throwing error by second baseman Howie Kendrick. Anderson gave up four hits, struck out three and didn't walk a batter in 7 2-3 innings.
Tim Hudson (8-9) allowed three runs and three hits in 2 1-3 innings in the final start of his 17-year big league career.
Phillies 3, Mets 0
PHILADELPHIA -- Jerad Eickhoff struck out 10 in seven dominant innings, Darin Ruf hit a two-run homer and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the NL East champion New York Mets to complete a three-game sweep.
The Mets are tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for home-field advantage in the division series, which begins Oct. 9. Los Angeles beat San Francisco 3-2 later Thursday. New York holds the tiebreaker.
The Phillies lost 14 of 16 to the Mets before sweeping them in a three-game series for the first time since April 26-28, 2013, at Citi Field. Philadelphia needs to win one of its last three games against Miami to avoid losing 100 games for the first time since 1961.
Astros 7, Mariners 6
SEATTLE -- Colby Rasmus' broken-bat RBI single capped Houston's rally from a three-run deficit, and the Astros retook the lead in the race for the second AL wild-card spot by beating Seattle Wednesday night..
A day after being passed by the Angels, the Astros moved back in front of Los Angeles, which lost at home to Oakland. The Astros are a half-game ahead going into their final series of the season beginning today in Arizona.
Luke Gregerson got his 31st save, capped when center fielder Carlos Gomez caught a line drive by Franklin Gutierrez and doubled pinch-runner James Jones off first base to end the game.
Twins 7, Indians 1
Indians 10, Twins 2
CLEVELAND -- Cody Anderson pitched seven shutout innings and Jose Ramirez hit a three-run homer in Game 2, but the Indians were still eliminated from postseason contention after splitting a doubleheader with Minnesota.
The Twins won the first game and are 1 1/2 games behind Houston for the second AL wild card.
Anderson (7-3) held the Twins to two hits and won his fifth straight start.
Athletics 8, Angels 7
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Stephen Vogt hit a tiebreaking, two-run single during Oakland's four-run rally in the seventh inning, and the Athletics hung on to stop Los Angeles' seven-game winning streak.
Sean Doolittle got pinch-hitter Collin Cowgill to ground out with Mike Trout on third base to end it, completing a five-out save in a wild regular-season home finale for the Angels (83-75).
Eric Sogard had an early three-run double for the last-place A's, whose second win in 11 games further complicated the AL playoff race.
One day after the Angels completed a two-month chase by passing Houston for the second wild-card spot, Los Angeles committed four errors and gave up seven unearned runs while dropping back into a tie with the Astros, who played at Seattle later.
Rangers 6, Tigers 2
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Adrian Beltre hit the first of three Texas home runs as the AL West leaders moved closer to a postseason berth by beating Detroit.
Robinson Chirinos and Mike Napoli also homered for the Rangers.
Yovani Gallardo (13-11) won despite giving up nine hits in 5 1-3 innings. Matt Boyd (1-6) allowed all three homers in 2 2-3 innings.
Sports on 10/02/2015