MILWAUKEE-Travis Shaw hit a game-winning two-run homer with one out in the 10th inning off All-Star closer Wade Davis, lifting the Milwaukee Brewers to a 4-3 win over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday.
Shaw jumped up and down near the plate as he waited for the ball to clear the left-field fence. The Brewers had lost the first two games of the pivotal series in extra innings.
Milwaukee moved back to within 4 1/2 games of NL Central-leading Chicago and 1 1/2 games back of Colorado for a wild-card spot with the Rockies playing later Saturday.
With eight days left in the regular season, the Cubs still seem to be in good shape to win a second straight division title.
But they suddenly look vulnerable in the late innings after Davis blew his first save opportunity of the year after 32 successful chances.
Brewers shortstop Orlando Arcia homered off Davis (4-2) to lead off the ninth to tie the game at 2.
The game had a playoff-like atmosphere again. Both sides have played good defense and pitched well. Boisterous Cubs fans showed up again in droves.
They were drowned out by the end of the afternoon by Brewers fans anxious to see their team make its first postseason appearance since 2011.
The Cubs had taken a 3-2 lead in the top of the 10th on Jon Jay's RBI single off Jeremy Jeffress (5-2).
Out came Davis from the dugout for the bottom of the 10th to try to close out the game again for the Cubs.
Shaw had other plans.
Ryan Braun doubled to right with one out to bring up the Brewers' RBI leader. With his helmet off as he approached the plate on his homer, Shaw was greeted by giddy teammates holding orange Gatorade buckets.
Indians 11, Mariners 4
SEATTLE-Francisco Lindor led off the game with his 33rd home run, the most by a Cleveland middle infielder, and the Indians routed the Seattle Mariners 11-4 Saturday for their 28th victory in 30 games.
Carlos Carrasco (17-6) matched teammate Cory Kluber and Boston's Chris Sale for the most wins in the AL, allowing one run and six hits in 5 2/3 innings. Yan Gomes homered twice and had four RBIs, and Jose Ramirez homered and drove in four runs.
Cleveland, which set the AL record with a 22-game winning streak this month, matched the 1884 Providence Grays for the best big league record over a 30-game span at 28-2. The Indians (97-58) lead Houston (95-59) for AL home-field advantage in the playoffs.
Seattle lost for the seventh time in eight games. The Mariners began the day five games behind Minnesota for the second AL wild card.
Lindor, a 23-year-old shortstop, homered on the eighth pitch from Andrew Moore (1-5) and surpassed the 32 home runs hit by second baseman Joe Gordon in 1948, the last year Cleveland won the World Series.
Nelson Cruz hit his 37th home run for Seattle, his fourth in four games. Mariners shortstop Jean Segura was hit in the hand by a thrown ball in the ninth and was removed.
Yankees 5, Blue Jays 1
TORONTO-The New York Yankees returned to the playoffs after a one-year absence, clinching no worse than a wild card as Greg Bird's three-run homer led them over the Toronto Blue Jays 5-1 on Saturday.
Sonny Gray (10-11) allowed one run and four hits in six innings as the Yankees won for the 11th time in 14 games and at 86-68 matched their season high of 18 games over .500.
Led by Baby Bombers Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez, New York celebrated its 53rd postseason berth in a low-key manner on the field after former-Yankee Rob Refsnyder hit a game-ending groundout off Aroldis Chapman, then sprayed bubbly in the visitors' clubhouse.
Unless New York overcomes Boston's four-game lead the AL East, the Yankees would play in the AL wild card game on Oct. 3, most likely against Minnesota. New York lost the wild card matchup to Houston 3-0 at home two years ago and has not won a postseason game since Derek Jeter broke an ankle in the 2012 AL Championship Series opener against Detroit.
Minnesota started the night with a 3-game lead over Texas for the second wild card and has been eliminated by the Yankees in four of its last five postseason appearances.
Toronto was eliminated with the loss after consecutive losses in the AL Championship Series.
Bird, who spent much of the year sidelined and hampered by a right ankle injury, connected in the fifth off Joe Biagini (3-12) for his sixth home run of the season and third in seven games. Todd Frazier, among the Yankees' July reinforcements, homered against Tim Mayza in the eighth, and Starlin Castro added an RBI single off Luis Santos in the ninth.
Red Sox 5, Reds 0
CINCINNATI-Mitch Moreland ended his long slump with a three-run homer, Eduardo Rodriguez pitched three-hit ball into the eighth inning, and the Boston Red Sox took another step toward a second straight AL East title, beating the Cincinnati Reds 5-0 on Saturday.
Boston has won 13 of 16, holding off the Yankees as it tries to win back-to-back East titles for the first time since divisional realignment in 1969. The Red Sox have their best record of the season at 90-64, reaching 90 wins for the second year in a row.
They remain four games in front of the Yankees, who beat Toronto 5-1.
Moreland was in an 0-for-19 slump when he connected off Robert Stephenson (5-6) in the sixth inning, his 20th homer of the season but only his second in September. The Red Sox are last in the AL with 160 homers.
Rodriguez (6-6) has given up two or fewer earned runs in each of his last four starts, the best stretch of his career. The left-hander gave up three singles and two walks in 7 2/3 innings, his longest outing since May 21.
The Red Sox have shutout victories in three of their last four games, including two at Baltimore. They are 7-1 on a trip that ends Sunday. Boston wraps up the regular season at Fenway Park with three games against Toronto and four against Houston.
Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi, who grew up in suburban Madeira and had hundreds of relatives and friends in the stands for the series, singled home a run in the seventh at the ballpark where he regularly attended games as a youth.
Twins 10, Tigers 3
DETROIT-Zack Granite hit his first major league home run, a three-run drive that capped an eight-run eighth inning for the Minnesota Twins in a 10-4 win over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday night.
Minnesota overcame a 3-1 seventh-inning deficit and won its third straight following a three-game sweep at the New York Yankees. The Twins began the night 3 games ahead of Texas for the second AL wild card.
Ervin Santana (16-8) allowed three runs and seven hits in seven innings, improve to 5-1 in his last 11 starts. He is one shy of his career high for wins, set in 2010.
Detroit pitcher Alex Wilson broke a leg in the eighth inning when hit by Joe Mauer's line drive.
Brian Dozier led off the game with a Little League home run, bunting to Jeimer Candelario and circling the bases when the third baseman's throw went into right field for a three-base error.
Detroit, which announced Friday that manager Brad Ausmus will not return next season, has lost six straight and allowed has allowed double-digit runs eight times in September. At 62-93, the Tigers will finish with their worst record since going 43-119 in 2003.
Daniel Stumpf (0-1) allowed three runs and three hits without retiring a batter in his first big league decision.
Mauer singled off Wilson to open the eighth, fracturing Wilson's right fibula.
Jorge Polanco greeted Stumpf with a single, and Eddie Rosario and Eduardo Escobar followed with RBI singles for a 4-3 lead. Robbie Grossman hit a two-run off Joe Jimenez, Jason Castro had an RBI groundout and Granite, who entered as a pinch runner for Mauer, went deep against Blaine Hardy in his 93rd big league plate appearance.
Grossman's RBI single in the seventh began Minnesota's comeback.
Efren Navarro hit two solo home runs for Detroit.
Braves 4, Phillies 2
ATLANTA-Pinch-hitter Johan Camargo doubled in two runs in the three-run eighth inning, Rio Ruiz homered and the Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-2 on Saturday night.
The Braves wiped out a 2-1 deficit against reliever Luis Garcia (2-5) when pinch-runner Micah Johnson replaced Matt Adams, stole second base and scored on Dansby Swanson's single. After Garcia's wild pitch moved up Swanson and Ruiz, both runners easily crossed the plate on Camargo's liner to right-center.
Atlanta closer Arodys Vizcaino struck out Aaron Altherr, Maikel Franco and J.P. Crawford in the ninth to earn his 13th save in 16 chances.
Atlanta has won three straight. The Phillies have dropped three in a row.
Garcia allowed three runs, three hits and one walk in 2/3 of an inning.
Rex Brothers (4-3) earned the win after facing four batters in the eighth. He allowed one hit.
Philadelphia led 1-0 in the first on Rhys Hoskins' RBI double. They made it 2-0 in the fifth when Franco singled and scored from third on Tyler Flowers' passed ball.
Ruiz's fourth homer, coming off Kevin Siegrist in the sixth, cut the lead to 2-1.
Braves starter Julio Teheran allowed seven hits, one walk and two runs-one earned-in seven innings. Teheran, who struck out five, has a 2.25 ERA over his last eight starts.
Pirates 11, Cardinals 6
PITTSBURGH-Lance Lynn allowed eight runs in the first inning and the St. Louis Cardinals slipped up against the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-6 on Saturday night.
St. Louis (81-73) entered the day 1 1/2 games behind Colorado, which plays San Diego on Saturday night, for the second NL wild card. The loss ended the Cardinals' four-game winning streak. St. Louis remained five games behind the Cubs in the NL Central after Chicago lost to Milwaukee, which is a half-game ahead of the Cardinals.
Lynn (11-8) got two outs before being pulled after six hits and eight runs. It was his shortest outing since Aug. 13, 2015, also at Pittsburgh.
Tommy Pham gave the Cardinals a 2-0 lead against Gerrit Cole (12-11) two batters into the game when he sent the first pitch of his at-bat over the center-field wall. Pham was 2 for 4 with three RBIs.
Then Pittsburgh got to Lynn. David Freese and Elias Dias each singled with the bases loaded before Jordy Mercer and Starling Marte each tripled to build an 8-2 lead. Marte also walked in the inning, and Adam Frazier doubled and walked in the inning.
Marte added another Pirates run with a sacrifice fly in the third inning, Mercer made it 10-3 with a double in the fifth and Freese also doubled to make it 11-6 in the eighth.
Even with two wins in its past three games, Pittsburgh (70-85) has lost eight of its past 10.
Cole (12-11) allowed five runs and seven hits for his first win since Aug. 26. He had lost three straight decisions.
Royals 8, White Sox 2
CHICAGO-Alex Gordon homered, Whit Merrifield drove in three runs and Danny Duffy pitched into the seventh inning to lead the Royals to an 8-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday night, keeping Kansas City's slim playoff hopes alive.
Salvador Perez went 2 for 4 with a pair of run-scoring doubles.
With eight games remaining, the Royals trail Minnesota by 4 games for the second AL wild card.
Duffy (9-9) allowed two runs on eight hits in six-plus innings for his first win since Aug. 22.
Jose Abreu went 1 for 4 and drove in two runs to reach the 100-RBI mark for the fourth straight season. The Chicago slugger is just the third major leaguer to begin his career with four straight seasons of at least 25 homers and 100 RBIs. Joe DiMaggio and Albert Pujols are the
others.
Tim Anderson went 1 for 4 to extend his career-best hitting streak to 14 games.
Dylan Covey (0-7) allowed three runs on five hits in six innings. The right-hander still is looking for his first major-league win after 17 appearances (11 starts).
Chicago took the lead on Abreu's RBI single in the first.
Covey allowed just one hit over the first three innings and retired the first two batters in the fourth. But then Eric Hosmer walked, Perez followed with an RBI double and Mike Moustakas singled to drive in Perez for a 2-1 Kansas City lead.