Indians clinch AL Central, Astros secure share of AL West
The Cleveland Indians and Houston Astros guaranteed themselves spots in the MLB postseason on Saturday.
The Indians clinched the American League (AL) Central with an 8-4 win over the Kansas City Royals and the Astros locked up at least a share of the AL West with an 8-6 victory against the Seattle Mariners.
While it would seem in recent weeks the Indians are on a World Series collision course with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Astros have gotten lost in the shuffle.
However, with Saturday's win over the Mariners, Houston have now won 90 games and they have a 14-game lead in their division with 14 games remaining.
SATURDAY'S RESULTS
Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 Washington Nationals
Seattle Mariners 6-8 Houston Astros
Baltimore Orioles 3-9 New York Yankees
St Louis Cardinals 1-4 Chicago Cubs
Kansas City Royals 4-8 Cleveland Indians
Pittsburgh Pirates 1-2 Cincinnati Reds
Boston Red Sox 3-1 Tampa Bay Rays
Chicago White Sox 10-4 Detroit Tigers
Oakland Athletics 3-5 Philadelphia Phillies
Milwaukee Brewers 4-7 Miami Marlins
New York Mets 7-3 Atlanta Braves
Toronto Blue Jays 7-2 Minnesota Twins
San Diego Padres 0-16 Colorado Rockies
Arizona Diamondbacks 2-0 San Francisco Giants
Texas Rangers 0-2 Los Angeles Angels
DONALDSON DELIVERS
Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson brought rain with a four-for-five night that included two solo home runs, four runs scored and no strikeouts in a 7-2 win over the Twins.
AWFUL ORIOLES
The Orioles' pitching staff had a day to forget in a 9-3 loss to the Yankees. Jeremy Hellickson tossed just three innings while allowing four hits, four walks and six earned runs. The Orioles have given up 150 runs to the Yankees this season, which is the most any single opponent has allowed another to score in one year in the expansion era. If the Yankees reach the postseason, they can probably send a thank you note to the Orioles bullpen.
INCREDIBLE ARENADO
Throwing arms are not meant to be this good. Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado made the difficult look simple in Colorado's 16-0 win over the Padres.
DODGERS AT NATIONALS
Dodgers lefty Ryu Hyun-jin (5-7, 3.59 ERA) takes on Nationals fire-baller Stephen Strasburg (13-4, 2.64). The Nationals will be trying to avoid the sweep in what could very well be a National League Championship Series preview.