Cards Inching Toward 100th Win

ST. LOUIS (AP) -Jaime Garcia pitched eight strong innings Saturday night to lead the St. Louis Cardinals past the Milwaukee Brewers 5-1. Matt Holliday had a pair of RBI doubles for the Cardinals, who maintained their three-game lead in the NL Central. Jonathan Lucroy hit an RBI single in the sixth inning to drive in Milwaukee's lone run.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Yan Gomes homered and Carlos Santana drove in three runs Saturday night as the Cleveland Indians topped the Kansas City Royals 9-5. Three Indians relievers held the Royals hitless over the final five-and-a-third innings. Kansas City, which wrapped up the AL Central title on Thursday, fell to 9-15 in September.

Mets clinch NL East crown

UNDATED (AP) - The New York Mets are National League East champions for the sixth time in their history, and the first since 2006.

The Mets clinched the division by picking up their club-record 10th consecutive road win, rolling to a 10-2 rout of the Reds in Cincinnati. Lucas Duda (DOO'-duh) put the Mets ahead with a grand slam in the first inning, Curtis Granderson added a solo shot in the second and David Wright provided the capper with a three-run shot in the ninth.

Matt Harvey picked up the clinching victory, allowing two runs and nine hits over 6 2/3 innings. Harvey and the bullpen blanked the Reds after Ivan DeJesus lined a two-run double in the second.

The Mets are the first National League team to clinch a division title. They will likely play the Dodgers in the NLDS.

Elsewhere in the majors:

- Francisco Liriano pitched four-hit ball into the eighth inning of Pittsburgh's eighth straight victory, a 4-0 shutout of the Cubs in Chicago. Jordy Mercer snapped a scoreless tie with a three-run homer in the fifth to help Liriano improve to 12-7. The Pirates remain three games behind the NL Central-leading Cardinals and are 5  1/2 games ahead of the Cubs for the first wild-card berth.

- The Dodgers' magic number remains two to win the NL West after Carlos Gonzalez ripped a two-run, walk-off homer in the ninth to give the Rockies an 8-6 win over Los Angeles. The Dodgers rallied after Nolan Arenado slammed his 40th homer of the season, a grand slam in the bottom of the first.

- Houston is within 3  1/2 games of the AL West lead after Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve (al-TOO'-vay) each homered twice in the Astros' 9-7 win over the division-leading Texas Rangers. Chris Carter snapped a 4-4 tie with a solo blast in the sixth, and Colby Rasmus added a seventh-inning homer that put the Astros ahead 8-4.

- The Angels stayed a half-game behind Houston for the final AL wild-card berth by downing Seattle 3-2 on a walk-off homer by David Freese (freez) in the bottom of the ninth. C.J. Kron's (krohnz) solo blast tied the game 2-2 in the sixth before Los Angeles picked up its fourth straight win.

- Toronto's lead in the AL East remains four games over the Yankees after Jose Bautista hit his 38th and 39th homers while driving in four runs to lead the Blue Jays to a 10-8 win over Tampa Bay. Russell Martin smacked a two-run homer and Kevin Pillar (pih-LAHR') was 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI doubles. David Price improved to 18-5 despite allowing four earned runs and six hits in five innings, hours after the Jays wrapped up a playoff berth.

- The Yanks kept pace as Adam Warren allowed one run and three hits in six innings of a 2-1 triumph over the Chicago White Sox. The Yankees trailed 1-0 until Chase Headley and Alex Rodriguez hit RBI doubles in the sixth, helping New York move another step closer to clinching an AL playoff berth.

- Minnesota beat Detroit 6-2 as the Twins stayed 1  1/2 games behind Houston for the final AL playoff berth. Eduardo Escobar hit a two-run homer and had three RBIs to back Tyler Duffey, who gave up two runs in six innings.

- Carlos Santana's two-run homer and three RBIs helped Cleveland beat Kansas City, 9-5. Yan Gomes (yahn gohmz) socked a solo homer and Francisco Lindor (lihn-DOHR') drove in a pair as the Indians stayed three games behind the Astros.

- Jarrett Parker's third home run of the afternoon was a tiebreaking grand slam in a five-run eighth that pushed San Francisco over Oakland, 14-10. The rookie is the first Giant with at least three homers and seven RBIs in a game since Willie Mays in 1961.

- Washington beat Philadelphia 2-1 on Bryce Harper's RBI double in the bottom of the 12th. The Nationals ended a four-game losing streak about an hour after they were eliminated from the NL East race.

CARDS AND BREWERS SUNDAY AT 12:20 ON KHMO.

Baseball Expanded Standings
All Times EDT
By The Associated Press
AMERICAN LEAGUE
East Division
W   L   Pct   GB  WCGB  L10  Str  Home  Away
z-Toronto                           89  65  .578   -     -    7-3  W-3  52-28 37-37
New  York                             85  69  .552    4     -    6-4  W-1  43-33 42-36
Baltimore                           76  78  .494   13      4 1/2  5-5  L-2  42-29 34-49
Tampa  Bay                           75  80  .484   14 1/2    6    5-5  L-2  37-41 38-39
Boston                                 74  80  .481   15      6 1/2  6-4  W-2  42-38 32-42
Central Division
W   L   Pct   GB  WCGB  L10  Str  Home  Away
x-Kansas  City                   89  65  .578   -     -    4-6  L-2  50-30 39-35
Minnesota                           79  75  .513   10      1 1/2  4-6  W-1  46-32 33-43
Cleveland                           77  76  .503   11 1/2    3    6-4  W-3  35-38 42-38
Chicago                               73  82  .471   16 1/2    8    4-6  L-1  37-38 36-44
Detroit                               72  82  .468   17      8 1/2  6-4  L-1  38-42 34-40
West Division
W   L   Pct   GB  WCGB  L10  Str  Home  Away
Texas                                   84  70  .545   -     -    7-3  L-1  39-35 45-35
Houston                               81  74  .523    3 1/2   -    4-6  W-1  52-28 29-46
Los  Angeles                       80  74  .519    4        1/2  7-3  W-4  46-31 34-43
Seattle                               74  81  .477   10 1/2    7    4-6  L-4  34-41 40-40
Oakland                               65  90  .419   19 1/2   16    3-7  L-1  34-46 31-44
---
NATIONAL LEAGUE
East Division
W   L   Pct   GB  WCGB  L10  Str  Home  Away
x-New  York                         88  67  .568   -     -    5-5  W-3  48-30 40-37
Washington                         79  75  .513    8 1/2   10    5-5  W-1  45-34 34-41
Miami                                   68  87  .439   20     21 1/2  6-4  W-4  40-40 28-47
Atlanta                               62  93  .400   26     27 1/2  5-5  L-2  37-38 25-55
Philadelphia                     58  97  .374   30     31 1/2  2-8  L-1  33-42 25-55
Central Division
W   L   Pct   GB  WCGB  L10  Str  Home  Away
z-St.  Louis                       98  57  .632   -     -    7-3  W-1  55-25 43-32
z-Pittsburgh                     95  60  .613    3     -    8-2  W-8  50-25 45-35
z-Chicago                           89  65  .578    8 1/2   -    6-4  L-3  47-32 42-33
Milwaukee                           65  90  .419   33     24 1/2  3-7  L-1  34-44 31-46
Cincinnati                         63  91  .409   34 1/2   26    2-8  L-7  34-43 29-48
West Division
W   L   Pct   GB  WCGB  L10  Str  Home  Away
Los  Angeles                       87  67  .565   -     -    4-6  L-2  52-26 35-41
San  Francisco                   80  74  .519    7      9    4-6  W-1  44-30 36-44
Arizona                               74  81  .477   13 1/2   15 1/2  5-5  L-1  35-40 39-41
San  Diego                           73  82  .471   14 1/2   16 1/2  5-5  W-1  38-39 35-43
Colorado                             65  90  .419   22 1/2   24 1/2  4-6  W-2  35-45 30-45
z-clinched playoff berth
x-clinched division