The penultimate Saturday of the regular-season schedule offers a full load of games: 15, with five of those taking place under the sunshine. Keep it here for all the news, scores, and notes from across the league. 

Final scores

Brewers 4, Cubs 3 in 10 (box score)
Astros 6, Angels 2 (box score)
Yankees 5, Blue Jays 1 (box score)
Indians 11, Mariners 4 (box score)
Red Sox 5, Reds 0 (box score)
Twins 10, Tigers 4 (box score)
Pirates 11, Cardinals 6 (box score)
Rays 9, Orioles 6 (box score)
Royals 8, White Sox 2 (box score)
Nationals 4, Mets 3 in 10 innings (box score)
Braves 4, Phillies 2 (box score)
Marlins 12, Diamondbacks 6 (box score)
Padres 5, Rockies 0 (box score)
Athletics 1, Rangers 0 (box score)
Giants 2, Dodgers 1 (box score)

Rockies miss a chance

In Pittsburgh on Saturday night, Cardinals right-hander Lance Lynn endured one of the worst starts of his career, and the Cards wound up losing a key game against a relatively lackluster opponent. That presented the Rockies with a chance to extend their lead over the Cardinals in the chase for the second NL wild-card berth and hold serve relative to the Brewers, who beat the Cubs earlier in the day. Well, instead ... 

The Rockies have dropped five of their past six, and all six of those games have come against the lowly Padres and even lowlier Giants. We recently noted that the schedule favors the Rox in the race for wild card No. 2, but so far they're squandering that advantage. All of this yields the current NL wild-card standings ... 

NATIONAL LEAGUE
TEAMWLPCTGB
Arizona8966.574+6
Colorado8372.535-
Milwaukee (7)8273.5291
St. Louis (7)8173.5261½
Miami (E)7381.4749½
Atlanta (E)7083.45812
Pittsburgh (E)7085.45213
San Diego (E)7085.45213
N.Y. Mets (E)6688.42916½
Cincinnati (E)6689.42617
Philadelphia (E)6194.39422
San Francisco (E)6194.39422


Yep, it's tight out there. The good news for Colorado is that the Brewers and Cardinals will play three games head-to-head to end the regular season, and could lead to some mutual NL Central attrition. In the interim, the Rockies need to start beating the teams they should be beating.

Brewers beat Cubs in dramatic fashion

The Brewers fended off the Cubs on Saturday, ensuring they'll have a chance to split the four-game series on Sunday.

As has become par for the course, the game was a close, wild affair. The Cubs led 2-1 in the ninth inning, but Brewers shortstop Orlando Arcia led off with a home run against Wade Davis. Previously, Davis had not blown a save this season (and had allowed just four homers).

The Cubs struck back in the 10th. Jon Jay delivered a single that scored Ian Happ, who had doubled earlier in the inning. That made it 3-2.

Davis returned for the 10th, trying to complete his first two-inning appearance of the year. No dice. Ryan Braun doubled with one out, and Travis Shaw followed up with a walk-off home run:

A win on Sunday would put the Brewers 4½ games behind the Cubs with seven to play. Meanwhile, a Cardinals victory against the Pirates on Saturday night would put St. Louis four back of Chicago. It's worth noting the Cardinals could well decide the NL Central race on their own -- they have four games against the Cubs and another three against the Brewers left to go.

On the wild-card front, a Rockies loss to the Padres would find the Brewers a game back. Milwaukee, then, is still very much in the race with a week to go in the season. Who would've guessed? 

No. 57 for Giancarlo

Marlins cloutsman Giancarlo Stanton is now three away from 60. Take a look at home run No. 57 for the season, which he hit on Saturday night against the Diamondbacks ... 

That wasn't Stanton's most towering blast, but it counts. He's now tied with Luis Gonzalez (2001) and Alex Gonzalez (2002) for 14th place on the all-time single-season list. On the season, Stanton is batting .279/.376/.637. He also registered his 30th double of 2017. 

The Farrells make father-son history

On Saturday, Reds rookie right-hander Luke Farrell pitched a scoreless ninth inning against the Red Sox, who happened to be managed by his dad, John Farrell. As it turns out, that occasioned a bit of MLB history ... 

So that's pretty cool. Also cool was this tip o' the cap from pops to kiddo ... 

Hey, kudos to Reds manager Bryan Price for allowing this to happen. It's surely a moment the Farrell family won't soon forget. 

Dozier hits Little League home run ... on a bunt

Well, this isn't your standard-issue start to a game ... 

That's Twins second baseman Brian Dozier getting things started with a bunt down the third base line -- not a great bunt, it should be noted. Jeimer Candelario fielded it but threw wide of the bag at first. The ball dead-bounced off the wall down the right-field line, and Dozier would not stop running until the Twins had the lead. It was officially a single and throwing error in the books, but in the scorebook of our hearts it was a home run on a popped-up bunt. So it shall be forevermore. 

A's Maxwell becomes first MLB player to kneel for anthem

On Saturday night in Oakland, A's catcher Bruce Maxwell became the first MLB player to kneel in protest during the playing of the national anthem. In doing so, Maxwell joins a movement revived by Colin Kaepernick during his time with the NFL's San Francisco 49ers. Here's a look: 

Click here to read more. 

Yankees secure playoff berth

With their win over the Blue Jays on Saturday, the Yankees secured a berth in the 2017 postseason. Right now, the Yankees are in line to play host to the American League Wild Card Game, and they also remain within range of the first-place Red Sox in the AL East. In either case, they've ensured the 53rd postseason appearance in franchise history. Read more here about the road ahead for the Yanks.

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