The penultimate day of the 2017 regular season brought a full slate of 15 MLB games. Lots happened on Saturday, so let's dive into our daily recap, shall we?

Scores, schedule

Red Sox 6, Astros 3 (box score)
Yankees 2, Blue Jays 1 (box score)
Cubs 9, Reds 0 (box score)
Padres 3, Giants 2 (box score)
Cardinals 7, Brewers 6 (box score)
Rays 4, Orioles 3 (box score)
Mets 7, Phillies 4 in 11 innings (box score)
Pirates 4, Nationals 1 (box score)
Marlins 10, Braves 2 (box score)
Tigers 3, Twins 2 (box score)
White Sox 2, Indians 1 (box score)
Royals 4, Diamondbacks 3 (box score)
Rangers 8, Athletics 4 (box score)
Dodgers 5, Rockies 3 (box score)
Mariners 6, Angels 4 (box score)

Postseason field set

Thanks to the outcomes in Boston and St. Louis on Saturday afternoon, the entire 2017 postseason picture is now set. Here is exactly what was clinched Saturday:

Like I said, the entire postseason picture is now set. Both the teams and the matchups. Here is the AL postseason field:

  • AL Wild Card Game: Twins at Yankees
  • ALDS 1: Indians vs. AL Wild Card Game winner
  • ALDS 2: Astros vs. Red Sox

And now here is the NL postseason field

  • NL Wild Card Game: Rockies at Diamondbacks
  • NLDS 1: Dodgers vs. NL Wild Card Game winner
  • NLDS 2: Nationals vs. Cubs

The 2017 postseason begins Tuesday night with the AL Wild Card Game. The NL Wild Card Game will be played Wednesday, then the two ALDS and two NLDS begin Thursday and Friday, respectively.

Stanton still stuck on 59 home runs

Giancarlo Stanton's pursuit of 60 home runs will go down to the final day of the regular season. Stanton went 1 for 5 with two strikeouts in his team's win over the Braves on Saturday night. He did drive in a run with that single.

There were a few instances Saturday night in which is appeared Stanton really loaded up and swung for the fences. It looked like he sat fastball in certain counts, then took a great big hack. Obviously it didn't work. The Marlins have already been eliminated from postseason contention, so Stanton has nothing to play for other than personal glory. I'm sure his teammates are fine with him going all out to hit No. 60.

In the season finale Sunday, Stanton will face Braves rookie left-hander Max Fried, who he took deep back on September 9. That was the 54th of his 59 home runs this season. Here's the video:

In order to get Stanton as many at-bats as possible Sunday, manager Don Mattingly said he will hit his slugger leadoff.

Stanton is looking to become the sixth player in history to hit 60 home runs in a single season. Only Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Barry Bonds have done it. 

Romine plays all nine positions

Saturday night Tigers utility man Andrew Romine became the fifth player in baseball history to play all nine positions in a game. He started the game in left field and ended it at first base.

Manager Brad Ausmus originally planned to have Romine play all nine positions Sunday, on the final day of the regular season, but the forecast calls for rain and the game might not be played. That's why Ausmus had Romine do it Saturday instead.

Saturday was the first time Romine has played catcher at any level of professional baseball. He'd previously played every other position for the Tigers this season -- that includes pitching in a blowout -- though catcher was new. The Tigers had Romine catch a bullpen session earlier this week to prepare.

Here are the four other players to play all nine positions in a single game:

  • Bert Campaneris, Athletics: September 8, 1965
  • Cesar Tovar, Twins: September 22, 1968
  • Scott Sheldon, Rangers: September 6, 2000
  • Shane Halter, Tigers: October 1, 2000

That list of course does not include comedian Will Ferrell, who played nine positions for nine different teams as part of a charity event during spring training in 2015.

Nats, Scherzer gets injury scare

The Nationals were given a bit of a scare Saturday night, when ace Max Scherzer had to exit his start with an injury in the fourth inning. He appeared to tweak his leg on the mound, and after the game, the team confirmed he had a tight hamstring. He was removed for precautionary reasons and won't have any impact on his postseason availability.

The injury is so minor, it should be noted, that Scherzer was going to continue pitching Saturday. He was in the middle of his windup when second baseman Daniel Murphy called time out and called for the trainer. That's when Scherzer was removed from the game. Here are his final stats for the season:

With Clayton Kershaw having missed so much time, Scherzer is the current favorite for the NL Cy Young award, which would be his second straight Cy Young and the third of his career.

Judge's scorching September continues

The Yanks are playoff-bound, and Aaron Judge has of course been vital to that success. By now, you know the story of Judge's 2017. He lit the world on fire but then regressed badly well into the second half. The story was that Judge and his long levers and good-but-not-great pre-2017 track record were getting exposed.

Well, of late Judge has adjusted to the adjustments pretty darn well. Coming into Saturday's game against the Blue Jays, Judge had a thunderous line of .310/.462/.874 for the month of September. Then he went out and did this ... 

Mercy. Also of note ... 

He also hit that bomb off Marcus Stroman, who's been one of the AL's top starting pitchers in 2017. That's Judge's 52nd homer of the season, which extends his all-time rookie record. Suffice it to say, Judge is on a roll as the playoff-bound Yankees get ready for postseason baseball. 

Cain makes final start of career

Earlier this week, Giants stalwart right-hander Matt Cain announced he will retire following the season. He spent his entire 13-season career with the Giants and was a member of their three recent World Series teams.

Cain made his final start Saturday afternoon, and of course the AT&T Park crowd gave him an enormous ovation after his teammates sent him him out on the field by himself. Check it out:

Cain has had a rough season overall -- he went into Saturday's game with a 3-11 record and a 5.66 ERA in 119 1/3 innings -- but he went out with a bang Saturday, throwing five shutout innings against the Padres.

Matt Cain
SP
IP5
H2
R0
ER0
BB1
K4

Heck of a way to go out. Cain was one of the best pitchers in baseball from 2007-12 -- he ranked sixth among all pitchers in WAR those years -- and he was able to turn back the clock Saturday in the final game of his career.

Gallo hits 40th, 41st home runs

In his first full season as a big leaguer, 23-year-old Rangers third baseman Joey Gallo has joined the 40 home run club. He hit his 40th and 41st homers of the season Saturday night. Here's No. 40:

Gallo is the fifth player to reach 40 home runs this season, joining Stanton (59), Judge (52), J.D. Martinez (45), and Khris Davis (42). He is only the 20th player in history to hit 40-plus home runs at age 23 of younger. Here are the last five players to do it:

  1. Mike Trout, 2015 Angels: 41 HR at age 23
  2. Bryce Harper, 2015 Nationals: 42 HR at age 22
  3. Prince Fielder, 2007 Brewers: 50 HR at age 23
  4. Albert Pujols, 2003 Cardinals: 43 HR at age 23
  5. Troy Glaus, 2000 Angels: 47 HR at age 23

Gallo has 41 home runs and only 32 singles this season, if you can believe that. He will become only the third player in history to finish a season with more home runs than singles while racking up enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title. Barry Bonds did it in 2001 (73 homers and 49 singles) and Mark McGwire did it in both 1998 (70 homers and 61 singles) and 1999 (65 homers and 58 singles).

Votto, Escobar start 161st games

Only two players in baseball have started every game this season: Joey Votto and Alcides Escobar. I'm not sure you could pick two players who are more different. Rougned Odor, Eric Hosmer, and Freddy Galvis have played in all 161 of their team's games this season as well, though they did not start all 161 like Votto and Escobar.

Votto went 0 for 3 with three strikeouts in the Reds' loss to the Cubs on Saturday, lowering his batting line to a still robust .319/.454/.575. It is only the 12th time all season Votto failed to reach base in a game.

Escobar, meanwhile, went 2 for 2 Saturday night to raise his batting line to .251/.273/.358. The Royals shortstop has reached base in 109 of his 161 games this season. Like I said, he and Votto could not be more different. One is a defense-first shortstop and the other is a historically great offense-first first baseman.

Quick hits

  • Our Dayn Perry says it's time for the Cardinals to find a new manager. 
  • Mike Puma tweets that Kevin Long and Robin Ventura may be the frontrunners to become the Mets' next manager.
  • Per Jon Morosi, Yankees MGR Joe Girardi says he wants to continue managing beyond 2017. 
  • The Indians have activated OF Michael Brantley from the DL.