WEST DIVISION
Brewers 4, Padres 3: The San Diego Padres are still waiting to clinch a playoff spot — and they can blame a familiar name.
Tony Gwynn Jr. hit a tying two-out triple off Trevor Hoffman in the ninth inning, and the Milwaukee Brewers went on to beat the Padres 4-3 in the 11th on Saturday.
The Padres are assured of at least a tie for the NL wild-card spot, and they can wrap it up with a win Sunday.
San Diego would’ve been heading back to the postseason for the third straight year, except for the hit by Gwynn, son of the longtime Padres Hall of Famer. A day after being eliminated from the race, the Brewers handed Hoffman — the career saves leader — his sixth blown save in 48 chances.
Vinny Rottino’s RBI single in the 11th did clear up one thing: The Padres’ loss clinched the NL West for Arizona and gave the Diamondbacks home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs.
Padres manager Bud Black said he intended to start Brett Tomko on Sunday. “The most important game we play will be our last one,” Black said. “Sunday probably won’t be our last game.”
Rockies 11, Diamondbacks 1: Colorado stayed alive in the wild-card race while Arizona clinched the NL West title and home-field advantage throughout NL playoffs earlier in the day with the Padres loss in Milwaukee.
Cubs factor: Cubs will face the Arizona Diamondbacks in first round unless either Phillies or Mets win the wild card.
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EAST DIVISION
Mets 13, Marlins 0: John Maine stopped the Mets’ slide with an overpowering performance that kept them alive in the playoff race. He nearly did a whole lot more than that.
Maine flirted with the first no-hitter in team history before allowing an infield single to Paul Hoover with two outs in the eighth inning, and New York snapped out of its September doldrums by routing the Florida Marlins 13-0 in a fight-filled game Saturday. “We weren’t going to lose today,” Maine said.
Maine finished with 14 strikeouts, the most by a Mets pitcher in eight years, and departed to a raucous ovation long after Florida catcher Miguel Olivo charged across the diamond and threw a punch at buddy Jose Reyes in the fifth — setting off a bench-clearing brawl.
Nationals 4, Phillies 2: The Phillies spent all season trying to overtake the Mets. And once they took the lead, they gave it away.
So now, the NL East race comes down to this: The Phillies and Mets are tied with one game left.
Matt Chico pitched six solid innings Saturday and the Washington Nationals got in the Phillies’ way, winning 4-2 to leave the division all even.
“I didn’t have to say a word,” Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel said.
Cubs factor: Will face NL East winner only if either Phillies or Mets win wild card.
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Tiebreaker scenarios
NL East
If Mets (88-73) and Phillies (88-73) finish with the same record, they would play a tiebreaker game Monday in Philadelphia.
Wild card
In the event two teams tie for the wild card, the Rockies (88-73) would host the Mets, Phillies or Padres (89-72) in a tiebreaker; the Mets would host the Padres; and the Padres would host the Phillies.
Three teams with same record:
In the event the Mets, Phillies and either the Rockies or Padres finish with the same record, the Mets and Phillies would play a tiebreaker Monday at Philadelphia for the division title. The loser of that game would then play a wild-card tiebreaker Tuesday against the Rockies or Padres.
Four teams with same record:
If the Rockies, Mets and Phillies win Sunday and the Padres lose, all would finish 89-73. The Mets and Phillies would play the NL East tiebreaker Monday; the loser would play a three-team, two-day, wild-card tiebreaker with the Rockies and Padres on Tuesday and Wednesday. In that scenario, the Rockies (the team with the best head-to-head record among the three teams in the wild-card tiebreaker) would get the choice of having a bye on Tuesday or playing both games at home.
