MLB Playoff Wrap: St. Louis Cardinals Rally to Re-take Wild Card

While the MLB playoff picture didn’t go the way of pure mayhem on Saturday, the St. Louis Cardinals rallied for five runs in the bottom of the 8th to claim victory, and re-take the second wild card.

Adam Wainwright and Chase Anderson traded zeroes through the first four innings of Saturday’s afternoon contest before Keon Broxton went deep with one out to give the Milwaukee Brewers a 1-0 lead. That score would stand until the bottom of the eighth.

With the St. Louis Cardinals needing every win they can muster at this point in the season, the offense showed up big time, scoring five in the frame, and ultimately taking the game by the score of 5-1.

With a Giants offensive outburst leading to an 11-3 win in Arizona and the Mets dropping their contest with the Braves 4-3 in ten innings, the Cardinals took back possession of the second wild card spot. The Giants hold a one-game edge over the Red Birds, and the Mets sit just half of a game behind St. Louis entering play on Sunday.

The Marlins, Pirates and Rockies all lost a half-game in the standings with Miami and Pittsburgh now 5.5 back, and Colorado 7.5 back.

Over in the American League, another Blue Jays loss would have thrown the AL wild card into disarray under the right circumstances, but they pulled out a 3-2 win over AL East leading Boston to pull to within one game in the division. The two teams wrap up their series on Sunday afternoon with Clay Buchholz taking on Aaron Sanchez. Another Toronto win would tie up the division with 20 to play.

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Another day, another Yankee victory. Saturday’s win makes it seven straight for New York, who now sit three games back in the AL East and remain one game back of the second wild card, since Baltimore and Detroit came into the day tied and are playing one another. Detroit was shut down by the 2016 version of Ubaldo Jimenez, who tossed seven innings and allowed just two earned. Baltimore and Detroit will conclude their series on Sunday as well, with Chris Tillman taking on Justin Verlander.

Luis Cessa will take the hill for the Yankees, and while the 24-year-old has been a solid addition to the rotation, he has two trends going against him Sunday: His 5.40 ERA at home, and his 7.11 ERA in day games. In opposition to Cessa will be Rays starter Matt Andriese, who holds a 4.94 ERA on the road and a 5.65 ERA in day games. The Yankee offense may be enough to make up that difference.

Added to the suspense of this game will be the tease of whether or not the Rays will ever try to intentionally walk Gary Sanchez again.

The pitch didn’t go out, but Sanchez was still able to muscle it far enough to bring home the runner from third.

The Astros stopped their brief losing streak with a win over the Cubs on Saturday to remain 2.5 back of the Orioles, while the Mariners win over Oakland also had them keep pace at 3.5 back. The Royals, at four games back, hold the smallest chance of still making the MLB postseason in the AL at 2.4 percent.

The Cubs and Astros will play on Sunday Night Baseball from Minute Maid Park with Jake Arrieta taking on Mike Fiers, while Seattle will use James Paxton against Raul Alcantara of the A’s. Alcantara was shelled in his big league debut on Monday, giving up five runs in just three innings to the Angels. The Royals will have to deal with Chris Sale in Chicago.

Next: Who Should the Jays Re-Sign This Offseason?

We’ve been doing this column for a week now, and would love to hear some feedback. What do you like and what would you like to see done a bit differently? Also, who do you think is going to the playoffs in both leagues?

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