MLB wild-card: Bryson Stott’s grand slam helps Phillies beat Marlins for postseason sweep

PHILADELPHIA —  Bryson Stott hit a grand slam, Aaron Nola pitched seven scoreless innings and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Miami Marlins 7-1 on Wednesday night for a two-game sweep of their NL wild-card Series.

After making quick work of the surprising Marlins, it’s time for an anticipated rematch.

J.T. Realmuto also homered as the Phillies advanced to another best-of-five NL Division Series against Ronald Acuña Jr., Matt Olson and the Braves. Game 1 is Saturday in Atlanta.

The NL champion Phillies finished third last season in the NL East at 87-75, a full 14 games behind the 101-win Braves, only to beat them in four games in the NLDS.

Stott’s homer in the sixth was the second postseason grand slam in franchise history. Nola, who is eligible for free agency after the World Series, gave up three hits, struck out three and walked one.

Miami scored in the ninth on Josh Bell’s single.

Diamondbacks 5, Brewers 2

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen throws during the first inning of a Game 2 of their National League wild-card playoff series against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday in Milwaukee.

(Morry Gash / Associated Press)

MILWAUKEE — Zac Gallen settled down after a shaky start and Arizona’s bullpen stepped up at the very end, helping the Diamondbacks sweep their NL wild-card Series against the Brewers.

Just two years after suffering through a 110-loss season, Arizona moved into the franchise’s first NL Division Series since 2017. The Diamondbacks will take on the NL West-champion Dodgers in the opener of their best-of-five series Saturday in Los Angeles.

The NL Central-champion Brewers have dropped nine of their last 10 playoff games, a stretch that started with their Game 7 home loss to the Dodgers in the 2018 NL Championship Series.

Ketel Marte put Arizona ahead for good with a two-run single during a four-run rally in the sixth inning as Milwaukee right-hander Freddy Peralta faded after a strong start.

Gallen gave up two runs in the first, and then sailed through the rest of his six innings.

The Brewers had runners on second and third after Christian Yelich’s two-out double in the ninth, but Paul Sewald struck out William Contreras to end the series.

Rangers 7, Rays 1

Texas Rangers’ Josh Jung (6) congratulates Evan Carter after Carter hit a home run scoring Jung in the fourth inning of Game 2 in an AL wild-card playoff series against the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday in St. Petersburg, Fla.

(John Raoux / Associated Press)

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Adolis García and Evan Carter homered, and the Rangers finished a two-game AL Wild card-series sweep.

García and Carter connected against 16-game winner Zach Eflin, who was unable to save Tampa Bay’s season. Nathan Eovaldi also delivered for the Rangers, pitching 6-2/3 innings of one-run ball.

Texas advanced to a Division Series at AL East champion Baltimore starting Saturday. The Rays’ scoreless streak reached 33 innings, one shy of the postseason record held by the Dodgers (1966-74), before Curtis Mead’s RBI single in the seventh.

Texas won a postseason series for the first time since 2011, when the Rangers reached the World Series before losing to St. Louis.

After securing the AL’s second wild card, Tampa Bay lost its seventh straight postseason game. In getting swept in consecutive wild-card series, the Rays scored two runs over four games while hitting .161.

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Twins 2, Blue Jays 0

Minnesota Twins pitcher Caleb Thielbar reacts after Toronto Blue Jays’ Matt Chapman hit into a double play during the sixth inning of Game 2 of an AL wild-card playoff series on Wednesday in Minneapolis.

(Abbie Parr / Associated Press)

MINNEAPOLIS — Carlos Correa contributed an RBI single and a quick-twitch tag off a pickoff throw from Sonny Gray, and the Twins swept the Blue Jays in their AL wild-card series.

The Twins advanced — for the first time in 21 years — to play the defending World Series-champion Astros. Game 1 of the best-of-five AL Division Series is in Houston on Saturday.

It’s familiar territory for Correa, who played for Houston for seven seasons before signing with Minnesota in free agency.

The Blue Jays, who lost their seventh straight game in the playoffs since the AL Championship Series in 2016, left nine runners on base after stranding nine men in Game 1. Matt Chapman had a liner go just foul before grounding into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded in the sixth.

Gray struck out six in five innings in his first career win in the playoffs.

The Blue Jays had runners on second and third in the fifth when Gray picked off Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at second, ending the inning. Gray whipped around and threw to the shortstop Correa, who grabbed the ball and grazed Guerrero’s chest with his glove a split-second before Guerrero’s hand hit the base.

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