The Washington Nationals and the Cincinnati Reds are the first to clinch playoff spots in Major League Baseball after posting wins Thursday.
The Reds beat Chicago 5-3 even with manager Dusty Baker in the hospital undergoing tests. Johnny Cueto wins his 18th game for the Reds and the team now has a magic number of two for clinching the National League Central.
Washington beats Los Angeles 4-1 to also clinch at least a wild card berth and its magic number to clinch the NL East is eight. In other NL games, Philadelphia routs New York 16-1; Milwaukee downs Pittsburgh 9-7; San Francisco rocks Colorado 9-2; San Diego downs Arizona 6-5 and St.Louis keeps the second wild card lead with a 5-4 win over Houston.
In the American League, New York sweeps Toronto with a 10-7 win to go a game up on idle Baltimore in the AL East. The Yankees host Oakland this weekend while the Orioles visit Boston. The A’s knock off Detroit 12-4 to gain a wild card tie with Baltimore and they stay four games back of Texas in the AL West after the Rangers down Los Angeles 3-1.
The Tigers are two back of Chicago in the AL Central after the White Sox lose to Kansas City 4-3. Chicago visits the LA Angels this weekend while the Tigers host Minnesota.