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• Marlins beat Pirates to clinch wild-card berth as final five playoff spots all claimed

  For just the fourth time in franchise history the Miami Marlins will play in the postseason.

  The Marlins punched their ticket to the playoffs with a 7-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday.

  Jazz Chisholm hit his 19th homer and Josh Bell drove in three runs as the Marlins secured their first trip to the playoffs since the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

  It's the club's first time making the playoffs after a full season since the 2003 team won the franchise's second World Series. The postseason berth completes an improbable turnaround after Miami went 69-93 last season.

  The Marlins have won 18 of their last 27 games to vault past the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants and into the playoffs. They have also taken a half-game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks for the National League's second wild card. 

  In their postseason clinching-win, Chisholm, Jorge Soler and Jon Berti each scored twice, while Tanner Scott struck out the side in the ninth to notch his 12th save as the final of eight pitchers used by Miami.

   

   

  Rangers beat Mariners to return to playoffs for first time since 2016

  The Texas Rangers are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2016 with a 6-1 win over the Seattle Mariners.

  The Rangers plated four runs in the third inning en route to their 90th victory of the season - a 22-win improvement from 2022.

  One more win over the Mariners in Sunday's regular-season finale and Texas will claim the AL West title and the No. 2 seed in the AL playoffs. The Rangers, who are scheduled to start 12-game winner Dane Dunning in the finale, can also wrap up the division should the Houston Astros lose to the Diamondbacks.

  Jonah Heim had a two-run single and finished with three RBIs to lead the Texas offence, while Andrew Heaney threw 4 1/3 shutout innings in a spot start.

  The Mariners were eliminated from the postseason with the wins by the Rangers and Astros. Their loss also allowed the Toronto Blue Jays to secure a wild-card berth

  Luis Castillo struggled mightily, yielding four runs and throwing 86 pitches before being pulled after just 2 2/3 innings - tied for the second-shortest start of his career.

   

   

  Verlander helps Astros beat Diamondbacks, yet both teams clinch postseason spots

  The Houston Astros defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 1-0, but both teams got the desired result.

  The Astros clinched a playoff berth with the victory and the Diamondbacks secured a wild-card spot with the Cincinnati Reds' 15-6 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

  While Arizona is battling with Miami for the NL's second wild card, Houston can win the AL West with a victory over the Diamondbacks in Sunday's finale, coupled with a Rangers loss to the Mariners.

  Justin Verlander struck out five and allowed two hits over five innings and Jose Abreu put the Astros ahead with a run-scoring double in the fourth inning.

  Merrill Kelly threw seven innings of one-run ball for Arizona, which is just two years removed from a 110-loss season and is in the playoffs for the first time since 2017.

   

• Manchester rivals suffer three o'clock woe

  Manchester City and Manchester United both lost on Saturday, breaking a decade-old wait for the two rivals to fall to a defeat in a 3pm kick-off.

  It is rare for both United and City to play in the traditional Saturday slot, but that was the case as Erik ten Hag's side hosted Crystal Palace and Pep Guardiola's Premier League champions headed to Wolves.

  Yet neither team will be in a rush to remember this particular afternoon in a hurry, as they both lost in a 3pm Saturday kick-off for the first time since September 28, 2013. 

  United lost 1-0, with Joachim Andersen's goal making Roy Hodgson the first manager to go unbeaten in five successive Premier League trips to Old Trafford. City, meanwhile, went down 2-1 at Molineux, with Hwang Hee-chan getting the winner for Wolves.

  No Rodri, big problems

  City lost to Newcastle United in the EFL Cup on Wednesday and, without star midfielder Rodri – who was serving the second of a three-match suspension for the red card he received against Nottingham Forest – they found themselves on the end of a defeat again at Wolves.

  Since Rodri made his Premier League debut in August 2019, City have lost five of 15 matches without the Spaniard in the competition (W9 D1); by contrast, they have lost just five of their last 67 league games when Rodri has featured (W53 D9).

• MLB: Urquidy pitches Astros to crucial 2-1 win over Diamondbacks

  Jose Abreu hit a two-run double that was nearly a three-run homer and Jose Urquidy delivered as an emergency starter to lift the Houston Astros to a 2-1 win over Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday.

  The game remained scoreless until the sixth when Alex Bregman hit a one-out infield single, and Kyle Tucker singled one out later.

  Abreu drilled a pitch from Zac Gallen deep to center that was initially called a three-run home run before video replay showed the ball hitting the line on the wall, resulting in a 2-0 Houston lead.

  The hero for the Astros turned out to be Urquidy, who was called on to start in place of scheduled starter J.P. France, scratched due to a family emergency.

  Urquidy, who has been used out of the bullpen since his last start on Aug 23, limited Arizona to two hits over six innings with three walks and two strikeouts.

  Phil Maton and Hector Neris each worked one scoreless inning and Ryan Pressly gave up Gabriel Moreno’s RBI double in the ninth before getting Jace Peterson on a game-ending groundout.

  The Astros pulled within one game of AL West-leading Texas and remained one game ahead of Seattle in the race for the final wild card.

  Arizona still holds the second NL wild card but had its lead over Miami cut to one-half game with Cincinnati and the Cubs both two games behind.

  Gallen failed in a bid to become the majors’ second 18-game winner, allowing two runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings with one walk and seven strikeouts.

   

  Crawford hits slam as Mariners keep playoff hopes alive

  J.P. Crawford hit a grand slam and Ty France and Josh Rojas also homered as the Seattle Mariners stayed in the thick of the playoff race with an 8-0 rout of the Texas Rangers.

  Seattle has won three or four following a four-game skid to remain one game behind Houston in the race for the final AL wild card.

  The Mariners are still alive in the AL West, sitting two games behind Texas and one behind Houston with two games remaining.

  The Rangers remained a victory away or Astros loss away from securing a playoff berth. There also remains the possibility of a three-way tie for the division title.

  Bryan Woo pitched out of trouble to keep Texas scoreless through 3 2/3 innings and five relievers finished up with the final four keeping the Rangers hitless.

   

  Blue Jays on brink of playoff spot

  Alejandro Kirk homered and drove in three runs and Bo Bichette had four hits as the Toronto Blue Jays moved a step closer to the postseason with an 11-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

  Brandon Belt and Matt Chapman also went deep for the Blue Jays, who maintained a one-game lead over Houston.

  Toronto can clinch a wild card with a win or a loss by Seattle over the next two days.

  The Blue Jays took control with three runs in the third – two scoring on Kirk’s single – and extended to a 6-1 lead with three more runs in the fourth.

  Belt led off with a home run and Bichette and Cavan Biggio singled and scored when center fielder Manuel Margot let the ball roll under his glove all the way to the wall.