MLB Live Results, Scores, Highlights, Stat Milestones and Final Playoff Bracket After Game 162

And a fine speech by Joe Espada, too. It's possible he won't be back in 2027, but he's clearly keen on making this one count.

The Giants' former pitcher and beloved color commentator has called it a career (broadcasting, that is) after 36 years at the mic. Today was a day to honor him, and to officially rename the booth he has shared with Duane Kuiper the "Kruk and Kuip Broadcast Booth."

Grab some pine, legend.

True, their 81-81 record is the worst ever for a division winner in baseball history. Yet a division title is never not worth celebrating, especially when the fight for it goes all the way to Game 162.

The Angels last made the playoffs in 2014, making for the longest drought of any team in MLB. But hey, at least they didn't sink as low as 100 losses between 2015 and 2025.

Well, so much for that.

It went down to the wire, but a fifth straight postseason appearance is always worth celebrating. The season certainly turned when Don Mattingly took over, with the Phillies securing 79 of their 88 wins under his watch.

It's the 12th 100-win season in their history, and their sixth in the last decade.

Sandy Alcantara becoming the Marlins' closer in addition to their ace was on nobody's 2026 bingo card, but it's pretty cool.

He ends the year with 13 wins and three saves. The last guy to do that while also making 30 starts in a season was Phil Niekro in 1973.

Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Schwarber both went homerless on Sunday, resulting in a first-place tie with 45 apiece atop the MLB leaderboard.

They're the first co-home run champs since Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Salvador Perez in 2021, and the first in the NL since Nolan Arenado and Chris Carter in 2016.

A 4-1 win over the Tigers nudged the Pirates' 2026 record to 82-80, giving them their first winning record since 2018. This calls for the jolly roger.

There you go. Feast your eyes. The action starts on Tuesday in Atlanta, where the Phillies will take on the Braves in Game 1 of a best-of-three set.

That's it for the AL West race. The Rangers needed to beat the Twins and for the A's to beat the Astros. Despite a late Corey Seager home run, the Rangers could not do the latter in losing 6-4 to the Twins.

Houston secures the AL's No. 3 seed and will host the Chicago White Sox in the AL Wild Card Series.

The NL playoff field is set, and the AL bracket isn't far off from being complete in its own right.

The Astros have a 8-0 lead on the A's in the seventh, and just need to hold on. The Rangers trail the Twins 6-2 in the eighth, and need both a dramatic rally and an Astros collapse.

Winning today was the easiest way for the Phillies to get into the playoffs, and they have done it. The NL's third Wild Card is theirs, and they will face the Atlanta Braves in the Wild Card Series.

The Diamondbacks will go home, no matter how their game against the Padres concludes.

That does it for his season, and maybe for his careeer. He finishes the day with seven innings and, as of now, one run allowed.

If he wants to get the three strikeouts he still needs to tie Justin Verlander for eighth all-time, he'll need to come back for his age-42 season.

The Padres led this one 4-1 until Arizona put up a three spot in the top of the seventh. They're doing their job, but still need the Rays to erase a 7-3 deficit to the Phillies. That game is in the bottom of the eighth.

This would feel like a scripted bit, if only this wasn't a 42-year-old pitcher with 104 pitches on his arm already.

Scherzer didn't get any strikeouts in the seventh, so he's still three short of Justin Verlander and eighth on the all-time list. But go ahead, you try and tell him he's done.

He's at 97 pitches through six innings, but his seven strikeouts put him just three behind Justin Verlander for eighth on the all-time list. He's coming back out for the top of the seventh.

This is going to be Rick Rizzs' last game in the booth. It could also be J.P. Crawford's final game for the Mariners at shortstop. His contract is up and his position could pass to Colt Emerson.

This is his 974th game as a Mariner, 10th on their all-time list.

That's Walker's 29th home run of the year, and it happened shortly after the Rangers dug themselves a 5-1 hole to the Twins.

Pat Murphy lifted "The Miz" with a runner on first and one out in the top of the sixth. That runner didn't score, so Misiorowski officially ends his season with a 1.80 ERA.

With that, he easily clears Cam Schlittler's 1.95 ERA for the MLB lead.

Ketel Marte hit an RBI single in the top of the sixth inning, cutting Arizona's deficit to 3-1.

They'll need to keep coming back… and for the Rays to do the same in Philadelphia, where it's 7-2 Phillies in the seventh inning.

Jakob Junis walked three batters in the fifth inning, including one to bring home a run for Minnesota. Skip Schumaker lifted him for Jordan Montgomery, who is coming into a bases-loaded, one-out situation.

With the Astros still leading the A's 4-0, it might be about time to stick a fork in the Rangers.

So, that's what 100 mph looks like in super slo-mo.

This is after he had doubled earlier in the game, so the Phillies' whole lineup is getting in on what is a 10-hit barrage so far. This is also their second home run of the inning, after that had gone six games and 189 batters in a row without even one.

With Zack Wheeler shoving on the mound, the Phillies have pretty strong clinch energy right now.

He's also almost certainly sown up the major league ERA title, with four scoreless innings dropping his ERA for the season down to 1.82.

Fun fact: "The Miz" is the third pitcher this century with over 250 strikeouts and an ERA under 2.00 in a season, joining Jacob deGrom and Pedro Martinez.

Harper had last homered on September 12, and this is just his second long ball since August 26.

This happened right around when Gavin Sheets put the Diamondbacks in a 2-0 hole with a solo homer in San Diego. It's looking good for the Phillies.

George Springer is in the last year of his contract with the Blue Jays, and he is undecided about whether he wants to return for another major league season. He turned 37 on September 19.

If this is it, happy trails to a four-time All-Star and one of the great playoff hitters baseball has ever known.

The game had no stakes, so it will not be rescheduled. The Yankees and Orioles will both finish their seasons with 161 games.

One wonders how the Red Sox feel about this. They're about to face the Yankees in the Wild Card Series, and weather concerns forced a double-header on Friday and a move to Tropicana Field for what has also proven to be a stakes-free finale against the Cubs.

With his two-run triple, that makes it six extra-base hits and nine RBI for Lucas Spence in this four-game set. Not bad for an undrafted free agent playing in just his 19th major league game.

With a 4-0 lead and the Rangers losing 3-1, Houston is sitting pretty right now.

Josh Bell. Again. This time he blasts one to right for a two-run homer. He's driven in all three of Minnesota's runs.

As if the Phillies' 4-0 lead wasn't bad enough, now Arizona will have to play from behind to even have a chance to make the playoffs.

Rick Rizzs has been the radio voice of the Mariners for 41 seasons, culminating in this one. It got a little dusty at T-Mobile Park when this happened.

He had only throw 25 pitches, but was about to face the Twins' batting order for the second time in the game. Definitely an aggressive move by Rangers manager Skip Schumaker.

Rangers 1, Twins 1

It's his second home run off the day, and this is once again a week out from suffering multiple facial fractures. He's clearly ready for the postseason.

With his next October homer, he'll become the seventh player ever with 20 career home runs in the postseason.

Texas has life in a must-win game. It's still 0-0 between the Astros and A's midway through the second in Sacramento.

The same isn't yet true of the actual bracket, but the schedule for the Wild Card Series is out. No surprises here at all.

Logan Gilbert fanned the side in the first against the Angels. He's the 13th pitcher this season to record 200 strikeouts, and it's the second such season of his career after 2024.

Either that or they're just bad, as both MacKenzie Gore and Peter Lambert ran into trouble in the first inning in Minnesota and Sacramento, respectively.

Gabriel Moreno was in Arizona's initial starting lineup, but he got scratched less than an hour before first pitch.

Assuming he or Luis Arraez isn't used as a pinch-hitter today, this would seem to close the book on the race for the NL batting title. Moreno would win, .311 to .310.

A sac fly in the first inning by Josh Bell made it 1-0 for the Twins over the Rangers, putting Texas on the defensive.

As a reminder, Texas needs a win and a Houston loss to make the playoffs.

Because he hit a two-run home run a week to the day from when he took a foul ball off his face while standing in the on-deck circle, causing multiple fractures.

What did you think I meant?

Kyle Schwarber smoked this at 116.8 mph off the bat, allowing runners to score from second and third.

The Diamondbacks only just took the field in San Diego, yet their playoff hopes have already suffered a big blow.

Possibly for the last time in a major league uniform? Max Scherzer hasn't yet made that determination, but it does seem possible that the 42-year-old will call it a career.

For what it's worth, it might make his decision easier if he gets the 11 strikeouts he needs to get past Justin Verlander on the all-time leaderboard.

J.T. Realmuto had been mired in an 0-for-34 slump before doubling home Edmundo Sosa. Victor Mesa Jr. didn't take a good route, but that thing was scorched at 110.5 mph.

This was after Bryce Harper had struck out looking, so good on Bryson Stott to bail him out with two down in the inning.

This makes Francisco Lindor one of only three primary shortstops to top the 300-home run threshold, joining Cal Ripken Jr. (431) and Miguel Tejada (307).

For those who are wondering: Alex Rodriguez was not technically a primary shortstop, but he did hit 344 home runs as a shortstop.

If the Phillies are going to clinch a playoff spot today, it would help to get a vintage start from Zack Wheeler. It seems he's gotten the message, as he made quick work of three really good Rays hitters in the first.

For the AL West

The Astros hold the tiebreaker, courtesy of a 9-4 record against the Rangers in the regular season.

For the NL Wild Card

The Diamondbacks hold the tiebreaker. They and the Phillies split six games during the regular season, so the tiebreaker is determined by intra-division records. Arizona went 32-19 in the NL West, while the Phillies went 28-24 in the NL East.