THE SAN FRANCISCO Giants collapsed after leading MLB at the All-Star break, but the club avoided a worst-case scenario after sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers at AT&T Park on Sunday to clinch the second wild-card spot.
Behind eight innings of three-hit ball from southpaw Matt Moore, the Giants topped the Dodgers 7-1 and will face the Mets in New York on Wednesday as the club looks for a fourth World Series title in even-numbered years.
The Giants’ win also meant the St. Louis Cardinals were eliminated despite a 10-4 victory over Pittsburgh Pirates and will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2010.
In all, postseason chaos was averted as the Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers each lost in the American League to Toronto Blue Jays and Atlanta Braves respectively, meaning no make-up game or play-in game for the wild card is needed.
Instead, the Indians will host the Red Sox in Game 1 of the AL Division Series on Thursday and the Blue Jays will host the Orioles Tuesday.
Catcher Matt Wieters went 2 for 4 with two homers and four RBIs as Baltimore clinched the second AL wild-card spot with a win over the New York Yankees. He finishes the regular season with a .243/.302/.409 slash line, with 17 homers and 66 RBIs.
The 2016 MLB postseason kicks off Tuesday in Toronto after both the O’s and Blue Jays tied with a regular-season record of 89-73.
Because Toronto had a better head-to-head regular season record, they will host the wild-card game. The winner faces top-seeded Texas Rangers on Thursday in Arlington.
Have a lot of time for Benitez, won a good few trophies at liverpool and Valencia plus the Europa cup at Chelsea. A very underrated and highly talented manager. All his are always very competitive and I think he makes most teams better. Would love to see him back in the premier league.
Nope there’s enough b*llsh*ters managing in the pl look at chelski!
Qctually would love to see him take the reigns at Spurs! He knows what it takes to manage in the premiership, unfortunately I don’t think levy would go for him.
Rafa would be too strong a personality for Levy. He doesn’t hd back with the media but he does talk some sh!t3 on occasion….. FACT!
Hope he takes over at PSG if Blanc leaves or gets sacked. I think that would be the club for him and I think he could be the one to win the Champions League with them