ST. LOUIS (AP) — Daniel Ponce de Leon pitched one-hit ball over six innings, Tommy Edman hit a two-run homer and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 9-1 to split their pivotal doubleheader. In the opener, Christian Yelich homered and Brent Suter combined with Devin Williams and Josh Hader on a five-hitter for the Brewers in a 3-0 win. Both teams are among six NL clubs still vying for two open postseason spots. Milwaukee is two games behind St. Louis, and the Cardinals are percentage points behind Cincinnati for second place in the NL Central. The Reds clinched a playoff berth later Friday.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Brad Keller threw six scoreless innings, Adalberto Mondesi had three hits and an RBI as the Kansas City Royals held off the Detroit Tigers 3-2. Keller gave up four singles and struck out five in six innings. The eighth-round draft pick in 2013 closed out the season allowing one run in 33 innings pitched at home. The Royals have won three in a row. The Tigers have lost eight of nine.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — For all the publicity that Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes gets for his strong arm, what often gets overlooked are his legs. He may not be predecessor Alex Smith or Ravens signal caller Lamar Jackson, whom the Chiefs face Monday night, but Mahomes is dangerous enough on the ground to keep defenses honest. He scrambled for a couple of crucial first downs in rallying the Chiefs past the Chargers last weekend, just as he did against the 49ers in the Super Bowl in February.
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — The Boston Celtics have forced a Game 6 in the NBA's Eastern Conference finals by dominating the third quarter of a 121-108 win over the Miami Heat. The Celtics trailed by seven before outscoring the Heat 41-25 in the third period of a 121-108 win against Miami. Jayson Tatum scored 17 of his 31 points in the third quarter and finished with 10 rebounds.
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Kevin Shattenkirk’s power-play goal 6:34 into overtime sent the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 5-4 win and a three-games-to-one lead over Dallas in the Stanley Cup final. Brayden Point scored twice for Tampa Bay, which spotted Dallas a 2-0 lead before netting three goals on power plays. Stars forward Joe Pavelski forced OT midway through the third with his second goal of the game, which also tied him with Joe Mullen for most career playoff goals by a US-born player.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Miami Marlins beat the New York Yankees, 4-3 in 10 innings to clinch an improbable NL playoff berth in their coronavirus-decimated season. Jesús Aguilar hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the 10th to put the Marlins ahead. Brandon Kintzler closed out the win by getting AL batting leader DJ LeMahieu to ground into a game-ending double play.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Cincinnati's 7-2 win over Minnesota allowed the Reds to clinch their first NL playoff berth since 2013. Mike Moustakas (moos-TAH’-kahs) homered twice and Freddy Galvis (GAL’-vees) hit a solo shot to help the Reds move two games above .500 for the first time since May 13, 2017. The Twins' lead in the AL Central is one game over Cleveland and the Chicago White Sox.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The Houston Astros backed into a playoff berth with the Los Angeles Angels’ 9-5 loss to the Dodgers. Justin Turner homered twice and the Dodgers also received longballs from AJ Pollock, Will Smith and Edwin Ríos. Joey Gallo drove home the winning run on a fielder’s-choice grounder in the 10th inning for a 5-4 Rangers win over Houston.
FRIDAY SCORES
INTERLEAGUE
Final Tampa Bay 6 Philadelphia 4
Final Miami 4 N.Y. Yankees 3
Final Cleveland 4 Pittsburgh 3
Final Atlanta 8 Boston 7
Final Chicago Cubs 10 Chicago White Sox 0
Final Cincinnati 7 Minnesota 2
Final L.A. Dodgers 9 L.A. Angels 5
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Toronto 10 Baltimore 5
Final Kansas City 3 Detroit 2
Final Texas 5 Houston 4
Final Oakland 3 Seattle 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE
N-Y Mets at Washington 6:35 p.m. (Postponed)
Final Milwaukee 3 St. Louis 0
Final Arizona 4 Colorado 0
Final San Francisco 5 San Diego 4
Final St. Louis 9 Milwaukee 1
Final San Diego 6 San Francisco 5
Final Arizona 11 Colorado 5
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Final Boston 121 Miami 108
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final OT Tampa Bay 5 Dallas 4
TOP-25 COLLEGE FOOTBALL
(17)Memphis at UTSA 8 p.m. (Canceled)