Bryson Stott crushed the second grand slam in Philadelphia Phillies postseason history and Aaron Nola tossed seven shutout innings resulting in a 7-1 win and a two-game sweep over the Miami Marlins in their NL Wild Card Series.
J.T. Realmuto also homered as the Phillies advanced to another best-of-five Division Series against Ronald Acuña Jr., Matt Olson and the Braves. Game 1 is Saturday in Atlanta.
The NL champion Phillies finished third last season in the NL East at 87-75, a full 14 games behind the 101-win Braves, only to beat them in four games in the NLDS. The Braves were even better this season with a major league-best 104 wins and a sixth straight NL East crown — clinched last month in Philadelphia — while the Phillies again earned a wild card with 90 wins.
The Texas Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-1 to finish a two-game AL Wild Card Series sweep.
Adolis Garcia and Evan Carter homered off Zach Eflin, a 16-game winner unable to save Tampa Bay’s season.
Nathan Eovaldi gave Texas an outstanding pitching performance. The Rays’ scoreless streak reached 33 innings, one shy of the postseason record held by the 1966-74 Los Angeles Dodgers, before Curtis Mead’s RBI single in the seventh.
Texas heads to Baltimore, where the Rangers begin a Division Series against the AL East champion Orioles on Saturday.
Zac Gallen pitched the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 5-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night and a sweep of their NL Wild Card Series.
It’s the first NL Division Series for the franchise since 2017. The Diamondbacks will take on the NL West champion Dodgers in the opener of their best-of-five series on Saturday in Los Angeles.
The NL Central champion Brewers have dropped nine of their last 10 playoff games, a stretch that started with their Game 7 home loss to the Dodgers in the 2018 NL Championship Series.
Carlos Correa had an RBI single and a quick-twitch tag on a pivotal pickoff throw from Sonny Gray, and the Minnesota Twins swept the Toronto Blue Jays with a 2-0 win in Game 2 of the AL Wild Card Series.
The Twins advanced — for the first time in 21 years — to play the defending World Series champion Astros. Game 1 of the best-of-five AL Division Series is in Houston on Saturday.
**Correa spent seven seasons with the Astros. He signed with Minnesota in 2022 and re-upped for $200 million this year after agreed-to deals with the Giants and Mets fell apart over concern about an old ankle injury.
Correa helped Houston reach three World Series, winning it all in 2017.
