| The Philadelphia Phillies have qualified for | | | | |
| Major League Baseball playoffs for the first | | | | Arizona had already clinched first place in |
| time since 1993, winning their final game of | | | | the West Division, and the Chicago Cubs |
| the regular season over the visiting | | | | placed first in the Central Division. |
| Washington Nationals, 6-1. | | | | |
| | | | In the American League, the Boston Red Sox |
| The New York Mets could have tied | | | | earned home field advantage throughout the |
| Philadelphia for the National League East | | | | playoffs with a 6-4 victory over the visiting |
| Division and forced a one-game playoff, but | | | | Minnesota Twins. The Cleveland Indians also |
| they lost at home to the Florida Marlins, | | | | finished with 96 wins and 66 losses after 4-2 |
| 8-1. The Mets had a seven-game lead in the | | | | win over the Kansas City Royals, but the Red |
| division as recently as September 12. They | | | | Sox beat Cleveland in five of seven |
| finished with seven games at home and won | | | | head-to-head games to win the tiebreaker. |
| only one of them. | | | | |
| | | | Boston, the East Division champion, takes on |
| The wild-card playoff berth that goes to the | | | | the West Division champion Los Angeles Angels |
| best second-place team in the National League | | | | on Wednesday. Central Division winners |
| is yet to be determined. That is because the | | | | Cleveland will host the wild-card New York |
| San Diego Padres were beaten by the host | | | | Yankees on Thursday. |
| Milwaukee Brewers, 11-6, while Colorado edged | | | | |
| Arizona, 4-3. So Colorado will host San Diego | | | | Some information for this report provided by |
| in a one-game playoff Monday to decide which | | | | AP. |
| goes to the post-season. | | | | |