New York Mets secure baseball wild card

Sunday, 2 October 2016:

The New York Mets have clinched a Major League Baseball playoff berth, defeating the Philadelphia Phillies 5-3 to secure the top National League wildcard.

The defending NL champions host San Francisco or St. Louis on Wednesday night at Citi Field, with the winner advancing to face the Chicago Cubs.

James Loney hit a two-run homer to back 43-year-old Bartolo Colon (15-8), and Jeurys Familia closed for his major league-high 51st save.

TJ Rivera, Jose Reyes and Asdrubal Cabrera each had an RBI single.

The only other time the Mets made the post-season in consecutive years was 1999-2000.

New York won the NL East last season and went all the way to the World Series before losing to Kansas City.

Elsewhere, rookie Ty Blach outpitched Clayton Kershaw, and the San Francisco Giants held onto their lead for the last NL playoff spot going into the final day of the regular season, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-0.

The Giants stayed one game ahead of St Louis for the second NL wildcard spot.






AAP