Enrique Hernandez’s 9th-inning double gives Dodgers win over Mariners

Enrique Hernandez’s two-run double with one out in the ninth inning broke a tie as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the host Seattle Mariners 5-3 on Saturday night in a matchup of playoff teams.

Dalton Rushing homered for the National League West champion Dodgers (92-69), who won their fourth consecutive game. The Dodgers are already locked into the NL’s No. 3 seed and will play in the wild-card round.

Jorge Polanco went deep for the American League West champion Mariners (90-71), who lost their second in a row following a 17-1 stretch. Seattle has clinched the AL’s No. 2 seed and will get a first-round bye.

Mariners closer Andres Munoz (3-3) walked the first two batters in the ninth, Michael Conforto and Alex Call, before Miguel Rojas hit a soft grounder to first base to advance both runners. Hernandez then lined a ball that one-hopped off the wall in the left field corner to score both runners.

Dodgers left-hander Alex Vesia (4-2) struck out the side in the eighth to earn the victory, and Edgardo Henriquez worked the ninth for his first save of the season.

It was scoreless until the fifth when Rojas hit a one-out double and, an out later, Rushing went deep to right off Mariners starter Logan Gilbert.

The Mariners got those runs back plus one more in the bottom of the inning. Randy Arozarena led off with an infield single before being forced out at second when second baseman Rojas let Cal Raleigh’s pop-up drop. Julio Rodriguez lined a single to right before Polanco lined a three-run shot off Dodgers reliever Andrew Heaney that just cleared the fence in the left field corner.

The Dodgers tied it at 3-3 in the seventh as Conforto led off with a bloop single to shallow left and took third on Hernandez’s two-out single to right. The run scored on a wild pitch by Logan Evans.

Gilbert went five innings and allowed two runs on four hits, with one walk and five strikeouts.

Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow pitched three scoreless innings, giving up three hits with one walk and three strikeouts.

Wacha blanks A’s for 6 innings in Royals’ win

Michael Wacha threw six scoreless innings to help the visiting Kansas City Royals to a 4-2 win against the Athletics on Saturday night in Sacramento, Calif.

Wacha (10-13) had lost his last two starts and four of five, but limited the A’s to two hits while striking out five and walking three.

Mike Yastrzemski had two hits and scored twice, Bobby Witt Jr. delivered two hits and an RBI and Vinnie Pasquantino contributed one hit and two RBIs for the Royals (81-80), who will try to win their third straight series and finish the season over .500 on Sunday.

A’s starter Luis Morales (4-3) surrendered three runs (two earned) and five hits in 4 2/3 innings. The right-hander struck out five and walked two.

Shea Langeliers had three hits and an RBI for the A’s (76-85), who won the series opener 4-3 on Friday night and 10 of 14 overall entering Saturday.

Yastrzemski doubled to start the game and he took third on an infield single by Witt.

On Witt’s steal of second base, a throwing error by Langeliers behind the plate allowed Yastrzemski to score for a 1-0 lead.

Michael Massey led off the fifth with a single to center for Kansas City. John Rave struck out swinging, but Yastrzemski delivered another base hit to center, bringing up Pasquantino, who doubled in both base runners to extend the lead to 3-0.

John Schreiber started the seventh for Kansas City and surrendered a two-out single to Darell Hernaiz before Carlos Cortes doubled into the right-center-field gap to cut the lead to 3-1.

Angel Zerpa entered and got the final out of the inning. He then came back out for the eighth and gave up a leadoff single to Nick Kurtz and an RBI double down the right field line by Langeliers to cut the lead to 3-2.

Padres put on power display in downing Dbacks

Fernando Tatis Jr., Xander Bogaerts and Elias Diaz all homered Saturday night as the San Diego Padres eased to a 5-1 win over the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks.

Playing a few hours after the Chicago Cubs clinched home-field advantage for their National League wild-card series starting on Tuesday, San Diego (89-72) used the game as the first of two tune-ups for postseason play.

Starting pitcher Michael King was hooked after 2 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and two walks while fanning three. Yuki Matsui (3-1), the first of five relievers, worked 2 1/3 innings to earn the win.

Eduardo Rodriguez (9-9) allowed five runs on six hits in six innings for Arizona, walking one and striking out six.

Astros beat Angels, 6-1

Christian Walker hit a pair of solo home runs on Saturday to help the visiting Houston Astros post a 6-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on a night that saw Houston eliminated from postseason contention.

Despite the win, the Cleveland Guardians’ 3-2 victory over the Texas Rangers and the Detroit Tigers’ 2-1 triumph over the Boston Red Sox confirmed the American League’s wild-card teams, leaving the Astros out of the postseason for the first time since 2016.

Zach Cole and Jesus Sanchez also homered and drove in two for Houston (86-75), which will finish its season Sunday afternoon against the Angels. AJ Blubaugh threw four scoreless innings for the Astros, allowing one hit, while walking four and striking out two. J.P. France (1-0) allowed one run on two hits in three innings of relief, striking out five and walking one.

Caden Dana (0-4) threw seven innings for Los Angeles, surrendering five runs on five hits, striking out five and walking one. Jo Adell’s RBI double in the sixth accounted for the entirety of the Angels’ (72-89) offense.

Los Angeles will miss the postseason for the 11th straight year.

After Yainer Diaz singled with one out in the second, Cole clubbed the fourth homer of his rookie campaign to give the Astros a 2-0 edge.