Prince Fielder clubbed three home runs, the last of which, a 2-run shot in
the 7th to break a 4-4 tie and power the Milwaukee Brewers to a 6-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Fielder now has 38 home runs for the season, tying him with Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the NL lead. His 120 runs batted in left him three shy of tying Kemp for the NL lead.
Rickie Weeks also clubbed his 20th homer in the win. His 470 foot shot kept the Brewers 1-game in front of the Arizona Diamondbacks for the #2 seed in the National League Playoffs. The Brewers still need to win tonight, or get Arizona to lose its final game, to assure the Brewers lock up the #2 seed.
The rest of the playoff field is still up in the air in both leagues because both wildcard races are going down to the final day.
In the National League, St. Louis won and Atlanta lost last night, which means the two teams are tied for the wildcard lead.
The Rays and Red Sox are also even in the American League wildcard race after both teams won last night.
Bud Selig’s decision to add the wildcard playoff spots to Major League Baseball’s post-season is looking better and better every year. It was meant to give two more teams a shot in the post season and to create more interest later in the season. It couldn’t have worked out better with both league’s having their wildcard races go right down to the wire.