Dodgers, Yankees win final two division titles, but four MLB playoff spots remain

Sept. 27 (UPI) -- The Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees, the respective National League and American League wins leaders, earned the final two division titles of the MLB season, but four of 12 playoff spots are still up for grabs.

Pitcher Gerrit Cole allowed just two hits over 6 2/3 shutout innings, while Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge and Alex Verdugo homered to spark a 10-1 Yankees win over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday in New York.

The victory clinched the American League East crown for the Yankees, the fifth of six division-title playoff placements.

"We were just focused on getting the job done," Cole told reporters.

Hours later, the Dodgers earned the final division-winner placement with a 7-2 thrashing of the San Diego Padres on Thursday in Los Angeles. The win gave Los Angeles its 11th National League West crown in 12 years.

Catcher Will Smith and outfielder Andy Pages homered to help win the game. Dodgers starter Walker Buehler allowed five hits and one run over five innings.

Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman rolled his right ankle in the game, but is expected to be ready for the playoffs, which will start Tuesday with the Wild Card Series.

The Philadelphia Phillies (94-65) and Milwaukee Brewers (91-68) earned other National League division titles, capturing respective crowns in the East and Central divisions. The Padres (91-68), who are four games behind the Dodgers (95-64), clinched one of the National League's three wild card placements.

The New York Mets (87-70) and Arizona Diamondbacks (88-71) currently hold the other two wild card spots in the National League. The Atlanta Braves (86-71) are one game back in that race and are the only other National League team in contention.

In the American League, the Cleveland Guardians (92-67) and Houston Astros (86-73) earned the other two division-winner placements, with crowns in the Central and West divisions.

The Baltimore Orioles (88-71), who sit five games behind the Yankees (93-65) in the East, are the only American League team to clinch a wild card slot.

The Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals -- both 85-74 -- currently hold wild card slots. The Minnesota Twins (82-77) are three games back in that race.

The Tigers will host the Chicago White Sox (39-120) -- who are tied 1962 New York Mets for the most losses in MLB's modern era -- in their final three games of the season. They can clinch a wild card slot with one more win, or a Twins loss.

The Twins can only clinch a wild card spot with a season-ending sweep of the Orioles and a White Sox sweep of the Tigers or Braves sweep of the Royals.

The Braves will play a doubleheader against the Mets on Monday -- the day after the final scheduled slate of the MLB regular season. Those games were rescheduled because of Hurricane Helene.

The Braves and Mets each have tiebreakers over the Diamondbacks for a playoff spot. The Mets need to sweep the doubleheader to earn a tiebreaker over the Braves.

The Tigers and Royals could clinch playoff spots as early as Friday. The Tigers will host the White Sox at 6:40 p.m. EDT Friday in Detroit. The Braves will host the Royals at 7:20 p.m. in Atlanta.

The Brewers will host the Mets at 8:10 p.m. in Milwaukee. The Diamondbacks will face the Padres at 9:40 p.m. in Phoenix.