Ramon Laureano hit a solo home run in the third inning and the Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners 1-0 on Saturday night, clinching home-field advantage for the American League wild-card game.

The A's will host the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday night. Tampa Bay lost 4-1 at Toronto earlier Saturday. Oakland has won three of its last four games and is 18-7 in September.

Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander reached a pair of milestones Saturday night, becoming the 18th major league pitcher to reach 3,000 career strikeouts and the 19th in the modern era (since 1900) to record 300 strikeouts in a season.

Mets slugger Pete Alonso hit his 53rd home run of the season Saturday night, breaking the MLB rookie record Yankees star Aaron Judge set in 2017.

A 24-year-old who debuted on Opening Day, Alonso launched a 93 mph fastball on a 1-2 count from Atlanta Braves right-hander Mike Foltynewicz just to the right of straightaway center field. The solo shot gave New York a 3-0 lead in the third inning, which would hold as the final score.

Twins slugger Nelson Cruz hit his 400th career home run, becoming the 57th player in major league history to reach the mark.

Cruz connected in the fourth inning Sunday for his 40th homer of the season. He became the third player in Twins history to hit 40 home runs in a season, joining Harmon Killebrew and Brian Dozier.

"It's nice to do it in front of the fans. I think they deserve it,'' Cruz said. "They've been such a big influence for us as a team. They come up every day with that energy.''

Paul Goldschmidt and the Cardinals celebrated the franchise's first postseason berth in four years with a champagne toast in the clubhouse.

Goldschmidt hit a tie-breaking double in the ninth inning and the Cardinals clinched a playoff spot by rallying past the Cubs 3-2 on Sunday for their first four-game sweep at Wrigley Field in almost a century.

"Just relentless on our guys' part," manager Mike Shildt said. "That's the way we play baseball. That's the way we compete."

George Springer, Justin Verlander and the Astros put a check mark in the September box.

"You can't ever take the first goal for granted," Verlander said. "I know everybody says we're going to win the World Series, but you can't do that without this first. So, step one complete. Now we have the divisional round coming up and we'll ... prepare for that and try to win 11 games."

Springer hit a career-high three homers, Verlander posted his MLB-leading 20th win and the Astros secured the division crown in grand fashion, routing the Angels 13-5.

Houston Astros right-hander Gerrit Cole became the 18th major league pitcher since 1900 to strike out at least 300 batters in a season Wednesday night.

Cole reached the milestone by getting Shin-Soo Choo of the visiting Texas Rangers to whiff on an 89 mph changeup to end the sixth inning. It was Cole's eighth strikeout of the game.

The San Francisco Giants helped manager Bruce Bochy reach yet another milestone before his retirement at the end of the season.

San Francisco's 11-3 rout of the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night was Bochy's 2,000th career victory as a manager in the majors.

"I've been lucky. I've been blessed to have been doing this this long. That's what it means," Bochy said.

Ronald Acuna Jr. ignited a four-run rally with the go-ahead, two-run double, as the NL East leading Braves clinched a playoff berth with a 10-1 victory over the Nationals on Saturday.

Acuna Jr.'s double down the left-field line off of Nationals reliever Fernando Rodney added fuel to a dramatic seventh inning for the Braves (93-57), who reduced their magic number to four to clinch their 19th division title.

The win eliminated the Phillies from winning the NL East.

Gerrit Cole celebrated his 29th birthday by allowing one hit with 15 strikeouts in a season-high eight innings, and the Astros routed Felix Hernandez and the Mariners 21-1 on Sunday to complete a four-game sweep.

Cole (16-5) won his 12th straight decision and joined Pedro Martinez as the only pitchers in major league history with 14 or more strikeouts in three straight games. Cole leads the major league with a career-high 281 strikeouts, and his 2.73 ERA in second in the AL behind the 2.52 for teammate Justin Verlander.