MLB: Mets move closer to elimination, Red Sox clinch first playoff berth in years
The New York team now depends on the outcome of other games to advance to the postseason. Ceddanne Rafaela led Boston to victory on a day with wins for the Reds, Bombers and Blue Jays.
Red Sox celebrate postseason qualification.
The Miami Marlins beat the New York Mets 6x2 on Friday, knocking them out of playoff spots with just two games left to play.
The team led by Dominican Juan Soto was ousted from the third National League wild card spot by the Cincinnati Reds, who defeated the already-qualified Milwaukee Brewers 3x1, according to AFP.
The Mets, who no longer depend on themselves to advance to the postseason, let an early 2-0 lead slip away at Miami's LoanDepot Park.
The Queens ninth took that distance in the first inning on a home run by Puerto Rican Francisco Lindor and a run-scoring single by Soto after a double by the team's other starter, Pete Alonso. The visitors were then overwhelmed in an explosive six-run fifth inning by the Marlins, another team already eliminated.
A triple by Dominican Heriberto Hernandez, which drove in scores by Griffin Conine and Troy Johnston, opened the door for the home comeback, capped by a two-run home run by Connor Norby. Soto finished the game with two hits in his four at-bats for the team managed by Venezuelan Carlos Mendoza.
Other results of the day: the Reds, the Bombers...
The Mets' slump was perfectly exploited by Cincinnati with its win in Milwaukee, to which Dominican Miguel Andujar contributed two hits, an RBI and another run scored.
Reds and Mets now have an even 82-78 record, but Cincinnati has the edge in tiebreaker criteria should they finish with the same record at Sunday's regular-season closer.
A premature elimination would be a huge fiasco for a Mets that pulled off the big coup at the start of the season by landing Soto, the most coveted free agent, handing him a $765 million, 15-year contract.
Aaron Judge, the Bronx Bombers star, hit his 52nd homer of the season and remains in fourth place among the majors' top scorers, a list led by Cal Raleigh's (Seattle) 60.
In another outstanding performance on Friday, Mexico's Jonathan Aranda hit a home run, his 13th of the season, in his return to action after a wrist injury that sidelined him for almost two months.
Despite Aranda's hit, and another homer by Dominican Junior Caminero, the Tampa Bay Rays fell to the mighty Toronto Blue Jays 4x2.
Red Sox return to the postseason
They overturned a 3-0 deficit to move two games ahead of the Tigers and 2.5 games ahead of the Houston Astros in the race for the final two wild-card spots with two games left in the regular season.
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