Rafaela hits walk-off triple as Red Sox book MLB playoff berth

The Boston Red Sox clinched their first Major League Baseball post-season berth since 2021 on Friday as Ceddanne Rafaela belted a walk-off triple to seal a 4-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

The Red Sox erased 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 last two American League wild card berths with two games remaining in the regular season.

Boston trailed 3-2 through seven innings. Jarren Duran tied it with a run-scoring single in the eighth.

After Romy Gonzalez delivered a one-out single in the ninth Rafaela smashed a ball off the center field wall at Fenway Park to drive in the winning run.

"It's what I dreamed of as a kid," Rafaela said. 

The New York Yankees remained tied for the lead in the American League East with an 8-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

Giancarlo Stanton hit two home runs and Aaron Judge added another for the playoff-bound Yankees, who remained tied atop the division with the Toronto Blue Jays, who beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2.

The New York Mets' post-season hopes took another hit as they fell 6-2 to the Marlins in Miami.

The defeat, coupled with Cincinnati's 3-1 victory over the Brewers, saw the Reds pull level in the race for the final National League wild card spot, with the Reds owning the tiebreaker.

The Chicago Cubs inched closer to securing home field advantage in the National League wild card round with a 12-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in Chicago.

Pete Crowe-Armstrong hit one of Chicago's four home runs to become the first Cubs player with 30 homers, 30 doubles and 30 stolen bases in a season.

Michael Bush, Nico Hoerner and Seiya Suzuki also homered, Suzuki hitting a grand slam in a seven-run seventh inning that essentially sealed the win.

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