Guardians: Soaked to the skin from being sprayed with Champagne and beer, manager Stephen Vogt stood in the middle of the clubhouse and triumphantly lifted a fake jeweled championship belt over his head like a conquering boxer. The Guardians will fight for a real one in October. Led by their 39-year-old rookie manager, who has pushed all the right buttons for months, and a superb bullpen, the Guardians clinched one of the AL’s six playoff spots on Thursday with a 3-2 win over the Twins — the Guardians’ major league-leading 42nd comeback. A most unexpected season will include a postseason. One of baseball’s youngest teams can end decades of playoff heartbreak for a franchise enduring baseball’s longest active World Series title drought. “This is really special,” said Vogt, a former All-Star catcher who had zero managing experience when the Guardians hired him in November.

Mariners: Logan Gilbert allowed two runs pitching into the sixth inning and reached the 200-strikeout mark for the season, J.P. Crawford had a key two-out RBI single as part of Seattle’s three-run first inning, and the Mariners beat the Yankees 3-2 on Thursday. The Mariners salvaged the final game of the series and stayed on the fringes of the playoff race, pulling within two games of the Twins and Tigers for the final wild-card spot in the American League ahead of a six-game road trip to Texas and Houston. “I don’t think we’re paying too much attention about what’s ahead in terms of the standings,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “I think we’re looking at what we need to do each night, each day. Today we needed to pick up a win. We did.” A day after clinching a postseason berth, the Yankees had their lead in the AL East trimmed to four games after the Orioles’ victory. They also received a major scare from star outfielder Juan Soto in the seventh inning.

Cubs: Jameson Taillon allowed two hits over six innings, Dansby Swanson hit his 16th home run and the Chicago Cubs beat the Washington Nationals 3-1 on Friday to stave off elimination from postseason contention. Pinch-hitter Mike Tauchman had a two-run single in the seventh for the Cubs (79-95), who have eight games left and began the day seven games behind the New York Mets and Arizona for the last NL wild card.Washington has lost five straight games. Taillon (11-8) struck out four, walked two and hit a batter, improving to 3-0 in his last five starts. He stranded the bases loaded in the third when José Tena lined out and he retired his last 10 batters. Tyson Miller retired Dylan Crews on a bases-loaded grounder in the seventh and gave up an eighth-inning homer to James Wood. Porter Hodge pitched a perfect ninth for his seventh save, finishing a five-hitter. Trevor Williams (5-1), returning from a right flexor muscle strain that had sidelined him since May 30, allowed one run and three hits in five innings.