Tigers, Cubs, Yankees win wild cards, set Division Series matchups

The MLB Wild Card round concluded Thursday, producing three winner-take-all games and setting the matchups for the Division Series beginning Saturday. The Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees emerged from the knockout round to join the already-waiting Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies in the next stage of the postseason.

Detroit closed out its wild-card series against the Cleveland Guardians with a 6-3 win in the decisive Game 3. The Tigers broke the game open with a four-run seventh inning, turning a close contest into a decisive victory. Dillon Dingler supplied a key blow, homering in the sixth inning off Joey Cantillo, and Detroit’s offense capitalized in the late frames after struggling with runners in scoring position earlier in the series. Guardians manager decisions and late-inning baserunning miscues, including a costly out by José Ramírez, contributed to Cleveland’s inability to recover.

The Guardians had rallied in Game 2 to force a deciding contest, highlighted by September call-up Chase DeLauter making his major league debut in the postseason. DeLauter became one of the few players to debut in the...