Jeff McNeil sits in Mets' finale, still wins NL batting crown

NEW YORK — Jeff McNeil, held out of the New York Mets' regular-season finale Wednesday against Washington, officially won the National League batting title after the Los Angeles Dodgers' Freddie Freeman came up short in his bid to overtake McNeil on the last day of the season.

Mets manager Buck Showalter said it was his decision to sit McNeil as New York prepped for a wild-card playoff series versus the San Diego Padres that begins Friday night.

«Wouldn't put that on him,» Showalter said. «The most important thing is Friday. Everything else takes second.»

McNeil finishes with a .326 average — one point ahead of Freeman — after playing both ends of a doubleheader Tuesday and going 3-for-8 with a home run and a walk against the Nationals.

New York was eliminated from the NL East race during the second game when first-place Atlanta beat Miami. But even after Showalter pulled most of his regulars with a large lead, McNeil remained in the game and flied out twice in rainy conditions.

Needing to go 4-for-4 on Wednesday against the Colorado Rockies in order to catch McNeil, Freeman doubled and homered in his first two at-bats, but a flyout to the warning track in center field in the fifth ended his hopes.

Freeman hit .325 for the season and finishes with 199 base hits and 100 RBIs. Freeman's 393-foot drive to left tied the game 1-all with two outs in the third. He singled in a run in the seventh.

«I was close,» Freeman said. «I gave it a run.»

Los Angeles had already clinched the NL West title and home-field advantage through the World Series. The Dodgers beat the Rockies 6-1 for their 111th victory, becoming the National League's winningest team in more than a century.

McNeil becomes the first Mets player to lead the majors in