Lionel Messi recorded a hat trick and added an assist and Baltasar Rodriguez scored the tiebreaking goal as visiting Inter Miami used a second-half assault to defeat Nashville SC 5-2 in a Decision Day matchup on Saturday night.
Telasco Segovia also scored for Inter Miami (19-7-8, 65 points), who won their third straight game. Miami will be the No. 3 seed for the Eastern Conference playoffs and faces a rematch with No. 6 Nashville in the first round.
Sam Surridge and Jacob Shaffelburg scored goals for Nashville (16-12-6, 54 points), which didn't allow a shot over the first 34 minutes before being badly exposed in the second half.
Messi finishes the regular season with 29 goals while all but clinching the Golden Boot. Surridge and Los Angeles FC's Denis Bouanga each have 24 with the latte