The MLB Trade Deadline has officially ignited into flames, a flurry of trades late on Wednesday promising a thrilling deadline today. The crown jewel of the deadline swapped teams, Eugenio Suárez rejoining the Mariners, while several of the marquee bullpen names headed to contenders including Jhoan Duran and Ryan Helsley. While all that excitement was going on, the Yankees won an extra-inning thriller over the Rays, their trade acquisition Ryan McMahon coming through with the final big hit of the night,
an 11th inning walk-off single to steal a 5-4 victory.
That was far from all the drama involving the Yankees’ AL rivals, so let’s see how the rest of the games unfolded around the league.
Toronto Blue Jays (64-46) 9, Baltimore Orioles (50-59) 8
The Yankees’ wasn’t the only topsy turvy contest of the night, the Blue Jays overcoming multiple deficits and then holding on late to outlast the Orioles. Ryan O’Hearn figures to be one of the most sought-after left-handed bats in the coming hours and he showed why, giving the Orioles an early three-run lead with a two-run homer in the first after Jackson Holliday led off with a single, Gunnar Henderson reached on an error, and Adley Rutschman opened the scoring with a sac fly. Myles Straw responded with his own two-run homer the following inning to immediately narrow that deficit.
Baltimore’s lead remained at one through the middle innings, a Jordan Westburg two-run homer in the fifth after Alex Jackson led off with a double nullified by a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. RBI single in the fifth and Straw RBI double in the sixth. Everything unraveled for Baltimore when reliever Yennier Cano entered the game in the sixth, the righty giving up five runs on four hits and recording just one out. Joey Loperfido and Ernie Clement led off with a pair of singles and Bo Bichette singled to drive in the pair. An Addison Barger hit-by-pitch put another pair on and Nathan Lukes brought the slug this time with a three-run no-doubter.
The Orioles fought back valiantly in the bottom half but the comeback fell agonizingly short. Holliday, Westburg, and Henderson clubbed three consecutive singles to score a run. A fielding error by Clement at first allowed Rutschman to reach and Westburg to score. Reliever Yariel Rodríguez then walked O’Hearn to load the bases and Colton Cowser to bring the Orioles within one, but Cedric Mullins and Ramón Laureano struck out to strand the bases loaded in what could be the pair’s final ABs as Orioles.
Detroit Tigers (64-46) 7, Arizona Diamondbacks (51-58) 2
Just two days after he was acquired from the Twins, Chris Paddack turned in one of the best starts of his season, holding Arizona to a run on three hits and no walks with five strikeouts across six innings. The two sides traded runs in the third and fourth, Kerry Carpenter opening the scoring with an RBI triple before Geraldo Perdomo responded with an RBI single an inning later.
But then some sloppy defense paired with mounting pressure from the Tigers offense caused the dam to break in the middle innings, Detroit scoring three in each of the fifth and sixth. Jake Rogers reached on a error from Perdomo followed by a Colt Keith single in the fifth to tee up a three-run bomb from Carpenter. Then in the sixth, Wenceel Pérez and Zach McKinstry clubbed a pair of one-out doubles for one run and Jake Rogers a two-run homer to wrap up the scoring.
Perhaps this loss was the final confirmation Arizona needed to initiate the sell-off, because Suárez was dealt to Seattle just hours after the final out was recorded.
Boston Red Sox (59-51) 13, Minnesota Twins (51-57) 1
The Twins players looked deflated with the team’s fire sale in full swing, giving up a baker’s dozen runs to the Red Sox. The teams traded solo home runs in the second inning, first from Trevor Story and then answered by Matt Wallner, but the rest of the game was all Red Sox. An Abraham Toro sac fly in the third gave them the lead and they took off from there.
That started with a four-run fifth, Connor Wong leading off with a single and scoring on a Roman Anthony double. Jarren Duran singled to bring Anthony home and Story and Romy Gonzalez drew a pair of walks to load the bases, and Masataka Yoshida grounded a single just past the diving try of Kody Clemens to score a pair. Two more would score in the sixth as Anthony was hit by a pitch and Duran got revenge with a two-run blast.
With their opponents already down and out, the Red Sox rubbed salt into the wound with a five-run ninth facing Clemens on the mound. Duran doubled to lead off, advanced to third on a David Hamilton single, and scored on a Wilyer Abreu single. This brought Gonzalez to the plate with two on, and he launched a three-run bomb, only to watch Yoshida go back-to-back for the 13th and final run.
Houston Astros (62-47) 9, Washington Nationals (44-64) 1
You might’ve thought the Nationals had a good chance in this game with ace MacKenzie Gore on the mound against rookie Ryan Gusto, but it was Gusto who triumphed with six innings of one-run ball. The two sides traded runs early, Cam Smith opening the scoring in the first with a sac fly before Daylen Lile responded with a sac fly of his own in the second. However, the Astros offense couldn’t be stopped from there.
Mauricio Dubón drew a leadoff walk in the second and a Zack Short single put runners on the corners for Altuve, who blasted a three-run bomb over the Crawford Boxes. Things really got out of hand in the sixth, Dubón reaching on a single and scoring on a Cooper Hummel homer. Short then walked and Altuve singled — his franchise-record 41st four-hit game — to set up a mammoth three-run tank from Yainer Diaz.
Other Games
- Texas Rangers (57-52) 6, Los Angeles Angels (53-56) 3
The Rangers continue to scratch and claw to keep their playoff hopes alive, Nathan Eovaldi giving them seven innings of one-run ball to kick things off. José Soriano matched him with seven innings of one-run ball, as this game would come down to a bullpen implosion that allowed four Rangers to score in the eighth. Adolis García’s two run homer was the big blow of that outburst, and Marcus Semien also had a big night going 3-for-5 with two runs scored.
- Athletics (48-63) 5, Seattle Mariners (57-52) 4
The Mariners might have lost, but I’m sure they’re feeling quite thrilled as an organization to have landed Suárez and his 36 home runs and 143 wRC+. All but one run in this game was scored via the home run, Miguel Andújar having the biggest night with a pair of solo shots while Brent Rooker and Darell Hernaiz came through with solo blasts of their own to pad the A’s lead. Jorge Polanco launched a two-run blast in the seventh and Randy Arozarena hit a solo shot in the ninth to draw within one, but the A’s held on to win despite holding closer Mason Miller out of the game with interest in the young flamethrower snowballing in the final 24 hours of the deadline.
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