It was a rough weekend in the Bronx, the Yankees losing games and losing ground to the AL leaders. That said, the other teams in the AL Wild Card race have not put much pressure on the Yankees, allowing the Yankees to flail but still hold firm on a playoff spot. With a win to close out their series with Boston with a shred of dignity, New York at last gave themselves a shot to try and gain on the teams in front and create more breathing on those behind them. Let’s see how they fared.
Miami Marlins (61-69) 5, Toronto Blue Jays (76-55) 3
Looking to salvage
the series finale after dropping the first two to Toronto, the Marlins sent Eury Pérez to the mound. The young fireballer was dominant at times as the Marlins avoided a sweep.
Pérez was basically unbothered for six innings, facing just two more than the minimum. He struck out four, allowing just two hits over that span. Pérez led with his four-seamer and slider, as he typically does, those two pitches overpowering the Blue Jays:
Kevin Gausman looked up to the task of matching Pérez, holding the Marlins to one run over the first four frames, but the Marlins surged forward in the fifth. With the bases loaded and one out in the fifth, Jakob Marsee, who always seems to be in the thick of things, stepped to the late. In a 2-2 count, Marsee lined a splitter from Gausman deep in the left-center gap, scoring all three runs:
The Jays would eventually fight back against Pérez. Cruising into the seventh, Pérez gave up a single and a walk before getting pulled for Luke Bachar. The right-hander made a bit of a mess of it, falling behind Daulton Varsho 2-0 and giving up a three-run dinger:
Despite that scare, Bachar recovered to record five outs. The Marlins tacked on a run with Agustin Ramirez’s RBI single in the seventh, and Tyler Phillips preserved the 5-3 lead, earning his second save with a 1-2-3 ninth.
Baltimore Orioles (60-70) 3, Houston Astros (72-59) 2
After a couple of close losses, the Orioles held on to salvage the series finale with the Astros. It was once again Trevor Rogers starring for Baltimore, as the lefty continued his historic run.
Rogers tossed seven innings of one-run ball, striking out nine and walking three. It was his tenth straight start without allowing more than two runs, lowering his ERA just a hair from 1.41 to 1.40, the best ERA an Orioles starter has ever produced through 13 starts. Though he sits just 92 mph on his fastball, Rogers still managed to overpower Houston, racking up eight whiffs just with his four-seamer thanks to excellent command of the pitch at the top of the zone:
Spencer Arrighetti was good for Houston, but narrowly outdueled. He allowed a solo homer to Gunnar Henderson in the first to open the scoring, Henderson’s 16th of the year:
The Astros tallied their only run against Rogers on Jeremy Peña’s RBI single in the third to tie the game, but the O’s nudged in front in the sixth. With two down, Henderson singled and stole second and third, scoring on Ryan Mountcastle’s single, chasing Arrighetti.
Rookie infielder Luis Vázquez hit a solo homer, the first of his career, in the seventh to give Baltimore some needed breathing room. The run came in handy, the Astros stringing together a rally to score a run in the eighth off Yankees legend Rico Garcia, but Keegan Akin came on to record a five-out save.
Kansas City Royals (67-64) 10, Detroit Tigers (78-54) 8
A veteran pitching matchup of Seth Lugo and Jack Flaherty looked promising for the series finale in Detroit. Instead, things went haywire for both right-handers, the Royals ultimately prevailing in a see-saw battle.
For Flaherty, everything came undone in a nightmare third inning. Flaherty was cruising, in possession of a 1-0 lead (thanks to a Riley Greene homer in the second) and having retired the first eight Royals. Nine-hitter Luke Maile singled with two down, which seemed harmless enough. But Flaherty just could not end the inning, suddenly unable to deceive the Royals in the slightest. First, it was a Mike Yastrzemki RBI double, followed by an RBI single from Bobby Witt Jr. Then, Vinnie Pasquantino golfed a breaking pitch from Flaherty high into the right-field seats:
It was suddenly 4-1, but the bleeding didn’t stop there. Maikel Garcia singled, and doubles from Salvador Perez and Adam Frazier put KC up 6-1, all six runs scoring with two outs.
It’s been that kind of season for Flaherty; every time he seems to figure things out, he takes two steps back. And yet, the story has been similar for his counterpart Lugo. The righty had a 3.02 ERA when the Royals decided to hold onto him at the trade deadline, but he’s been very up-and-down since, allowing seven runs in two of his last three starts before Sunday. Gifted a five-run advantage, Lugo turned in another clunker.
In the bottom of the fourth, Lugo loaded the bases with a walk, single, and hit-by-pitch. Jahmai Jones laced a double to center, clearing the bases, Zach McKinstry impressively scoring from first on a ball that didn’t get by the center fielder:
Detroit put up another three-spot in the fifth. Wenceel Pérez hit a solo homer, Dillon Dingler doubled home a run, and an RBI single from McKinstry shockingly had the Tigers in front 7-6. Nearly all the damage was charged to Lugo, whose line read six runs, six hits, and two walks in 4.1 innings.
And of course, Flaherty gave it right back. Flaherty came out for the sixth and allowed the first two hitters to reach before being pulled for Tyler Holton. The reliever gave up a two-run single to Kyle Isbel to put the Royals right back in front. Isbel advanced to third on a sac bunt, then scored on a wild pitch from Holton, and KC led 9-7.
This time, the Tigers didn’t quite have a comeback. Garcia and Spencer Torkelson exchanged late solo homers, and that concluded the scoring. Carlos Estévez pitched a perfect ninth for his 34th save as the Royals avoided the sweep.
Other Games
Texas Rangers (66-66) 5, Cleveland Guardians (64-65) 0
The flat-lining Guardians look ready to go into that good night, getting shutout twice this weekend en route to getting swept by the Rangers. Merrill Kelly turned in his best start as a Ranger, striking out eight Guardians and walking two over seven shutout. Texas put up a four-spot in the fourth, and it was all they needed, Rowdy Tellez hitting a two-run homer and Wyatt Langford adding a two-run single. Gavin Williams lasted just 3.1 innings, yielding three runs. Cleveland has lost five in a row, while Texas nudges in front of them, still four games back of a playoff spot.
Seattle Mariners (70-60) 11, Athletics (60-72) 4
Lefty Jacob Lopez has had a very nice season for the A’s, coming into yesterday’s game with a 3.28 ERA. For a day though, Seattle made him wear it. The Mariners brutalized Lopez for nine runs in two-plus innings, tallying a two in the first, three in the second, and six in the third as Seattle opened up an 11-1 lead for Logan Gilbert. Cal Raleigh was sensational once again, smashing two homers to bring him to 49 on the season. Not to be outdone, Gilbert was spectacular, striking out 13 over six one-hit innings, the only hit and run he allowed a solo homer to Jacob Wilson.
