Wednesday was a big day for several teams around the American League. The Yankees took home a huge win against the White Sox, fueled by a couple of Aaron Judge homers, and with the Jays losing, the East
becomes all the more interesting. With the Guardians and Tigers squaring off once again, the top of the Central was also up for grabs to the winner. Let’s take a look at the massive day of American League action.
Cleveland Guardians (85-72) 5, Detroit Tigers (85-72) 1
The drama in the American League Central is hitting its peak. After owning as much as a 14-game lead this season, and 9.5 games to start September, the Tigers are officially in second place in the division. The Guardians will still have work to do, but for now, they are responsible for an enormous comeback in the standings.
Cleveland now stands alone in first place thanks to their win on Wednesday. Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the third, a two-run blast from George Valera gave the Guardians a lead they would never surrender.
Tanner Bibee turned in a good start for the Guards in this one, as his six innings of one-run ball was more than enough to get the job done — he allowed five hits and struck out just as many during his outing. José Ramírez added on a bit of final insurance with his two-run double to put his squad up 5-1, as the perennial superstar remains in the middle of this massive run by Cleveland down the stretch.
These two squads will square off for a final time on Thursday, giving the Tigers a chance to redeem themselves and knot up the division once again.
Boston Red Sox (87-71) 7, Toronto Blue Jays (90-68) 1
Once again, the Red Sox did the Yankees a massive favor on Wednesday. With Toronto’s loss and the Yanks’ big win at home, the top of the AL east now features the two squads sharing the top spot.
The Red Sox essentially had control over this one wire to wire. They jumped ahead 3-0 in the top half of the first, thanks to a couple of big hits from Masataka Yoshida and Romy Gonzalez. They’d ride that early lead for a long stretch in this one, with a stellar performance from Garrett Crochet on the mound. The star left-hander weaved his way through eight scoreless innings, striking out six Jays along the way.
Yoshida added on to the Boston lead in the fifth inning with a line drive solo homer, before a three-run blast from Carlos Narváez put this game effectively out of reach for the Jays at 7-0. Max Scherzer took a bit of a beating on the mound for Toronto, allowing four runs on five hits over his five innings of work, as the Jays ultimately dropped another to their division rivals.
Things are now all square at the top of the AL East, with only a handful few games left to play. It looks like this division crown could go down to the last day of the season, if not into tiebreakers.
Seattle Mariners (89-69) 9, Colorado Rockies (43-115) 2
The Mariners continue to finish this season red hot, with yet another win to build on their 16-1 stretch that has put them atop the AL West. They took an easy one against the Rockies on Thursday, but they all count the same, and thanks to the results from Houston coming in just before them, the Mariners locked up the division on Wednesday for the first time in 24 years.
They put a statement out immediately in this one, with Cal Raleigh’s 59th homer of the season starting the scoring — an absolute moonshot. Julio Rodríguez and Jorge Polanco each followed with solo shots, and after one inning the M’s had themselves a 3-0 lead.
Luis Castillo turned in an excellent start in this one, striking out 10 across 7.1 innings of one-run ball. All the while, the Seattle offense was humming, with their historically good catcher leading the way. Raleigh tacked on a two-run double in the second inning, and in the eighth, he broke new ground for his position with his 60th home run of the season.
The Mariners cruised to a rock show of a win in this one, and with the division locked up all eyes now turn towards Cal Raleigh’s attempt to break Aaron Judge’s AL home run record.
Other Games
- Athletics (74-83) 6, Houston Astros (84-73) 0: The Astros are in trouble here in the regular season’s final days. With another loss to the A’s on Thursday, they actually fall a full game out of a playoff spot, with an uphill battle facing them. Houston managed just four hits and no runs against Luis Severino and company, as they’ve gone cold at the wrong time.
