The Yankees continue to close strong, earning another easy win in Baltimore as they take care of business during this soft bit of schedule to end the year. They’re close to clinching a playoff spot, which is job number one, but everyone is keeping a close eye on the state of the AL East race. There’s still loads left up in the air across the AL, with the Yankees trying to walk down the Blue Jays, the Mariners and Astros duking it out for the AL West, and a stunning collapse unfolding in the AL Central.
Let’s go through it all in what was a fun day of American League baseball.
Kansas City Royals (78-77) 2, Toronto Blue Jays (89-66) 1
In this space a day ago, Andrew noted that the score between these two sides was not a typo; the Royals really did win 20-1, not 2-1. Well, on Saturday, the Royals won again, this time actually by the score of 2-1, doing the Yankees a favor in the process.
This was a fairly static contest. The Blue Jays were unable to put multiple runners on in the same inning, going through the game without any sort of rally, while the Royals managed the feat just once. Both starters fared well, Shane Bieber turning in another solid start, two runs over 6.1 innings, while impressive Royals rookie Noah Cameron allowed just one run over 6.2 innings.
All the offense came on dingers. For Kansas City, it was a back-to-back job in the fourth. Bobby Witt Jr. led off with his 23rd of the year:
And Vinnie Pasquantino followed with his 31st dinger:
That gave the Royals a 2-0 lead they wouldn’t relinquish. The only run Toronto managed came on a Daulton Varsho solo homer in the seventh, which chased Cameron. KC’s bullpen was strong, John Schreiber recording the final out of the seventh, Taylor Clarke handling the eighth, and Carlos Estévez pitching the ninth for his 41st save. Toronto has lost three in a row and now leads the AL East by just two games, though they do have the tiebreaker in hand over the Yankees.
Seattle Mariners (86-69) 6, Houston Astros (84-71) 4
This massive series in Houston is swinging Seattle’s way. The Mariners jumped out to a big lead in this one, and held on the end thanks to an absolutely spectacular closing play.
George Kirby was stellar for the Mariners, navigating six shutout innings, striking out seven while walking none. It’s been a perplexing season for the talented right-hander, Kirby mixing a penchant for disastrous starts in with frequent dominance.
On the other side, Framber Valdez continued to struggle, serving up five runs over 4.2 innings. The M’s got him for a run in each of the first three frames: in the first, it was an Eugenio Suárez RBI double, in the second a sac fly from Victor Robles, and in the third, the great Cal Raleigh’s 57th homer of the year, which broke Ken Griffey Jr’s franchise record:
The Mariners scored two more in the fifth to chase Valdez, and Jorge Polanco doubled one more home in the seventh to make it 6-0 as Seattle looked as though they’d cruise home. But Houston made a game of it in the home half. They loaded the bases against Carlos Vargas, and with two down, Jeremy Peña came through with a grand slam:
The score remained 6-4 into the bottom of the ninth, where typically excellent closer Andrés Muñoz ran into trouble. He hit Jake Meyers with a pitch to lead off, and after a strikeout, issued a walk to Peña to put the tying run on. Carlos Correa then lofted a soft liner to right-center that seemed destined to drive in a run, only for Victor Robles to come out of nowhere:
Robles made a sensational diving play, flipping the ball to second to double up Meyers and end the game. It was a scintillating finish, one that stunned Houston and leaves the Mariners with pole position in the AL West race. Seattle leads by two games with seven to play, with yesterday’s matchup also clinching the tiebreaker for Seattle.
Boston Red Sox (85-70) 6, Tampa Bay Rays (75-80) 3
For the second straight night, a close game went Boston’s way thanks to a late rally. Boston led early, thanks to a sharp start from Kyle Harrison, the young lefty acquired in the Rafael Devers deal. Harrison struck out five and walked two over six innings in his first start with the Red Sox, allowing one run on four hits.
Harrison departed in line for the win, with Tampa’s Adrian Houser allowing three runs over six innings as the game went to the seventh with Boston ahead 3-1. Justin Wilson came on for Harrison and fumbled the lead, Nick Fortes doubling home a run, and then Yandy Díaz coming up big with a two-out RBI single to tie the game:
The teams went scoreless in the eighth to set up a dramatic ninth. Ceddanne Rafaela reached base on an error to lead off, and with one down, Trevor Story came through with a single that put the Red Sox back ahead:
Boston added some insurance, with Masataka Yoshida singling home a run and Romy Gonzalez adding a sac fly. That was more than a comfortable lead for Aroldis Chapman, who worked the bottom of the ninth for his 31st save. Boston keeps the pressure on in the race for seeding the AL playoffs, just two games back of the Yankees.
Atlanta Braves (72-83) 6, Detroit Tigers (85-70) 5
The Tigers needed a win bad on Saturday, after getting blown out by Atlanta the night before and seeing their AL Central lead dwindle to 2.5 games. Instead, what they found was more heartbreak.
Detroit’s eventual loss was made all the more crushing by how close they came. Keider Montero got hit hard in a three-run third inning and departed, but the Tigers bullpen did strong work, giving their offense time to get back into the game. Trailing 3-2 in the sixth, Zach McKinstry hit a solo homer to tie it, and in the seventh, Spencer Torkelson hit his 31st of the year, a two-run homer to push the Tigers into the lead:
Torkelson’s dinger seemed like just the spark Detroit needed, and they stood just outs away from snapping a four-game losing streak. But Nacho Alvarez Jr. homered in the eighth of Kyle Finnegan to draw Atlanta within one.
That set the stage for the ninth. Will Vest came on and immediately found himself in deep trouble after singles to Ozzie Albies and Ha-Seong Kim. Vest bounced back to strike out the next to two batters though, bringing up Alvarez, who fell behind 0-2. A strike away from ending the game, Vest fired a 98-mph fastball that Alvarez gamely punched the other way to tie the game:
That punctuated a massive day for Alvarez, who had also homered in the third inning as part of a three-hit, two-homer day. A batter later, Jurickson Profar delivered the dagger, his own RBI single putting the Braves up 6-5:
There would be no more drama, Raisel Iglesias pitching a perfect ninth to earn his 27th save and run Detroit’s losing streak to five. The Tigers would have to await the results from Minnesota, where the Guardians played a doubleheader with a chance to cut the division lead to one measly game.
Other Games
- Cleveland Guardians (83-71) 6, Minnesota Twins (66-88) 0: The Guardians opened up their doubleheader in Minnesota with an easy win. José Ramírez homered in his first at-bat to start the scoring, his 30th dinger of the year giving him his third 30-30 season of his career. That was the first of four homers Cleveland smashed against Joe Ryan, with Bo Naylor, George Valera, and Daniel Schneemann also going deep. Naylor would hit a second homer in the eighth to push Cleveland’s lead to 6-0. Coupled with Detroit’s loss, the Game 1 win had the Guardians within 1.5 games of the AL Central lead.
- Cleveland Guardians (84-71) 8, Minnesota Twins (66-89) 0: It was even more of the same come nightfall. Cleveland dominated both ends of the doubleheader, L.T. Allen turning in perhaps the finest start of his career, shutting out Minnesota over eight innings while striking out seven and walking one. Bailey Ober matched Allen to start as the game was scoreless through four, but the Guardians battered Ober for a six-spot in the fifth to remove any drama. The day ended with the Guardians just one (1!) game back of the Tigers in the AL Central, despite the fact that they trailed by 11 games barely over two weeks ago.
