Thanks to some big hits from the likes of Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Cody Bellinger, the Yankees picked up another win over the Red Sox on Saturday, gaining some vital ground in the AL playoff races. While he know for a fact that the win allowed the Yankees to gain on Boston, now it’s time to check in and see if they picked up any one the rest of their American League competition.
Ahead of a big Sunday, let’s check in on Saturday’s results in today’s Rivalry Roundup
Toronto Blue Jays (86-62) 5, Baltimore Orioles (69-79) 4
The Orioles came close to doing the Yankees
a favor, but the Blue Jays scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth to rally past Baltimore for a huge win for their cause.
Baltimore got off to a good start, scoring two runs in the first inning, including a Gunnar Henderson RBI double. That lead held up for quite a while thanks to a strong outing from Tomoyuki Sugano, who allowed just one run on four hits in six innings. While they were never able to fully pull away, a Samuel Basallo eight inning double gave them some more breathing room going into the final innings. Toronto got one run back thanks to Alejandro Kirk in the eighth, but the O’s answered back in the top of the ninth.
The lead wasn’t meant to be. After Keegan Akin started the bottom of the ninth with an out, Daulton Varsho reached on a bunt single, and then advanced on an Akin throwing error. Baltimore then went to Yennier Cano, but things then went way off the rails. Ernie Clement and Joey Loperfido hit back-to-back doubles, scoring a run to get the Jays within one and setting up runners on the corners. Andrés Giménez singled to tie the game up, and the O’s then gifted Toronto a catcher’s interference to load up the bases. That allowed the winning run to score as Kirk then hit a fly ball deep enough for Loperfido to tag and score to complete the comeback.
Miami Marlins (70-79) 6, Detroit Tigers (84-65) 4 (11 innings)
After taking a lead in the top of the 11th, the Tigers couldn’t hold the lead, as they allowed three in the bottom of the inning to give the Marlins a walk-off win.
The initial innings were a bit back and forth. Miami scored a run each in the first and second innings to take the lead, but Detroit pegged them back with a Kerry Carpenter homer in the third. A Gleyber Torres sacrifice fly gave the Tigers their first lead of the day in the fifth, but Troy Johnston tied things up with a solo homer in the sixth.
The game really got going late on though. After a scoreless 10th on both side, the Tigers started the 11th with two-straight hits, with Wenceel Pérez hitting a go-ahead double. However, Detroit only mustered one run from that spot, despite still having two on and nobody out after that hit. That ended up being big.
Otto Lopez led off the bottom of the 11th for Miami with a single to put runners at the corners. Heriberto Hernández then hit a grounder on that Detroit elected to give up the run on and go for the double play. However, Hernández beat the throw to first to keep only one out on the board. That brought Johnston to the plate, and he went deep in the very next at-bat, giving Miami the win.
Houston Astros (81-68) 6, Atlanta Braves (65-83) 2
The Astros scored all six of their runs over the course of the second and third innings and never looked back from there as they cruised past the Braves.
Houston jumped on Braves’ starter Bryce Elder early and often in this one. Jeremy Peña’s two-run double led the way for the Astros in the first as they put up their first three runs. A Christian Walker homer was the big play in the second, as Houston added three more.
The Astros couldn’t push across any more runs, but they really didn’t need to. Hunter Brown was solid for them, as he held Atlanta to just two runs on four hits and a walk in 6.2 innings. Of the six hits the Braves had for the day, all but one of them came after they had already fallen behind big.
Other Games
- Texas Rangers (79-70) 3, New York Mets (76-73) 2: The Rangers rallied past the Mets with three runs over the final two innings, sticking around the Wild Card hunt and heaping more pain on the Mets. Down 2-0 going into the eighth, the Rangers got one run back, leading to the Mets going to Edwin Díaz for a possible four-out save. However, Rowdy Tellez got him for a game-tying double in the eighth, and Wyatt Langford hit a go-ahead single in the ninth to allow Texas to complete the comeback.
- Philadelphia Phillies (89-60) 8, Kansas City Royals (74-75) 6: Kyle Schwarber hit his 51st homer run of the season, and seven Phillies had at least one-hit as they out offense-d the Royals, who are likely on their last days of relevance for 2025 (at least for the Rivalry Roundup’s sake). While Kansas City took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, Philadelphia scored eight of the next 10 runs to storm past them. Schwarber homered in the fifth as part of a three-run inning that gave the Phillies their first lead of the game. They never relinquished that, although the Royals did keep things fairly close down the stretch.
- Seattle Mariners (81-68) 5, Los Angeles Angels (69-80) 3: Bryan Woo struck out 13, a J.P. Crawford’s homer run broke a tie and ended up giving the Mariners the margin they needed to down the Angels. After the two teams traded runs early, Woo locked in and retired the next 12 batters he faced, as his offense build up a lead. The M’s remain tied with Houston atop the AL West.
