The weird marathon/sprint that is the baseball season approaches its end. And there is still unfinished business. The Rays, Yankees, and Red Sox have all clinched playoff berths. and Tampa Bay is on the cusp of locking down the AL East, as soon as Tuesday should they beat the Bombers.
The AL Central and AL West, however, could go right down to the wire as Cleveland and Chicago in the former, and intra-state rivals the Astros and the Rangers in the latter, fight for the division. In all likelihood,
the third and final Wild Card spot will come from one of those clubs as well, though 2025 AL champion Toronto vaguely lurks as well in the waning days of the season.
Tampa Bay Rays (95-60) 5, Boston Red Sox (84-72) 1
The Rays just keep on winning. Sunday, they came out of the gate strong, putting up a four-spot in the first. A walk, a single, and a hit by pitch loaded the bases with no one out, setting the stage for Jonny DeLuca to double in a pair of runs. That was technically all Tampa Bay needed but they notched two more on a Chandler Simpson single before Boston could finally record an out, let alone escape the frame. Simpson, for his part, sits at a .309 average after Sunday, leaving him well within striking distance of toppling Yordan Alvarez for the AL batting title depending on how the final week plays out.
The win was Tampa Bay’s 55th at home this season, setting a new franchise record for home wins as they continue to enjoy the resurrection of the Trop. The victory, combined with the Yankee loss in the desert Sunday, moved the Rays to six games up with seven games to go, all but settling the question of who will win the American League East this season. For their part, the Red Sox did end up punching their ticket to the playoffs and celebrating at the Trop anyway, backing in when Houston lost to Atlanta.
AL Rock Fight
Chicago White Sox (80-76) 8, Detroit Tigers (73-83) 1: Chicago needed this win. After leading the AL Central for a considerable chunk of the season, they find themselves looking up at Cleveland. A loss would have left them two games back headed into the final week. But five pitchers combined to hold Detroit to a single run and six different Pale Hose drove in at least one run.
Cleveland Guardians (81-75) 1, Athletics (61-95) 0: What a season for Gavin Williams. The Guards’ righty spun seven innings of shutout ball on Sunday, picking up his 14th win of the season in the process. His nine punchouts give him 244, pacing the Junior Circuit. For Cleveland, the win keeps them in front of Chicago, setting the AL Central up for quite the dogfight in the final week of the season.
Texas Rangers (78-78) 2, Toronto Blue Jays (77-79) 7: A four-run seventh inning decided this one as the Blue Jays kept their faint playoff hopes alive, knocking Jacob deGrom out of the game before he finished the fifth. They remain a long shot at three back of Chicago for the Wild Card. Meanwhile, the loss leaves Texas clinging to a one-game lead over Houston as the AL West also looks like it could come right down to the wire.
Houston Astros (77-79) 2, Atlanta Braves (92-64) 4: The Braves are doing their best to keep the nightmare scenario (the Astros weaseling their way into the playoffs then going on a heater) from coming to pass. A Mike Yastrzemski three-run dinger in the sixth was the decisive blow. The win also clinched the NL East for Atlanta, something not a single Pinstripe Alley writer predicted prior to the season (the Phillies? What was I thinking?).
Baltimore Orioles (75-81) 0, Milwaukee Brewers (98-58) 3: That’s probably all she wrote for the 2026 Orioles after seven Brewers’ pitchers, including “The Miz,” combined to shut them out. Sunday’s loss leaves them in a formidable hole in the Wild Card race. There’s lots of time for post-mortems but a quick look at the OPS of the Orioles’ young core makes it clear that a combination of regression and failure to launch have a lot to do with their disappointing season.
AL Standings
