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There are only a handful of games being played today, but relevant baseball was played yesterday! It remains a three-team race for the AL Wild Card spots, and the Astros and Yankees remain close-ish in terms of home-field advantage. Here’s a recap of yesterday’s relevant games.
Astros destroy Angels 13-5
George Springer hit three home runs in this game, and Justin Verlander was on the mound, so it’s no wonder that the Astros were victorious. It’s a shame that Houston won, since the Yankees also defeated the Blue Jays. The Bombers’ record is now 102-55 compared to the Astros’ 102-54.
AL Wild Card race remains tight
Over in Oakland, Tanner Roark struggled mightily against the Rangers, and particularly against Willie Calhoun. The outfielder took Roark deep twice over just three innings of work. Texas put up a whopping four runs before the first inning ended. Meanwhile, Lance Lynn held the Athletics to two runs off of seven hits, and struck out 12 batters. Maybe the Yankees should have brought him back...
Unfortunately for the Rays, they weren’t able to capitalize on Oakland’s loss. They went down 7-4 against the Red Sox. Ryan Yarbrough surrendered six earned runs to Boston and failed to make it through the fourth inning. Old friend Nathan Eovaldi turned in a quality start (6 IP, 3 ER, 6 K, 1 HR). The Athletics have a two game lead for the top spot.
Meanwhile, Cleveland trampled the Phillies 10-1 and actually gained some ground in the Wild Card race. They are now tied with the Rays for the second spot. This should make for an exciting final week of baseball, and I am thrilled that the Yankees will have no part in it.
Twins inch closer to division title
Nelson Cruz hit the 400th home run of his career as the Twins defeated the Royals 12-8. Miguel Sano also went deep twice in this high scoring game. Although Minnesota has yet to officially win the AL Central, we’re getting to the point where they’d have to lose all or most of their remaining games while the Indians won all or most of their remaining games to get back in the mix. Their magic number is three.
Dodgers win 100th game
The Dodgers beat the Rockies 7-4, thanks to a grand slam off the bat of Cody Bellinger. Hyun-Jin Ryu tossed seven innings of three-run ball with eight strikeouts.