Don't Blink Or You Will Miss Big Changes To The Postseason Races

Another crazy, unpredictable weekend of baseball upended the standings.

Rangers whiplash

When you received Friday’s newsletter, the Rangers were riding high after sweeping a 4-game series against the Blue Jays in Toronto. At 82-64, Texas was firmly in second place in the American League Wild Card and just 1/2 game behind the Astros for the AL West division title.

The Rangers left Toronto feeling great, flew 1 hour southwest to Cleveland, and got ready to take on the Guardians, a team that had just lost 2 out of 3 to the Giants. So, of course, Cleveland swept Texas. The Guardians blew out the Rangers on Friday (13-2) and Sunday (9-2) and eked out a close 2-1 win on Saturday.

Marcus Semien and Corey Seager, the offensive juggernaut atop the Rangers’ lineup, had destroyed Toronto pitching last week. But they had no answer for Cleveland starters Lucas Giolito, Tanner Bibbee, and Gavin Williams. (It was Giolito’s best start since July 23, when he still played for the White Sox, before being traded to the Angels, and then getting picked up by the Guardians off waivers.) Semien and Seager went a combined 3-for-21 in the 3 games in Cleveland.

As of Monday morning, the Rangers are 82-67, 1 1/2 games behind the Astros in the AL West and holding the 3rd AL Wild Card spot, 1 game ahead of the Mariners. They host the Red Sox for 3 in Arlington, starting Monday night.

Toronto turnaround

The Blue Jays, meanwhile, licked their wounds and waited for the Red Sox to arrive in Toronto for a 3-game series. Before Friday’s game, Toronto was 80-67 and on the outside of the AL Wild Card looking in.

Boston had just lost 3 out of 4 to the Yankees at Fenway Park and watched their President of Baseball Operations, Chaim Bloom, get the ax from ownership. That was just what Toronto needed to get its season back on track.

All 3 games were tight and tense and the Blue Jays came out on top in all 3. On Friday, Jose Berrios—the one Toronto starter that didn’t pitch against the Rangers last week—threw 7 shutout innings against the Sox, scattering 5 hits. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s 3-run home run in the 3rd inning was all Toronto needed to take the game.

Chris Bassitt took the mound for the Blue Jays in Saturday’s tilt; Chris Sale toed the rubber for the Sox. Both starters pitched well—matching zeros through 5. Bassitt gave up 2 to the Sox in the 6th but the Jays fought back, scoring 1 in the 7th off a solo homer by Vlad Jr. Then Toronto tied the game with 2 out in the bottom of the 9th when Cavan Biggio singled and Daulton Varsho tripled. Even with the ghost runner, neither team scored in the 10th or 11th; then both scored 1 in the 12th. Toronto then walked it off in the 13th on a Whit Merrifield single.

On Sunday, Blue Jays starter Hyun Jin Ryu held the Red Sox scoreless, but only pitched 4 2/3. Toronto took an early 1-0 lead on a Kevin Keirmaier sacrifice fly and added another run on Daulton Varsho’s solo shot in the 5th. The Sox got to Genesis Cabrera in the 7th for 1 run to pull within 2-1. Rafael Devers tied the game with 2 outs and 2 strikes in the 9th with his 33rd home run of the season off Jays’ reliever Erik Swanson. Just like on Saturday, Cavan Biggio singled and scored the winning run, this time off a Matt Chapman triple. It was a huge hit for Chapman, who’s been dealing with sprained right middle finger since the end of August.

Now Toronto is in 2nd place in the AL Wild Card, 1/2 game ahead of the Rangers. They face the Yankees for 3 in the Bronx, starting Tuesday night.

Seattle on a skid

The Rangers’ no good, very bad weekend opened the door for the Mariners to slide into 2nd in the AL West and into the 3rd Wild Card slot. But Seattle faced a Dodgers team that seems to beat every other team quite easily—other than the Braves.

Dodgers’ rookie starter Bobby Miller out-dueled Mariners’ second-year starter George Kirby in Friday’s contest. You may recall that Kirby caused a kerfuffle last weekend when he complained that Seattle skipper Scott Servais left him in a game to pitch the 7th inning when Kirby thought he should’ve come out after 6. Well, Kirby pitched 6 on Friday and still took the loss after giving up a 2-run homer to Jason Heyward in the 5th and a triple to Max Muncy, followed by a single to JD Martinez, in the 6th.

The Dodgers clinched the NL West after Saturday’s victory—an extra-inning affair that LA blew open with 5 runs in the top of the 11th. Both teams were scoreless in the first 9 innings; each scored in the 10th. Max Muncy was the hero again.

Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith, and Muncy sat out Sunday’s game after the champagne-soaked celebration on Saturday. No problem for LA, though, as Heyward, Chris Taylor, and backup catcher Austin Barnes provided the offensive spark against Seattle starter Logan Gilbert. Gilbert came into the game with a 13-5 record. Now he’s 13-6.

The Mariners are now 81-68 and 1 game behind the Rangers for the last Wild Card spot. The good news is that they play the A’s for 3 this week in Oakland.

Marlins mania

Miami swept the Braves in 3 games over the weekend, scoring 36 runs on Atlanta pitching. The Braves are known for putting big numbers on the board early in games and they did that on Friday and Saturday. But the Marlins matched them to keep the games close. On Friday, Miami scored 4 runs off Braves reliever Brad Hand to grab the win. On Saturday, the Fish teed off on Braves reliever Kirby Yates in the 8th to seal the victory. On Sunday, Miami got to Braves starter Charlie Morton early and then continued to pile on.

Luis Arraez, Jazz Chisholm Jr., and Jake Burger were the offensive stars for Miami all weekend. Arraez isn’t going to hit .400 this season (he flirted with that mark in the first half) but he sets the table for the Marlins at the top of their lineup. Burger came over from the White Sox at the trade deadline; in 42 games, he’s hitting .306/.362/.531.

Miami is now 78-72 and tied with the Cubs for the 3rd National League Wild Card spot. Yes, the Cubs have fallen out of 2nd place in the Wild Card after getting swept by the Diamondbacks over the weekend. More on that below.

Miami hosts the Mets for 3, starting tonight.

Diamondbacks dazzle

It sure looked like the Cubs were a lock for an NL Wild Card spot. But in the last 2 weeks, Chicago’s lost 6 out of 7 games to the Diamondbacks. Now Arizona holds the No. 2 spot in the NL Wild Card race, 1/2 game ahead of the Cubs and the Marlins.

In Friday night’s game, Cubs starter Justin Steele—a Cy Young frontrunner—coughed up a 3-run home run to Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in the bottom of the 1st inning and a 3-run home run to Alek Thomas in the 6th. Chicago couldn’t push any runs across until the 9th, when they plated 4 against relievers Kyle Nelson and Paul Sewald. But it wasn’t enough.

Saturday’s contest was a see-saw battle. The teams were tied at 3-3 at the end of 9. Each team scored 1 in the 10th, 1 in the 11th, 0 in the 12th. The Cubs went up 1 in the top of the 13th, only to watch the D’Backs score 2 off Hayden Wesneski in the bottom of the inning. Emmanuel Rivera and Gabriel Moreno were the heroes for Arizona.

On Sunday, the D’Backs scored 3 off Cubs starter Jordan Wicks in the bottom of the 1st and like Friday’s game, the Cubs never recovered.

The D’Backs sweep was the more impressive because neither of their top starters—Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly—pitched in the series. Those 2 will go back-to-back on Tuesday and Wednesday against the Giants in Arizona. San Francisco must win both games if they have any hope of getting back in the Wild Card race after dropping 3 of 4 to the lowly Rockies over the weekend.