The Houston Astros received a big boost from new recruit Trey Mancini as he blasted a pair of home runs, punctuated by a grand slam, in his side's 9-3 away win against the Cleveland Guardians on Friday.
Mancini, who was acquired from the Baltimore Orioles this past week, has now hit a home run in each of his two starts for his new club. In doing so, he became the first player in the modern era to hit a home run in his first two starts for his first two teams, after also accomplishing the feat back when he began with the O's.
He struck first in the second inning, tying the game at 1-1 after Amed Rosario hit his own home run to begin the game for the Guardians, and Mancini's second home run of the game came with bases loaded in the third frame for the first grand slam of his career.
Arguably the best hitter in baseball this season Yordan Alvarez went two-for-five and notched his 73rd RBI for the season – the seventh most in the league – and his future Hall-of-Fame teammate Jose Altuve tallied one RBI from his three hits.
On the mound, Framber Valdez secured his 18th consecutive 'quality start' – defined by a pitcher going at least six innings while conceding three or fewer runs – finishing with three earned runs from seven hits and three walks in his six-and-a-third innings.
He now leads the league with 19 quality starts, and his streak of 18 consecutive is the longest since Jacob deGrom rattled off 26 in a row beginning in May 2018.
The win moves the Astros' record to 70-38 – one game behind the New York Yankees for the best record in the American League.
Yankees, Holmes blow late lead
The New York Yankees led nearly the entire game before eventually falling 4-3 to the St Louis Cardinals, courtesy of a blown save from All-Star reliever Clay Holmes.
Josh Donaldson drove in a pair of runs for the Yankees, while AL MVP favourite Aaron Judge collected two hits and came home to score twice, giving their side a 3-2 lead heading into the eighth inning.
Determined to take no risks, the Yankees brought in Holmes an inning early to try and get to the ninth inning with their lead still in tact, but it was not to be as Holmes conceded a walk and two hits, the second being a two-run double from Paul deJong to steal the lead.
Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley made no such mistakes, closing the door and collecting the save.
Gibson produces near-perfect start for the Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Kyle Gibson had a perfect game through six innings in his side's 7-2 win against the Washington Nationals.
Gibson retired the first 18 batters he faced, striking out three as he relied on strong fielding behind him to accumulate quick outs. His bid for a perfect game was eventually broken up by a hit-by-pitch to begin the seventh frame, and a single from the next batter ended the no-hitter.
He finished with one earned run from two hits and one walk in eight complete innings, while Kyle Schwarber hit his 34th home run of the season to help on the offensive side of the ball. Only Judge has more home runs this season than Schwarber.
Ohtani hits 3-run homer in postseason debut as Dodgers rally past Padres
Shohei Ohtani hit a three-run homer in his postseason debut, Teoscar Hernández’s two-run single gave Los Angeles its first lead in a playoff game in two years, and the Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres 7-5 in their NL Division Series opener Saturday.
Manny Machado's two-run homer off Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto, also making his first playoff appearance, put Los Angeles in an early 3-0 hole.
Ohtani quickly bailed out the Dodgers with his two-out homer that tied it 3-all in the second inning. The Japanese superstar went deep with fans chanting “MVP! MVP!” His shot travelled 372 feet to right field, the sellout crowd of 53,028 recording it all on their phones.
San Diego went ahead 5-3 before the Dodgers rallied with three runs in the fourth.
Tommy Edman scored on a wild pitch by reliever Adrian Morejon, who took the loss. Ohtani had a broken-bat single and later scored, along with Mookie Betts, on Hernández’s single off Jeremiah Estrada that put the Dodgers ahead 6-5.
It was their first lead in a postseason game since the seventh inning of Game 4 against the Padres in the 2022 NLDS. Los Angeles was swept by Arizona in a Division Series last year.
Trailing 7-5, the Padres had the potential tying runs on base with two outs in the ninth. Fernando Tatis Jr. singled off Blake Treinen before Jurickson Profar walked to bring up Machado, who struck out swinging.
Mets rally again for another win
Mark Vientos and Brandon Nimmo sparked another comeback in New York’s electric run through the National League playoffs, helping the Mets score five runs in the eighth inning against a pair of All-Star relievers as they rallied for a 6-2-win over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 1 of their Division Series.
Phillies ace Zack Wheeler struck out nine and limited the Mets to just one hit over the first seven innings but was lifted after a startling 30 swings-and-misses over 111 pitches.
New York then pounced on Philadelphia relievers Jeff Hoffman and Matt Strahm in the eighth.
In true Mets fashion this October, the Mets had to rally, not just on the scoreboard, but on a gut-check in each at-bat.
Francisco Alvarez hit a leadoff single against Hoffman before three straight batters reached base after facing 0-2 counts. Francisco Lindor worked a walk from his 0-2 count and Vientos followed with a tying single. Nimmo laced a go-ahead single off Strahm past a drawn-in infield for the 2-1 lead.
After Pete Alonso lofted a sacrifice fly for a 3-1 lead, Jose Iglesias singled and J.D. Martinez greeted Orion Kerkering with an RBI single. Starling Marte’s sacrifice fly capped the uprising.
The Mets have scored 18 runs in the eighth and ninth innings over six games since Monday. New York joined the 1980 Phillies and 1999 Mets as the only teams to win consecutive playoff games after trailing in the eighth inning or later.
Verdugo lifts Yankees over Royals
Alex Verdugo hit a tiebreaking single in the seventh inning and saved at least one run with a sliding catch along the left-field line, boosting the New York Yankees to a 6-5 win over the Kansas City Royals in their AL Division Series opener.
New York’s Gleyber Torres and Kansas City’s MJ Melendez hit two-run homers in a back-and-forth game in which the Royals wasted leads of 1-0, 3-2 and 5-4 and the Yankees failed to hold 2-1 and 4-3 margins.
Kansas City pitchers tied its season high with eight walks, forcing in a pair of runs in the fifth inning. The Yankees were just 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position before Verdugo lined a single off loser Michael Lorenzen to make it 6-5.
Verdugo’s hit scored Jazz Chisholm Jr., who singled leading off and stole second on a play allowed to stand following a video review. Yankees manager Aaron Boone started Verdugo in left over rookie Jasson Domínguez in a defense-influenced decision. Verdugo entered the game in a 2-for-34 skid at the plate.
With the Yankees trailing 3-2, Verdugo made a sliding catch on Michael Massey’s fourth-inning fly just inside the line to strand two runners. The ball hit Verdugo’s right wrist just below his glove and bounced off his chest before he grabbed it with his bare left hand.
Four Yankees relievers combined to allow only an unearned run over four innings after ace Gerrit Cole allowed four runs in five-plus innings. Clay Holmes, dropped from his closer’s job last month, worked 1 2/3 innings for the win. Luke Weaver got four straight outs with three strikeouts for the save in his postseason debut.
Yankees star Aaron Judge went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts, and Royals standout Bobby Witt Jr. was 0 for 5, barking at plate umpire Adam Hamari after a called third strike in the ninth.
Guardians strike quick, blank Tigers
Lane Thomas highlighted a five-run first inning with a three-run homer and the Cleveland Guardians unleashed their lights-out bullpen to complete a four-hitter in a 7-0 win over the Tigers in an AL Division Series opener.
Thomas' shot - on his first career postseason swing – off reliever Reese Olson helped the Guardians cool off the Tigers, who stormed into the playoffs with a second-half surge before sweeping AL West champion Houston in the wild-card round.
Tanner Bibee pitched 4 2/3 innings before Guardians manager Stephen Vogt swung the door open to baseball's best bullpen to finish off the Tigers.
Cleveland's relievers combined for 4 1/3 hitless innings to finish and match the largest shutout victory margin in club postseason history. Detroit struck out 13 times and didn't get a runner past first in the final four innings.
The shutout was the worst in Detroit playoff history since Game 1 of the 1945 World Series.
Cleveland's bullpen was as advertised. Rookie Cade Smith replaced Bibee and struck out all four batters. Tim Herrin fanned two in the seventh, Hunter Gaddis pitched the eighth, and Emmanuel Clase, who led the AL with 47 saves, worked the ninth.
David Fry added a two-run double for the AL Central champion Guardians, who were unaffected by not playing for almost a week with a first-round bye.
MLB: Alonso's go-ahead, 3-run homer in 9th sends Mets to NLDS
Pete Alonso delivered a clutch, three-run homer off closer Devin Williams in the ninth inning and the New York Mets rallied for a wild 4-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday night to win their NL Wild Card Series.
The Mets' comeback victory in the decisive Game 3 gave them their first playoff series win since claiming the NL pennant in 2015. They advance to a Division Series beginning Saturday at rival Philadelphia against the NL East champion Phillies.
The Brewers, making their sixth playoff appearance in the last seven years, still haven't won a postseason series since reaching Game 7 of the NL Championship Series in 2018.
Milwaukee appeared to have the victory in hand after Jake Bauers and Sal Frelick broke a scoreless tie by opening the seventh inning with back-to-back homers off José Buttó. Tobias Myers and three relievers had combined on a two-hit shutout through the first eight innings.
Twelve straight Mets had been retired when they opened the ninth against Williams, a two-time NL reliever of the year who had earned the save Wednesday in Milwaukee’s Game 2 victory.
But Francisco Lindor opened the ninth by walking on a 3-2 pitch. After Mark Vientos struck out, Brandon Nimmo singled to put runners at the corners.
That brought up Alonso, who has 226 career homers in six seasons but hadn’t gone deep since Sept. 19.
After getting ahead 3-1 in the count, Alonso sent a 3-1 changeup over the wall in right field to give the Mets the lead.
Edwin Díaz pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to earn the win and David Peterson, making his first relief appearance of the season, worked the ninth for his first major league save.
Tigers, Royals, Padres finish sweeps and Brewers even series
Andy Ibáñez hit a tiebreaking three-run double in Detroit's four-run eighth inning, and the Tigers finished a sweep of the Houston Astros with a 5-2 victory in Game 2 of their AL Wild Card Series on Wednesday.
Parker Meadows homered as Detroit ended Houston's run of seven consecutive appearances in the AL Championship Series. It was a sweet moment for Tigers manager A.J. Hinch, who led Houston to a championship in 2017 and was fired in the aftermath of the Astros' sign-stealing scandal.
Next up for the wild-card Tigers is a trip to Cleveland to take on the AL Central champions in a best-of-five AL Division Series. Game 1 is on Saturday.
Kerry Carpenter sparked Detroit's eighth-inning rally with a one-out single off Ryan Pressly, who converted his first 14 postseason save opportunities. Carpenter advanced to third on a single by Matt Vierling and scored on a wild pitch, tying it at 2.
Pressly departed after Colt Keith reached on a two-out walk, and closer Josh Hader walked Spencer Torkelson to load the bases.
Hinch then sent Ibáñez up to hit for Zach McKinstry, and Ibáñez lined a 1-2 sinker into the corner in left for a 5-2 lead.
Hader, who signed a $95 million, five-year contract with Houston in January, allowed three hits and walked two in 1 1/3 innings.
Detroit used seven different pitchers a day after ace Tarik Skubal won the series opener. Sean Guenther pitched 1 2/3 innings for the win in Game 2, and Will Vest handled the ninth for the save.
Just making it to the playoffs seemed improbable before Detroit went 31-13 down the stretch in the regular season.
Padres finish off Braves
Kyle Higashioka ignited a five-run second inning with a solo home run and the San Diego Padres held on for a 5-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves to complete a sweep of their NL Wild Card Series.
Manny Machado added a two-run double with the bases loaded, and Jackson Merrill followed with a two-run triple as the sellout crowd of 47,705 - the largest in Petco Park history - roared.
The Padres head up Interstate 5 to face Shohei Ohtani and the NL West rival and top-seeded Los Angeles Dodgers in a National League Division Series starting Saturday night. San Diego eliminated the 111-win Dodgers in a 2022 NLDS.
Jorge Soler hit a solo homer in the fifth and Michael Harris II had a two-run shot in the eighth, but Robert Suarez pitched a perfect ninth to seal the one-run victory.
Both starting pitchers exited early.
Atlanta left-hander Max Fried was done after two innings after he was hit on his left hip by a comebacker from Fernando Tatis Jr. two batters into the game. He stayed in and got out of a bases-loaded jam. He then allowed five runs on six straight hits with two outs in the second.
Padres right-hander Joe Musgrove departed in the fourth with right elbow tightness. He had two stints on the injured list this season with right elbow inflammation.
Royals complete sweep of punchless Orioles
Bobby Witt Jr. beat out an infield single to drive in the go-ahead run and send the Kansas City Royals into an AL Division Series with a 2-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles for a two-game sweep of their Wild Card Series.
With two outs and runners at the corners in the sixth inning, Witt hit a grounder to the edge of the dirt behind second base, where Jordan Westburg made a diving stop and threw to first. Witt was already there after zooming 90 feet in 4.14 seconds, allowing Kyle Isbel to score from third.
It was the second consecutive game in which the AL batting champion provided the decisive hit. Witt's RBI single Tuesday in Game 1 plated the only run in a 1-0 victory.
Kansas City, which endured two seven-game losing streaks over the final month of the season, advances to face the AL East champion New York Yankees. Game 1 is Saturday in the Bronx.
Baltimore got its only run of the series on Cedric Mullins’ fifth-inning home run off starter Seth Lugo.
Five Kansas City relievers allowed one hit over 5 2/3 scoreless innings, with Lucas Erceg working a perfect ninth for his second save of the series.
The Orioles went 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position in the series and struck out 22 times.
They have lost 10 straight postseason games for the longest active streak in baseball. Only three teams in MLB history have lost more postseason games in a row than the 2014-2024 Orioles.
Brewers rally to force Game 3
Jackson Chourio tied it in the eighth with his second homer of the night and Garrett Mitchell delivered a two-run shot later in the inning to give the Milwaukee Brewers a 5-3 victory over the New York Mets that evened their NL Wild Card Series.
The teams will play a decisive Game 3 on Thursday night. The Brewers will attempt to become the first team to rally to win a best-of-three Wild Card Series after losing the opener since MLB went to this expanded playoff format in 2022.
Milwaukee trailed 3-2 when Chourio led off the eighth by homering off Phil Maton, making his fourth appearance on the mound in five days. The 20-year-old rookie also opened the bottom of the first with a drive to right, becoming the youngest player to hit a leadoff homer in the postseason.
After Blake Perkins singled and William Contreras hit into a double play, Willy Adames kept the eighth inning alive with a single. Mitchell then sent a first-pitch curveball just over the wall in right-center to send the American Family Field crowd into a frenzy.
Joe Ross pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the win and Devin Williams retired the side in order in the ninth to earn the save.
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