José Ramírez drove in a run with a swinging bunt when Cleveland rallied in a strange sixth inning against Detroit ace Tarik Skubal, and the Guardians beat the Tigers 5-2 on Tuesday night to move into a tie for first place in the AL Central.
Cleveland caught Detroit after being 15 1/2 games back on July 8. The Guardians, who were still 12 1/2 games behind the Tigers on Aug. 25, have won 11 of 12. They are 17-5 in September.
The Tigers have dropped seven straight and 10 of 11 as their giant lead has shrunk to zero.
Skubal (13-6), the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, fell apart in the sixth, becoming visibly shaken when Cleveland’s David Fry was struck in the face by his 99 mph fastball. He also had a throwing error, a wild pitch and a balk in the inning.
With two runners on, Fry squared to bunt and Skubal’s pitch drilled the designated hitter in the nose and mouth area. As Fry collapsed, a distraught Skubal immediately dropped his cap and glove and covered his mouth in disbelief.
Fry was driven off the field on a cart. The Guardians said he was being assessed at Lutheran Medical Center.
Gavin Williams (12-5) matched a career high with 12 strikeouts in six innings for Cleveland, which can eclipse the 1978 New York Yankees, who overcame a 14-game deficit, for the largest comeback since divisional play began in 1969.
PIRATES 4, REDS 2
CINCINNATI (AP) — Oneil Cruz hit a two-run homer and last-place Pittsburgh beat wild-card chasing Cincinnati.
The loss, along with the New York Mets’ 9-7 win over the Chicago Cubs, dropped the Reds a full game behind the Mets in the race for the third NL wild card.
The Pirates scored all four of their runs in the second inning against Brady Singer (14-11).
Jack Suwinski doubled and scored on Nick Yorke’s single. Yorke scored from first on Alexander Canario’s double. Cruz’s 20th homer of the season made it 4-0.
Elly De La Cruz, who snapped a 43-game homerless streak on Saturday, got the Reds’ on the board with a two-run homer off Johan Oviedo to make the score 4-2 in the bottom of the second.
The Reds had runners on first and third with two outs in the sixth, but Pirates rookie Hunter Barco (1-0), making his major league debut, got Matt McLain to ground into a force play. Barco earned his first career victory.
The Reds managed only five hits and grounded into three straight inning-ending double plays including in the ninth to help Dennis Santana secure his 15th save.
BRAVES 3, NATIONALS 2
ATLANTA (AP) — Michael Harris II homered twice, Hurston Waldrep pitched six innings of one-run ball and Atlanta beat Washington for its 10th straight victory.
Six of those wins have come against the last-place Nationals, including Atlanta’s first four-game sweep (from Sept. 15-17) of the Washington/Montreal franchise. Despite the longest active win streak in the majors, the Braves (75-83) have already been eliminated from playoff contention.
Waldrep (6-1) allowed five hits, walked four and had five strikeouts. Raisel Iglesias pitched a scoreless ninth for his 28th save.
Harris it a 444-foot shot over the wall in right-center field in the fifth and added a leadoff homer in the seventh that made it 3-1. Ronald Acuña Jr. hit a go-ahead homer for Atlanta in the sixth.
Nationals starter Brad Lord (5-9) allowed two runs and four hits in six innings.
RED SOX 4, BLUE JAYS 1
TORONTO (AP) — Carlos Narváez hit a two-run double in the sixth inning, Nathaniel Lowe had two RBI singles and Boston beat AL-leading Toronto.
The slumping Blue Jays had just three hits and lost for the fifth time in six games. Toronto began the day with a two-game lead over the Yankees in the AL East. New York closed to within a game after rallying to beat the White Sox 3-2.
Masataka Yoshida had two hits and scored a run as the Red Sox improved to 40-39 on the road.
Justin Wilson (4-1) got four outs for the win and Aroldis Chapman finished for his 32nd save in 34 chances as the Red Sox boosted their wild card hopes.
Narváez chased Toronto right-hander Kevin Gausman with a two-out hit in the sixth that put the Red Sox up 4-1.
Gausman (10-11) allowed four runs and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out seven.
Boston’s Lucas Giolito allowed one run and three hits in 4 2/3 innings, failing to finish five innings for the second straight start. Giolito walked four and struck out three.
YANKEES 3, WHITE SOX 2
NEW YORK (AP) — José Caballero’s RBI single with two out in the ninth inning scored Aaron Judge and New York rallied to beat Chicago, securing their eighth playoff appearance in nine seasons.
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With the win, the Yankees (89-68) moved within a game of AL East-leading Toronto (90-67) and reached the playoffs for the 60th time in team history. It was New York’s second victory in 61 games when trailing through eight innings.
Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells opened the ninth inning with singles off Brandon Eisert (3-7). After Trent Grisham bounced into a double play, Judge drew his second intentional walk of the game. Cody Bellinger followed with a walk and Volpe scored on a wild pitch by Eisert. Caballero then punctuated a nine-pitch at-bat against Steven Wilson by looping a single that dropped in front of center fielder Brooks Baldwin as Judge scored the winning run.
Caballero was mobbed at first base by his teammates and doused with water by Paul Goldschmidt and Austin Wells as he conducted his postgame interview.
Colson Montgomery hit a two-run homer in the sixth off Luis Gil to give the White Sox a 2-1 lead.
New York faltered in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings before Caballero delivered his biggest hit as a Yankee.
Gil, auditioning for a spot in New York’s rotation, allowed two runs and four hits in six innings.
ORIOLES 6, RAYS 0
BALTIMORE (AP) — Dean Kremer pitched 6 1/3 innings of one-hit ball and Baltimore began its final home series of the season with a victory over Tampa Bay.
Kremer (11-10) struck out four and hit one batter but walked none in his 30th outing. In a game between clubs already eliminated from postseason contention, he continued his dominance of the Rays, improving his lifetime ERA to 1.64 and record to 5-1 across 11 starts against Tampa Bay.
Colton Cowser hit a two-run homer off Ian Seymour in the sixth. Gunnar Henderson drove in two runs with a sacrifice fly and a single off starter Ryan Pepiot, and Jordan Westburg and Tyler O’Neill also had run-scoring hits.
Pepiot (11-12) allowed three runs on three hits and a walk over three innings in his career-high 31st outing to begin the Rays’ season-ending, six-game road trip. The 28-year-old has a 3.86 ERA over a career-best 167 2/3 innings.
METS 9, CUBS 7
CHICAGO (AP) — Francisco Alvarez hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the eighth inning, Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo went deep and New York rallied to beat Chicago.
Alvarez gave New York a 9-7 lead when he connected with two out against Caleb Thielbar (3-4) after Brett Baty led off with a single, and the Mets came away with the win after trailing 6-1. It was the Mets’ largest comeback win this season. They moved a game ahead of Cincinnati for the third wild card with the Reds losing 4-2 to Pittsburgh.
Lindor led off the game against Cade Horton with his 29th homer. He also gave New York a 7-6 lead in the sixth with an RBI single against Drew Pomeranz.
Nimmo capped a five run fifth with a three-run homer off Taylor Rogers that tied it at 6-all. Brooks Raley (3-0) got the win. Edwin Díaz struck out the side in the ninth for his 27th save in 30 chances, and New York came out on top even though starter David Peterson made an early exit. The left-hander lasted just 1 1/3 innings in his shortest start this season, allowing five runs and five hits.
The wild card-leading Cubs lost their fifth in a row after dropping all four games at Cincinnati.
Nico Hoerner had three hits and scored four runs for the Cubs.
TWINS 4, RANGERS 1
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Zebby Matthews allowed his only run on a leadoff homer while pitching seven innings for Minnesota in a win over Texas, who lost its eighth game in a row and were eliminated from the playoff chase.
The Rangers (79-78) were within two games of the AL West lead on Sept. 13 and in the thick of the wild-card chase after a 13-3 span with a pair of six-game winning streaks. They haven’t won since and dropped to 5 1/2 games behind Houston for the American League’s final playoff spot with five games left.
Joc Pederson’s ninth homer gave Texas the quick lead. Matthews (5-6) allowed only three singles after that and struck out six without a walk while matching the longest of his 25 career starts.
Minnesota (68-89) went ahead after Kody Clemens had a leadoff double in the third and scored on a fielder’s-choice grounder by Byron Buxton, who came home on a single by Ryan Jeffries. Clemens added an RBI single in the sixth.
Patrick Corbin (7-11), the first of six Texas pitchers, allowed two runs on four hits over 3 2/3 innings.
MARLINS 6, PHILLIES 5, 11 INNINGS
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Xavier Edwards drove in the winning run with an 11th-inning sacrifice fly, Heriberto Hernández and Griffin Conine homered during a late rally and Miami kept its playoff hopes alive with a win over Philadelphia.
Hernández, who had three hits, homered with one out in the ninth inning off Philadelphia closer Jhoan Duran to force extras. Conine homered in the eighth inning off David Robertson to start the comeback in which Miami scored all of its runs from the eighth onward.
Miami won its seventh straight game and has won 11 of 12 to stay four games out of the last wild-card spot with five to play.
Josh Simpson (4-2) picked up the win by pitching 1 1/3 innings in relief. Lou Trivino (3-2) gave up the winning run.
Kyle Schwarber and Otto Kemp homered for Philadelphia, which has dropped three straight.
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