Yankees Rivals: Astros Beat Seattle to Win AL West Title for Fourth Straight Year

The Yankees will have to wait at least one more day to win the AL East after losing the first game of the series to the Orioles 5-3. Their game wasn't the only one with playoff implications, so let's dive right into the action.

Cleveland Guardians (91-67) 6, Cincinnati Reds (76-82) 1

Tanner Bibee got off to another impressive start, holding the Reds to one run with four hits and seven strikeouts in seven innings, earning his 12th win and lowering his ERA for the season to 3.47. The only blemish came in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Spencer Steer after a leadoff double by Tyler Stephenson.

He pitched most of his outing in the leadoff spot after his offense scored three runs in the first inning. Kyle Manzardo hit a solo shot, followed by a two-run shot from Lane Thomas with two outs after Josh Naylor came in with a single.

Thomas picked up another ball in the seventh inning with a soft grounder, while Josh Naylor scored two runs, one in the fifth inning on an RBI double and another in the seventh on a sacrifice fly. The Guardians may have clinched the division over the weekend, but they're still playing like a team aiming for the best record in the AL.

Houston Astros (86-72) 4, Seattle Mariners (81-77) 3

The Astros officially won their fourth consecutive AL West title with a win over their closest division rivals, the Mariners. Alex Bregman opened things up with a solo hit in the first inning, but Seattle then took a 3-1 lead. Julio Rodríguez tied the game with his own solo hit in the second inning before they scored two in the third on an RBI double by Randy Arozarena and an RBI single by Jorge Polanco.

The Astros held on long enough, however, to capitalize against a tiring Logan Gilbert, pulling within one point with a Kyle Tucker home run in the fourth before Jason Heyward sealed the division title with a two-run blast in the fifth.

It was anything but a classic regular season for the perennial AL West champions, but it is the eighth consecutive season in which they have reached the postseason.

Other games

The Tigers' incredible late-season surge to a playoff spot continues. Their victory puts them a half-game ahead of the Royals for the second Wild Card spot after the latter team ended a seven-game losing streak. Tarik Skubal put the penultimate stamp on his AL Cy Young candidacy by throwing seven shutout innings, allowing just two hits and a walk with seven strikeouts and lowering his season ERA to an AL-best 2.39. Wenceel Pérez hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning to account for all of Detroit's points. Although a solo hit by Brandon Lowe in the ninth inning cut the deficit to one point, the Rays lost and are virtually, if not mathematically, eliminated from the playoff race, 4.5 games behind the final Wild Card game, with five left to play and four teams ahead of them.

The Royals finally managed to stop their freefall after seven games, taking extra innings and some vital pitches from all Kansas City pitchers involved. Cole Ragan started with six shutouts before turning the ball over to the bullpen, which limited the Nationals to just two baserunners in the final four innings. They even needed a little help from the Nats themselves, as Nasim Nunez threw the ball away in the 10th inning, allowing Kansas City to score the game's only run.

Meanwhile, the Twins' late-season decline has worsened, as they have yet to win a decisive series against the Marlins, the worst in the division and probably over 100 losses. They were stopped by Ryan Weathers, who threw five innings of one-run ball despite only two strikeouts, and then three Marlins relief pitchers struck out zeroes in the final four innings. Miami scored all of its points in the second inning, with Jonah Bride hitting a solo home run before Xavier Edwards cleared the bases with a bases-loaded double. Minnesota's only response was an RBI single by Royce Lewis in the third inning, and the team has now lost eight of its last 11 games, falling out of the Wild Card spot, now two games behind the Royals in contention for the final postseason ticket.