Designated hitter Adley Rutschman reacts after hitting a double in the first inning of the Orioles’ 5-4 win over the Rays on Sunday in Baltimore. Julio Cortez/Associated Press
BALTIMORE — Cedric Mullins hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 11th inning, and the Baltimore Orioles edged the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 on Sunday after both teams clinched spots in the postseason.
The winner of this game would have wrapped up a playoff spot regardless, but when Texas lost 9-2 to Cleveland, both the Rays and Orioles were in. Moments later, Adam Frazier doubled home the tying run in the bottom of the ninth off Pete Fairbanks to send the game to extra innings.
That was the first of two occasions when the Orioles tied it while down to their last out. Adley Rutschman hit an RBI single for Baltimore in the 10th, and then DL Hall (2-0) threw a scoreless 11th, retiring the Rays on a popup and two grounders.
Ryan O’Hearn sacrificed the automatic runner to third for Baltimore, giving Mullins a chance to win the game. His flyball to center off Jake Diekman (0-2) was easily deep enough to end it, touching off an on-field celebration in which the players wore orange shirts saying “TAKE OCTOBER” on them.
Tampa Bay Manager Kevin Cash was ejected in the bottom of the ninth.
The Orioles salvaged a split in this key four-game series at Camden Yards and took a two-game lead over Tampa Bay atop the AL East. Baltimore also holds the tiebreaker over the Rays.
GUARDIANS 9, RANGERS 2: José Ramírez homered on his 31st birthday to touch off Cleveland’s nine-run outburst in the fourth inning, leading the host Guardians to a win and three-game sweep of the playoff-chasing Texas.
Ramírez connected off rookie Cody Bradford (4-2) leading off the fourth and the Guardians kept swinging away. They scored a season-high nine runs on a season-best nine hits – the homer, two doubles and six singles.
TWINS 4, WHITE SOX 0: Sonny Gray closed on Gerrit Cole for the AL ERA lead, Edouard Julien and Jorge Polanco homered and the AL Central-leading Twins won in Chicago.
Minnesota (79-71), nearing its third division title in five seasons, leads second-place Cleveland (72-78) by seven games with 12 games remaining.
Gray (8-7) lowered his ERA from 2.96 to 2.84, just behind Cole, who leads the AL at 2.81 for the New York Yankees. Gray gave up five hits in seven innings, struck out six and walked none, ending a three-start winless streak.
ASTROS 7, ROYALS 1: Yordan Alvarez and Jake Meyers homered and Framber Valdez pitched seven strong innings as Houston won in Kansas City, Missouri.
The Astros salvaged the final game of the series, expanding their American League West lead to 1 1/2 games as Texas lost to Cleveland 9-2.
INTERLEAGUE
PIRATES 3, YANKEES 2: Jason Delay hit a tiebreaking double in the seventh inning that benefited from a fortunate bounce off third base, and Pittsburgh edged visiting New York to avoid a three-game sweep.
Delay turned on a curveball from Carlos Rodón (3-6) and hit a bouncer that nicked the outside of the bag and rolled away from New York third baseman Oswald Peraza and into foul territory in left field, allowing Jared Triolo to score from second.
DODGERS 6, MARINERS 1: Jason Heyward, Austin Barnes and James Outman homered to lead Los Angeles to a win in Seattle.
Heyward also had a double, single and two RBI, and Amed Rosario was a homer shy of the cycle as the Dodgers completed a three-game sweep one day after clinching the NL West title.
J.P. Crawford had two hits and drove in the only run for the Mariners, who have lost seven of nine in the midst of a playoff race.
Seattle fell 2 1/2 games behind first-place Houston in the AL West, and is a game behind Texas for the final American League wild card.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
METS 8, REDS 4: Pinch-hitter Daniel Vogelbach had a three-run double in the seventh inning, and New York hurt Cincinnati’s wild card chances with a win in New York.
MARLINS 16, BRAVES 2: Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a grand slam for the second consecutive game and host Miami routed Atlanta to complete a three-game sweep of the NL East champions.
CARDINALS 6, PHILLIES 5: Jordan Walker hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning and Paul Goldschmidt drove in three runs to lead St. Louis won at home.
St. Louis avoided a season sweep after losing its first five meetings with the Phillies this year.
NATIONALS 2, BREWERS 1: Joey Meneses hit a sacrifice fly in the 11th inning and visiting Washington defeated NL Central-leading Milwaukee to prevent a three-game sweep.
Luis García homered early for the Nationals, who are last in the NL East.
DIAMONDBACKS 6, CUBS 2: Ketel Marte homered and Arizona got a great performance from its bullpen as the Diamondbacks defeated skidding Chicago in Phoenix to pass the Cubs for the second National League wild-card spot.
Arizona completed a three-game sweep and handed the Cubs their fifth straight loss. The Diamondbacks won three of four last weekend at Wrigley Field and finished 6-1 against Chicago this season.
The latest victory moved Arizona a half-game ahead of Chicago for the second NL wild card, while the Cubs fell into a tie with Miami for the league’s final playoff spot. Cincinnati is a half-game behind, and San Francisco is two back.
NOTES
PHILLIES: Former manager Charlie Manuel suffered a stroke Saturday while undergoing a medical procedure in a Florida hospital, the team announced.
Manuel “has made progress over the past 12 hours, and his doctors are encouraged,” the team said Sunday, a day after the 79-year-old had a blood clot removed. They cited his wife, Missy.
Manuel managed the Phillies for nine seasons from 2005-13 and guided them to a World Series championship in 2008. He also spent three years as a manager in Cleveland from 2000-02.
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