The American League Wild Card race is as crowded as ever. The Yankees and Red Sox sit comfortably in the top two spots, but after yesterday’s action, the 61-63 Rangers are facing stiff competition to hold onto the third spot. Five teams – the Blue Jays (61-64), Orioles (60-63), Tigers (60-63), Twins (60-64), and Guardians (60-64) – are all within one game of that last spot. As noted by Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner, for a brief time after the Orioles defeated the Rays yesterday, five teams were tied for the last Wild Card spot.
1. Báez homers three times in debut
Soon after being recalled from Triple-A Memphis, Cardinals prospect Joshua Báez put on one of the greatest debut performances in MLB history. He went 3-for-4 with three home runs and five runs batted in, leading the Cardinals to an 8-4 victory over the Cubs. Báez started with a two-run home run off Matthew Boyd in the first, added a solo shot in the fourth, and finally another two-run blast in the sixth. His third home run provided the decisive runs of the game. As noted by Sarah Langs of MLB.com, Báez was the first player in MLB history to hit three home runs in his debut game.
2. Miz dials it up against the Dodgers, Ohtani
The Brewers downed the Dodgers 4-1 yesterday thanks to another dominant start by Jacob Misiorowski. The frontrunner for the NL Cy Young Award struck out six batters over six frames of one-run ball, lowering his season ERA to 1.75. Remarkably, the flamethrowing Misiorowski threw 53 four-seam fastballs at 100 mph or higher throughout the game. He immediately came out firing in a six-pitch battle with Shohei Ohtani, throwing his five hardest pitches to the two-way star in the bottom of the first, all of which were at least 103.7 mph. In fact, all but two of Misiorowski’s pitches to Ohtani across three plate appearances were four-seamers at 100 mph or higher.
3. Cleveland wins its 10,000th game
The Guardians downed the Padres by a 6-1 score yesterday, led by a seven-strikeout performance from starter Joey Cantillo. The win was the 10,000th for Cleveland’s baseball franchise, dating all the way back to the founding of the American League in 1901. As noted by The Athletic’s Zack Meisel, Cleveland is now the third franchise in American League history to reach 10,000 wins, along with the Yankees and Red Sox. The Tigers, who have 9,819 wins, are next on the list and should get there at some point in the 2028-29 seasons.
Photo courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski, Imagn Images
