The Detroit Tigers didn't do the Toronto Blue Jays any favours on Friday.
The free-falling Tigers blew two big leads against Cleveland in a doubleheader, leading to a pair of walk-off wins for the Guardians.
The Blue Jays lost only a half-game in the race, though, as they crushed the Kansas City Royals in their series opener.
The Blue Jays are now one game behind the Guardians for the AL's final wild-card spot after winning two of three in Cleveland earlier this week.
The other closest chasers in the race — the Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners and Minnesota Twins — all lost Friday to fall further back.
Here's a look at the wild-card standings after Friday night's play:
SATURDAY'S GAMES FOR WILD-CARD CONTENDERS (All times ET)
Cleveland: vs. Detroit, 6:10 p.m.
Toronto: at Kansas City, 7:10 p.m., Sportsnet, Sportsnet+
Texas: vs. Tampa Bay, 7:05 p.m.
Baltimore: vs. Boston, 7:05 p.m., Sportsnet+
Minnesota: at Chicago White Sox, 7:10 p.m.
Seattle: vs. Athletics, 9:40 p.m.
Detroit: at Cleveland, 6:10 p.m.
New York Yankees: at San Diego, 7:15 p.m.
Boston: at Baltimore, 7:05 p.m., Sportsnet+
FRIDAY'S GAMES
BLUE JAYS 9, ROYALS 2
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Alejandro Kirk, Ernie Clement and George Springer drove in two runs apiece to lead the Toronto Blue Jays to a 9-2 win over the Kansas City Royals on Friday night.
Blue Jays starter Jameson Taillon was making his first appearance since Aug. 10, when he was placed on the injured list with right forearm tendinitis. The 34-year-old right-hander left the game due to right elbow discomfort after allowing one run on two hits in two innings.
Kirk and Clement each had a double among their two hits as the defending American League champion Blue Jays (71-71) got back to .500 for the first time since they were 39-39 on June 22. They were 10 games under .500 on July 28. Toronto has won six of its last seven games.
Joe Mantiply (2-0), picked up the victory as one of four relievers for the Blue Jays who limited Kansas City to one run on four hits in seven innings. Michael Lorenzen worked the final three innings and earned his first save.
Royals starter Daniel Lynch IV (4-5) struggled early before retiring the final nine batters he faced. He allowed five runs on seven hits in five innings. He walked one batter.
GUARDIANS 7, TIGERS 6 (GAME 1)
CLEVELAND — Cleveland Guardians shortstop Brayan Rocchio became the sixth player in MLB history to hit a grand slam and a walk-off home run in the same game on Friday, leading the team to a 7-6 win over the Detroit Tigers.
He summed up his accomplishment in one word: “Impressive.”
Rocchio homered leading off the ninth inning after connecting on a tying grand slam in the fourth, rallying Cleveland to a win in the first game of a split doubleheader. The Guardians scored the final six runs of the game.
The 25-year-old Venezuelan joined George Kelly of the New York Giants (June 14, 1924); Hank Greenberg of Detroit (Aug. 19, 1938); Minnie Minoso of the Chicago White Sox (April 19, 1960); Otto Velez of the Toronto Blue Jays (May 4, 1980); and Jack Clark of the Boston Red Sox (July 31, 1991) in the exclusive club.
Kelly, Greenberg and Minoso are Hall of Famers. Rocchio is in his fourth season, all with the Guardians, who are battling for their third consecutive post-season berth.
GUARDIANS 4, TIGERS 3 (GAME 2, 10 INNINGS)
CLEVELAND — Travis Bazzana singled home Brayan Rocchio in the 10th inning to give the Cleveland Guardians a 4-3 win over the Detroit Tigers and a sweep of their day-night doubleheader Friday.
Bazzana tied the score with a two-run homer off Jacob Waguespack in the eighth, then lined the ball up the middle against Kenley Jansen (4-6) in the 10th. Rocchio had reached on a fielder’s choice before stealing second and third.
It marked the first time Cleveland won both games of a doubleheader in walk-off fashion since Aug. 19, 1984, against Milwaukee.
Hunter Gaddis (3-3) pitched two clean innings in the nightcap to earn the win, keeping the Guardians (72-70) in sole possession of the final American League wild-card position.
Tigers starter Andrew Sears carried a shutout into the sixth until Nathaniel Lowe doubled in José Ramírez to pull the Guardians to 3-1. The left-hander gave up one run over 5 2/3 innings in his third major league appearance.
RANGERS 7, RAYS 6
ARLINGTON, Texas — Jonathan Aranda and Richie Palacios homered, and the Tampa Bay Rays overcame the first grand slam of the season by Texas in a 7-6 victory Friday night, ending a 10-game road losing streak against the Rangers.
Elias Díaz, who had five RBIs, hit his fourth career slam to get Texas within a run in the seventh inning, but the Rangers matched their biggest AL West deficit of the season at three games. Division-leading Houston beat Arizona 3-1.
Nick Martinez exited with one out and two on in the seventh with the AL East-leading Rays up 6-1, but Garrett Cleavinger walked Cody Freeman before Díaz lined a 1-2 slider just over the fence in left field.
Cleavinger was replaced after Justin Foscue singled, and Cam Booser got Corey Seager to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Kevin Kelly pitched a perfect eighth and Tyler Wells finished for his sixth save after major league saves leader Bryan Baker exited with an apparent injury after issuing two walks to start the ninth.
Martinez (14-4), who tied Saturday starter Drew Rasmussen for the team lead in wins, allowed five hits and three runs in 6 1/3 innings.
RED SOX 1, ORIOLES 0
BALTIMORE — Mickey Gasper hit a first-inning home run, Ranger Suarez gave up five hits in seven innings, and benches cleared after a contentious eighth-inning double play as the Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 1-0 on Friday night.
Gasper now has eight home runs this season, all in his last 16 games.
Suarez (6-4) struck out three, walked one and all five hits he allowed were singles.
Aroldis Chapman worked the ninth for his 32nd save of the season and the 399th os his career as Boston improved to 2-0 during this four-game set.
Benches and bullpens emptied in the eighth after Red Sox reliever Garrett Whitlock induced Luis Robert Jr. into an inning-ending double play and Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story appeared to take issue with Blaze Alexander's slide into second.
WHITE SOX 4, TWINS 1
CHICAGO — Colson Montgomery hit a two-run homer and Erick Fedde pitched five sparkling innings, helping the Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins 4-1 on Friday night.
Miguel Vargas and Braden Montgomery also went deep for AL Central-leading Chicago, which had lost four of five. Kyle Teel went 0 for 3 in his return to the lineup after being sidelined by a sprained left ankle.
Josh Bell homered in the ninth inning for Minnesota. Kody Clemens had three of the Twins' eight hits.
Vargas connected in the first, and Braden Montgomery hit another solo shot in the second. Andrew Benintendi walked ahead of Colson Montgomery's 416-foot drive to right-center off Zebby Matthews in the fourth.
It was the 30th homer of the season for both Vargas and Colson Montgomery. Vargas' previous career high was 16 homers last year, and Montgomery went deep 21 times in 2025 in his first season in the majors.
Matthews (9-9) allowed four hits in five innings in his first loss since July 24. He went 5-0 with a 2.90 ERA in five August starts.
ATHLETICS 7, MARINERS 6
SEATTLE — Zack Gelof launched one of four homers by the Athletics in a five-run third inning and later hit a tiebreaking triple that sent them to a 7-6 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night.
Max Muncy, Alika Williams and Jeff McNeil also went deep as the A's became the second major league team this season to hit four home runs in one inning. Cincinnati did it in the fourth inning of an 11-5 victory against Philadelphia on July 8.
Muncy had three hits for the Athletics, who have won three straight for the first time since early June. Brady Basso (1-2) relieved starter Kade Morris with two outs in Seattle’s three-run third and pitched three scoreless innings for his third career win.
Hogan Harris worked the ninth for his 15th save.
Logan Gilbert (11-9) gave up all seven A’s runs despite striking out 10. He lasted just 4 2/3 innings but reached 1,000 innings pitched with Seattle.
Canada's Josh Naylor had three hits for the Mariners, including an RBI single in the eighth. Cal Raleigh hit a two-run homer and scored three times.
PADRES 3, YANKEES 2 (10 INNINGS)
SAN DIEGO — Luis Campusano hit a two-run homer with one out in the 10th inning and the San Diego Padres beat the New York Yankees 3-2 on Friday night to move back into the third National League wild-card spot.
The Padres won for just the second time in seven games and leapfrogged Arizona back into playoff position.
New York dropped four games behind first-place Tampa Bay in the AL East.
Campusano homered to left field off Paul Blackburn (7-3), his sixth. It came a half-inning after rookie Spencer Jones hit an RBI single to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead against his hometown Padres.
The 25-year-old Jones, who played at La Costa Canyon High in northern San Diego County, was playing for the first time as a big leaguer at Petco Park. After going 0 for 3, he singled to center off All-Star closer Mason Miller (5-2) to bring in automatic runner Luis García Jr. for a 2-1 lead.
BRAVES 5, PHILLIES 2
PHILADELPHIA — Atlanta’s Chris Sale outdueled Cristopher Sánchez in a matchup of two of baseball’s best pitchers, and the Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-2 on Friday night to extend their lead in the NL East to five games.
Ronald Acuña had three hits and drove in a run and Mauricio Dubón homered for the Braves, who won for the ninth time in 11 games.
Alec Bohm homered and doubled and drove in both runs for the Phillies, who lost for just the fourth time in 19 games.
Sale (14-9) allowed two runs in six innings with seven strikeouts and a walk. He entered second in the NL in ERA, which rose slightly to 2.10.
Sánchez (16-5) remained stuck on 16 victories after surrendering three runs in six innings. He allowed five hits and three walks with five strikeouts.
Atlanta scored three of its runs off Sánchez in the second inning on Austin Riley’s RBI single, Ha-Seong Kim’s groundout, and Acuña’s RBI double.
The Phillies got a run back in the bottom of the inning on Bohm’s RBI double and pulled within 3-2 in the fourth on his one-out solo drive to left.
Philadelphia had runners in scoring position with less than two outs in the fifth and sixth innings, but could not score off Sale.
After Dubón hit a two-run shot in the eighth off Orion Kerkering, Raisel Iglesias pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 30th save.
PIRATES 1, ANGELS 0
PITTSBURGH — Jared Jones pitched six strong innings, Jake Mangum had an RBI double in the second inning and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the skidding Los Angeles Angels 1-0 on Friday night.
The MLB-worst Angels (53-88) lost for the 10th time in 11 games. The Pirates have won five of six games.
Jones (3-6) blanked the Angels on three hits to win for the first time in eight starts since beating Cleveland on July 18. He struck out nine, walked one, and threw 63 of 91 pitches for strikes.
Wilber Dotel pitched two innings, and Mason Montgomery worked the ninth to complete the four-hitter and the Pirates’ ninth shutout of the season. Montgomery had his ninth save.
Ryan Johnson (3-8) was the hard-luck loser, giving up one run and four hits over six innings with six strikeouts and two walks. He has a 1.67 ERA in his last six starts and allowed zero or one run in five of those outings.
Prized rookie shortstop Konnor Griffin returned from the injured list for the Pirates and made an immediate impact when he scored the lone run from first base on Mangum’s one-out double to right field in the second inning.
CUBS 6, MARLINS 1
MIAMI — Shota Imanaga allowed three hits and one run in six innings and Pete Crow-Armstrong doubled and stole his 33rd base as the Chicago Cubs beat Miami.
Imanaga (9-10) struck out four and improved to 4-2 in nine starts since the All-Star break. Aaron Civale pitched the final three innings for his second save.
Armstrong continued to bolster his case for NL MVP, drawing a four-pitch walk, scoring twice and making a leaping grab at the center-field wall to rob Miami’s Heriberto Hernández of a potential extra-base hit in the sixth.
Alex Bregman singled twice and walked, stretching his hitting streak to eight games, dating to Aug 28. Nico Hoerner also had three hits and an RBI. Pedro Ramírez drove in two runs.
Marlins starter Janson Junk (6-9) struck out five and limited the Cubs to one run on three hits through five innings. Chicago then scored three in the sixth against relievers Jack Ralston and Josh Ekness.
BREWERS 10, REDS 7
CINCINNATI (AP) — Cooper Pratt drove in a season-high four runs with a bases-loaded triple and a groundout, Brice Turang had a two-run double and Milwaukee beat Cincinnati.
Rhett Lowder was the victim of an error that led to the Brewers’ decisive five-run fifth inning.
Lowder (6-9) gave up a leadoff single to Jackson Chourio and walked Christian Yelich. William Contreras hit what appeared to be a double-play ground ball to shortstop, but Elly De La Cruz bobbled it to load the bases. Pratt tripled inside the first base bag to clear the bases off Sam Moll. He scored on a wild pitch.
The Reds led 6-4 in the third after Eugenio Suarez’s three-run home run off Shane Drohan. Suarez returned from becoming a U.S. citizen, and his walk-up song was Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” It was his 21st home run of the season and tied him with Ken Griffey Jr. for ninth on the team’s home run list with 210.
Drohan pitched four innings, six runs on five hits, including Matt McLain’s 14th home run.
Chad Patrick (8-4) pitched two scoreless innings for the victory. Trevor Megill picked up his 26th save in 28 chances.
METS 10, GIANTS 6
NEW YORK (AP) — Francisco Alvarez hit two of New York’s five home runs, leading Nolan McLean and the Mets to a win over San Francisco.
Mark Vientos, former Blue Jay Bo Bichette and Francisco Lindor also went deep for the Mets, who scored 10 runs for the second consecutive game and matched their season high for homers. New York also connected five times May 14 against Detroit and Aug. 22 at the Chicago White Sox.
Rafael Devers homered, doubled twice and drove in five runs for the Giants in a series opener between disappointing teams.
The two-homer game was the third this season for Alvarez and the eighth of his career. The 24-year-old catcher also went deep twice to back a 10-3 win by McLean on April 3 in San Francisco.
Alvarez’s opposite-field drive in the second inning Friday was his first homer since Aug. 9. He batted just .125 (7 for 56) with two doubles in between.
Vientos’ three-run shot off rookie Matt Wilkinson (0-3) in the first was his second homer in four games since returning from a nearly two-month stint on the injured list due to a broken right hand.
Bichette homered to cap a four-run outburst in the second. He is batting .309 with 10 homers and 40 RBIs in his last 78 games.
ASTROS 3, DIAMONDBACKS 1
HOUSTON — Yainer Diaz hit a solo home run in a three-run third inning, Cristian Javier combined with four relievers to limit Arizona to three hits in a Houston win.
Houston moved a season-high four games over .500 at 73-69 with its fifth victory in the last six games. The Astros expanded their lead in the AL West to three games over the Texas Rangers.
The Diamondbacks have lost four of their last five games. They fell into a tie with the San Diego Padres for the final NL wild-card spot.
Diaz led off the third with a solo home run to left. With one out, Jeremy Peña and Yordan Alvarez hit back-to-back singles before Isaac Paredes hit an RBI double. Jose Altuve followed with a sacrifice fly, scoring Alvarez.
Javier (2-5) yielded one run on one hit — a solo home run to former Blue Jay Gabriel Moreno in the fourth — and tied his season high with eight strikeouts in five innings. Javier had his first win since July 27, snapping a four-game slide.
Enyel De Los Santos allowed a hit in a third of an inning, and Bennett Sousa yielded a hit in 1 1/3 innings. Sousa escaped a bases loaded jam in the sixth inducing an inning-ending double play by Nolan Arenado.
DODGERS 5, NATIONALS 3
LOS ANGELES — Blake Snell tossed six scoreless innings, Kyle Tucker homered for the first time since Aug. 8 and the Los Angeles Dodgers held off the Washington Nationals 5-3 on Friday night in their series opener.
The NL West-leading Dodgers won their fifth in a row against the Nationals dating to June 22, 2025.
Snell (3-1) allowed five hits and struck out seven. Leading 4-0, he gave up back-to-back hits to open the sixth but retired the next three batters to end the threat.
Tucker's 12th homer of the season and first at home since mid-June off reliever Luis Perales made it 5-0 in the sixth.
The Dodgers opened a four-run cushion when Alex Call, the designated hitter in Shohei Ohtani's absence, doubled and scored from third on an error by shortstop Nasim Nuñez, who dropped a ball hit by Tommy Edman, who was safe at first.
Los Angeles took a 3-0 lead on Mookie Betts' RBI single and Teoscar Hernández's two-run double off Nationals starter Jackson Kent (1-3) in the third.
CARDINALS 7, ROCKIES 6
DENVER — Iván Herrera hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning to rally the St. Louis Cardinals past the Colorado Rockies 7-6 on Friday night, tightening a crowded race for the final National League wild card.
St. Louis pulled even with Miami at 71-71 as both teams chase San Diego (74-67) and Arizona (74-68) for the last NL playoff berth.
With the Cardinals trailing 6-4 in the ninth, Thomas Saggese drew a leadoff walk from Jordan Romano (0-3) and stole second with one out. He went to third when José Fermín reached on a throwing error by third baseman Connor Norby.
Herrera then drove a 1-2 slider 430 feet to centre field for his 15th home run, handing Romano his fourth blown save.
Riley O'Brien struck out two in the ninth for his 36th save. After committing a throwing error on a pickoff attempt that advanced the potential tying run to second base, O'Brien fanned rookie Cole Carrigg to end it.
Cade Winquist (1-0) worked 1 2/3 scoreless innings for his first major league win.
Carrigg hit an inside-the-park home run and TJ Rumfield also homered and finished with three hits for Colorado.
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