Pennant Race Roundup: Houston and Seattle both stay in place in the AL West, while Detroit and Minnesota both do the same

No movement anywhere yesterday thanks to all the teams that needed to win winning their games

Another day, another full slate of games. A few of them were big flips from the day before, but none of them really helped anyone’s case when it comes to playoff implications.

The Yankees continue their hot streak they have been on, and they stay as the top seed in the American League, but both Cleveland and Houston (mostly Cleveland) are right on their tail for that bye. Let’s check out what happened around the league on Pennant Race Roundup.

Houston Astros (81-68): 6, Los Angeles Angels (60-89): 4

In the final game of the series, Houston continues to stay hot and came out and dominated right away, completing the sweep. The scoring got started in the top of the third when Jason Heyward launched his second Astros home run over right field to give the ‘Stros a 1-0 lead.

The scoring continued in the next inning when, with men on second and third, Pena and Heyward smacks back-to-back singles to score two runs and put runners at the corners. A passed ball during the next at bat allowed the runner on third to score and after a third RBI single in the inning, the Astros found themselves up 5-0.

No one crossed the plate again in the game until the top of the eighth inning when the Astros got their final run of the game on YET ANOTHER RBI single. This time the Angels answered back though, starting with a solo shot in the bottom of the eighth.

Then followed that by putting up another three runs in the bottom of the ninth, but they weren’t able to complete the comeback, losing 6-4. This made no difference to the Astros in any of the standing because all of the teams around them all won the games they needed to.

Seattle Mariners (77-73): 7, Texas Rangers (71-79): 0

The Mariners continue to show out when they need to, putting up a dominate performance today that was headlined by starter George Kirby who threw seven innings of one-hit ball.

His team helped him out right away by getting three runs right away in the bottom of the first off the bat of Mitch Garver, who put a ball over the center field fence for his thirteenth of the year.

They got one more in the sixth and seventh each, putting them up 5-0, before getting two more in the eighth, bringing it to 7-0. One of those runs came off the bat of Randy Arozarena, who smacked a solo shot over left field for a home run.

The Mariners remain 4.5 games back of the Astros for the AL West division and 2.5 games back of the Minnesota Twins for the Wild Card spot.

Cincinnati Reds (73-78): 2, Minnesota Twins (79-70): 9

Just a day after getting clobbered, the Twins come out and flip the script, getting the win and staying 2.5 up in the WC race.

Scoring didn’t start until the fourth inning, and it started with the Reds. An RBI-triple and a sac fly put them in front 2-0, but the Twins had a response. An RBI-double play got them on the board for the first time this game, putting them down 2-1.

Once the game got to the bottom of the sixth, the Twins broke it open. With two on and two-outs, the Twins went on to score three runs in the inning, starting with a RBI-double that scored one, followed by a two-RBI single, giving them a 4-2 lead.

A five-run bottom of the seventh was what put the game away. Getting the scoring started in the inning was Carlos Santana, who launched a two-run blast for his 22^nd of the year, and it was followed by a bases loaded triple by Brooks Lee, bringing the game to its final 9-2.

Other games that matter

Baltimore Orioles: 2, Detroit Tigers: 4

With the Tigers right on the cusp of a Wild Card spot and the O’s looking to keep their top WC position, this game was important to both sides. The O’s after the loss find themselves just 2.5 games back from the Kansas City Royals for that top spot. The Tigers pitchers were able to shut down one of the top offense in the league and hold them to just two, which they didn’t score till the eighth. If the Tigers can keep this up, they will find themselves in a spot to make the playoffs.