Rookie Royce Lewis hit two home runs in his return from injury, Pablo Lopez pitched effectively into the sixth inning and the Minnesota Twins beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 Tuesday in their wild card series opener.

The win snapped Minnesota’s 18-game postseason losing streak, the longest in MLB history, as the Twins won their first playoff game since 2004.  

Lewis, who had been sidelined for the last two weeks with a strained left hamstring, went deep off Toronto starter Kevin Gausman in each of his first two career postseason at-bats and was responsible for all three of Minnesota’s runs.

Lopez scattered five hits and two walks over 5 2/3 innings to earn the victory in his second career playoff start.

Three relievers worked 2 1/3 innings before Jhoan Duran got the final three outs to secure Minnesota’s first home postseason win since Game 1 of the 2002 ALCS at the Metrodome.

Kevin Kiermaier drove in Bo Bichette with a sixth-inning single for Toronto’s only run.

The Twins will look to win their first postseason series since 2002 on Wednesday when they send veteran Sonny Gray to the mound. Former Twin Jose Berrios is slated to start Game 2 for Toronto.

 

Diamondbacks chase Burnes, rally by Brewers

Corbin Carroll, Ketel Marte and Gabriel Moreno each hit home runs off Corbin Burnes, and the Arizona Diamondbacks rallied to take Game 1 of their wild card series against the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-3.

Carlos Santana singled in Christian Yelich in the first inning, and Tyrone Taylor hit a two-run homer in the second to give Milwaukee a 3-0 lead.

The D-backs responded with home runs by Carroll and Marte in the third to tie the game, then took the lead on Moreno’s solo shot in the fourth. Christian Walker’s two-run double in the ninth provided insurance for Paul Sewald, who earned his first career postseason save.

Burnes needed 92 pitches to get through four innings, allowing four runs, five hits and two walks.

Arizona starter Brandon Pfaadt was chased in the third inning, but six pitchers from the Diamondbacks’ bullpen combined to close the game with 6 1/3 scoreless innings.

 

Wheeler stifles Marlins in Phillies’ win

Zack Wheeler turned in a stellar start and Jose Alvarado preserved the lead with a key strikeout to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 4-1 victory over the Miami Marlins in their wild-card opener.

Wheeler limited Miami to one run and five hits over 6 2/3 innings without a walk and eight strikeouts.

Alvarado fanned Yuli Gurriel with two runners on in the seventh to end Miami’s threat. He retired two batters in the eighth before Jeff Hoffman got the third out.

Craig Kimbrel pitched the ninth to seal the win.

Alec Bohm’s RBI double in the third opened the scoring and Bryson Stott delivered an RBI single in the fourth for a 2-0 lead.

Cristian Pache’s single later in the inning extended the lead and Nick Castellanos doubled home Philadelphia’s fourth run in the eighth.

The Phillies will try to book a return trip to the NLDS with a win in Game 2 on Wednesday.

 

Rangers blank sloppy Rays behind Montgomery

Jordan Montgomery scattered six hits over seven innings and the Texas Rangers extended the Tampa Bay Rays’ playoff woes with a 4-0 win in Game 1.

Montgomery retired 14 of his last 16 batters and fanned pinch-hitter Junior Caminero to end his outing with five strikeouts and no walks.

The left-hander also made the defensive playoff game, diving to make a catch on Jose Siri’s bunt along the first-base line with runners at the corners in the second.

Tampa Bay lost its sixth straight postseason game dating to Game 2 of the 2021 AL Division Series against Boston.

Corey Seager and Josh Jung drove in runs and Texas benefited from four errors by the Rays, who are hitting .133 while scoring just one run in their last three playoff defeats.

Tyler Glasnow allowed four runs and six hits in five-plus innings with eight strikeouts and five walks.

The Toronto Blue Jays placed star shortstop Bo Bichette on the 10-day injured list Wednesday, two days after the American League's current batting leader injured his right knee against the Baltimore Orioles.

Bichette underwent tests Tuesday that revealed no structural damage and the 2023 All-Star has been diagnosed with patellar tendinitis. 

Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters Wednesday that the team does not anticipate a lengthy absence for Bichette, who's batting .321 this season and ranks second in the major leagues with 144 hits. Schneider said it's too early to tell, however, whether the 25-year-old can return when first eligible on Aug. 11.

“The quicker we can get Bo back the better, obviously,” Schneider told MLB.com. "But we’ve got to see how he goes with each day, with each treatment, with each activity.”

Bichette exited Monday's 4-2 loss to Baltimore in the third inning after his right knee buckled as he rounded first base after reaching on a single. He was able to walk off the field under his own power but was noticeably limping and grimacing.

The injury prompted the Blue Jays to acquire veteran infielder Paul DeJong from the St. Louis Cardinals at Tuesday's trade deadline. DeJong will make his Toronto debut in Wednesday's series finale against the Orioles.

DeJong has produced 13 home runs and 32 RBIs along with a .233 average in 81 games this season. The seven-year veteran was an All-Star with the Cardinals in 2019 and finished that season with career highs of 30 homers and 78 RBIs.

 

Matt Manning, Jason Foley and Alex Lange produced the first combined no-hitter in Detroit Tigers history, leading the way to a 2-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays Saturday.

Manning was pulled after allowing a seventh-inning walk to Cavan Biggio on his 91st pitch. He walked three and struck out five in his 6 2/3 innings of work.

Foley recorded four straight outs before handing the ball over to Lange, who pitched a perfect ninth and recorded his 13th save of the season.

The start of the game was delayed nearly an hour and a half due to rain, but fans who stayed were treated to history as the Tigers rushed Lange on the mound after Spencer Torkelson squeezed the final out at first base.

Torkelson and Kerry Carpenter had first-inning RBIs for the Tigers, providing all the offence the team would need.

Riley Greene reached base four times in his first game back from the injured list after recovering from a stress fracture in his lower left leg.

 

 

 

Strider, Braves beat slumping Rays to stay hot

Spencer Strider stuck out 11 to win his seventh straight decision and the red-hot Atlanta Braves sent the Tampa Bay Rays to their seventh consecutive loss, 6-1.

Strider limited the Rays to four hits over 6 1/3 scoreless innings with one walk to join Arizona’s Zac Gallen and Tampa Bay’s Shane McClanahan as the only 11-game winners in the majors.

Sean Murphy finished Atlanta’s four-run fourth inning with a three-run homer off rookie Taj Bradley, who gave up four runs and five hits in five innings.

The MLB-leading Braves homered in a franchise record-tying 25th straight game. They have won 20 of 22 to open a 9 ½-game lead in the NL East.

 

Dodgers hit five home runs, beat Angels again

Mookie Betts hit his 10th leadoff home run of the season for one of the Los Angeles’ Dodgers five homers in their ninth straight win against the reeling Los Angeles Angels, 10-5.

Betts’ home run set the MLB record for most in the first half, surpassing George Springer, who had nine with the Houston Astros in the first half of 2017.

Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy, J.D. Martinez and David Peralta also went deep to help the Dodgers make it 10 consecutive wins against the Angels since a loss on Aug. 6, 2021.

Shohei Ohtani hit his major league-leading 32nd homer and fell a double shy of the cycle as the Angels dropped their fifth in a row.

 

Former West Indies opener, Chris Gayle, the self-proclaimed Universe Boss, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Toronto Blue Jays’ inaugural Cricket Day on Saturday, June 24 and he wants everyone to come see him do it.

Known worldwide as one of the most destructive batters in world cricket, the charismatic Gayle is in Toronto, Canada as a special guest and had a batting practice session prior to the big day on Saturday.

“I’m town, Toronto just comes alive. So tomorrow is Blue Jays Cricket Day and Universe Boss will be doing the first pitch. You don’t want to miss that one,” Gayle declared in a short video on Twitter. “It’s going to be epic; 95 miles per hour pitch from the Universe Boss. You don’t wanna miss it.”

In addition to throwing out the first pitch and engaging in batting sessions, Gayle is also expected to be involved in other activities expected to excite fans in the Canadian city.

The 2022 season could not have gone much better for Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Alek Manoah.

The 2023 season, meanwhile, could not have started much worse for the struggling right-hander.

The Blue Jays sent Manoah to the rookie-level Florida Complex League on Tuesday, one day after he managed to get just one out in an 11-4 loss to the Houston Astros.

The 25-year-old has been a major disappointment this season after finishing third in AL Cy Young Award balloting in 2022 and earning a selection to the All-Star Game.

Through 58 innings and 13 starts this year, Manoah has surrendered 45 runs - 10 fewer runs than he permitted all of 2022 in 196 2/3 innings.

He's 1-7 with a 6.36 ERA this year after going 16-7 with a 2.24 ERA in 31 starts last season. As a rookie in 2021, he was 9-2 with a 3.22 ERA in 20 starts.

Among the 96 players in the majors with at least 50 innings pitched this season, Manoah's ERA is the ninth highest while his 1.90 WHIP is second worst.

This is after he compiled the fourth-lowest ERA and 10th-lowest WHIP (0.99), among all qualifying MLB pitchers in 2022.

His latest outing was the shortest out of 64 career starts.

Manoah faced nine Astros and got just one out, allowing six runs and seven hits - including a grand slam - while walking one.

He'll now be working at one of the lowest minor league levels.

 

Boston Red Sox center-fielder Jarren Duran continued his terrific start to the season in Tuesday's 8-6 road win against the Baltimore Orioles.

Duran, 26, collected three hits from his four at-bats, highlighted by a 409-foot grand slam to center-field in the third inning to bust the game wide open.

Through nine games and 31 at-bats this season, Duran is slashing sizzling figures of .387/.417/.645, and he is not the only Red Sox hitter with a hot bat.

AL Rookie of the Year hopeful Masataka Yoshida finished two-for-four with a walk, marking his fourth multi-hit game in a row. After a cold start to his debut season in the majors, the 29-year-old is 12-for-24 in his past six outings.

The Orioles tried to mount a late comeback as Cedric Mullins hit a ninth-inning grand slam, making it the first time in MLB history that the center-fielder on each team finished with a grand slam.

With the win, the Red Sox improved their record to above .500 at 13-12, while the Orioles are still in a strong position at 15-8 in the ultra-competitive AL East.

Kelenic does it again

Seattle Mariners outfielder Jarred Kelenic hit a home run for the third game in a row to defeat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-3 on the road.

Kelenic had his eye in, hitting a double in the second inning, a solo home run in the fifth, and a single in the ninth, with his only out in the contest coming on a hard-hit line out to left-field.

He was the only Mariners player with more than one hit, although Teoscar Hernandez's two-run home run ended up being the difference.

Berrios and Jansen take down the White Sox

The Toronto Blue Jays battery of Jose Berrios and Danny Jansen combined to dominate the Chicago White Sox in a 7-0 shutout.

Berrios pitched seven scoreless innings in 103 pitches, allowing four hits and one walk to go with nine strikeouts, and as well as calling a great game behind the plate, Jansen punished the White Sox with his bat.

Jansen went three-for-four at the plate including two home runs, driving in four of his team's runs, while team-mate George Springer also collected three hits.

Superstar duo Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout made their presence felt on Sunday as they hit back-to-back home runs in the Los Angeles Angels' 4-3 home win against the Kansas City Royals.

Despite coming into the contest with the second-worst record in the majors (4-16), the Royals struck first through an opening-inning home run from young outfielder M.J. Melendez.

The Angels tied things up before the end of the first inning after Trout's double put Taylor Ward on third base, setting up Ohtani for the sacrifice fly.

Neither team scored in the next four frames as Angels starter Reid Detmers and Royals pitcher Jordan Lyles kept things tight, but the runs started to flow again in the sixth.

Vinnie Pasquantino gave Kansas City a 2-1 lead with his solo home run, signalling the end of Detmers' day, before Lyles had a rotten finish to his six innings.

Lyles threw a total of nine pitches in the sixth. The very first was hit 376 feet to left-field by lead-off batter Ward, before Trout followed with a 389-foot blast to center field three pitches later. Ohtani made it three in a row five pitches after that, launching a curveball 415 feet to center for the biggest of the bunch.

Top Royals youngster Bobby Witt Jr tried to drag his side back into it with his own solo homer an inning later, but Carlos Estevez was able to secure his third save of the season to pull the Angels' record even at 11-11.

It was the fifth home run of the season for both Ohtani and Trout, leaving them tied for 17th on the major league leaderboard.

Gausman guts the Yankees

Toronto Blue Jays ace Kevin Gausman pitched his best start of the young season in a 5-1 road victory over the New York Yankees.

Gausman made it through seven complete innings in 103 pitches, allowing only three hits and no walks to go with 11 strikeouts. The Yankees' only run would come from a consolation solo shot from Anthony Rizzo in the ninth inning.

For the Blue Jays, 24-year-old franchise star Vladimir Guerrero Jr connected on his fifth home run of the season, opening the scoring with a two-run bomb in the sixth inning. His batting average of .341 is eighth-highest in the majors, and his 29 total hits is tied for the sixth-most.

Yoshida stars for the Red Sox

AL Rookie of the Year contender and top international signing from the offseason Masataka Yoshida was the star of the show in the Boston Red Sox's 12-5 come-from-behind victory against the Milwaukee Brewers.

After signing a five-year, $90million free agent deal to come over from Japan's Orix Buffaloes, the 29-year-old Yoshida had his first game-changing performance for his new team, becoming the first Red Sox player since David Ortiz in 2008 to hit two home runs in the same inning.

The left-fielder, who starred for Japan in March's World Baseball Classic, hit a solo home run early in the eighth inning to give the Red Sox a 5-4 lead, and eight batters later he stepped up again and hit a 407-foot grand slam to make it 12-4. Brewers third baseman Brian Anderson also hit two home runs of his own.

The Minnesota Twins came back from the worst possible start to earn a 4-3 road win against the New York Yankees on Friday.

In a stunning first inning in front of their home fans, the Yankees led 2-0 after two at-bats. Rookie Anthony Volpe connected on a 394-foot shot to left-center field for his first career home run, and he was followed by reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge, who sent his solo home run 404 feet for his fifth dinger of the season.

Judge's five home runs this season trails only Baltimore Orioles slugger Ryan Mountcastle and New York Mets star Pete Alonso for the league's most, both with six.

But those two runs would be the only scores until the sixth inning, when Carlos Correa put the Twins on the board with a solo home run of his own, barely scraping over the short-porch at right-field with a distance of 331 feet.

Giancarlo Stanton answered for the Yankees in the bottom of the sixth, cancelling out Correa's blast with another solo home run, before Kyle Garlick smacked the game's fifth solo homer to cut the New York lead to 3-2.

But after Michael Taylor and Byron Buxton both got on base to lead off the eighth frame, Correa came through again with a two-run double to give the Twins their first lead, setting up Jhoan Duran to come in and pick up the save – his fourth of the season.

The win was the Twins' fourth in a row, improving their AL Central-leading record to 10-4, while the Yankees slipped to 8-6.

Jays end the Rays' historic start

The Tampa Bay Rays have had their perfect start to the season snapped at 13 wins after the Toronto Blue Jays defeated them 6-3 at home.

George Springer gave the Blue Jays an early lead when he sent the second pitch from Rays starter Drew Rasmussen 440 feet for a lead-off home run, before team-mate Bo Bichette doubled their lead with a ground-rule double in the second inning.

Bichette went on to collect five hits from his five at-bats – three singles and two doubles – but it was loose pitching from Tampa Bay that doomed them to defeat.

Trailing just 2-1 in the sixth inning, the Rays issued two bases-loaded walks, and then allowed two more runs to score on an error.

Tampa Bay tied the 1982 Atlanta Braves and the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers for the best start to a season (13-0) since the 1884 St Louis Maroons (20-0).

Ohtani and Trout both hit, walk in Angels loss

The Los Angeles Angels went down 5-3 on the road against the Boston Red Sox, despite their two former AL MVPs both finishing with a hit and a walk.

Shohei Ohtani went one-for-four with a walk, while Mike Trout also went one-for-four with a walk, although his hit went for a double down the left-field line.

The production from the Angels' stars was not enough to overcome three fielding errors as a team, including two costly errors from third-baseman Anthony Rendon to allow three runs, and a fourth run scored on a passed ball from catcher Logan O'Hoppe.

Boston's top bat Rafael Devers was the highlight for the home side, connecting on his equal league-leading sixth homer.

The Tampa Bay Rays' remarkable start to the 2023 season continued as they extended their winning run to nine games with an 11-0 rout of the Oakland Athletics on Sunday.

The Rays improved to 9-0, becoming the first team since the Kansas City Royals in 2003 to win their first nine games. The longest opening run of wins in MLB history is 13, held by the Atlanta Braves (1982) and the Milwaukee Brewers (1987).

Tampa Bay have won all nine by four or more runs, outscoring their opponents 75-18, which is the most runs scored and least runs allowed in the majors this season.

The record streak for winning games by at least four runs is more than a century old, held by the St Louis Maroons from 1884, when they won 13 in a row.

The Rays swept their third series of the year in the process, blasting three homers on Sunday for an MLB-best 24 this season.

All that came amid pitcher Drew Rasmussen's combined one-hitter with Brandon Lowe's blasting a fourth-inning grand slam. Rasmussen had eight strikeouts and walked none.

Wander Franco homered in the first inning to put the Rays into the lead, before Lowe sent his shot 386 feet over left feld. Harold Ramirez added a two-run blast in the fifth as well.

Judge launches two blasts in Yankees win

Aaron Judge crushed two home runs as the New York Yankees downed the Baltimore Orioles 5-3 to claim the series win.

Judge hit solo blasts in the third and eighth innings, bringing up his 28th multi-homer career game and first of the 2023 season. The outfielder also scored in the first from a Giancarlo Stanton single.

Franchy Cordero hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning to open up a 4-0 lead, before the O's offered some resistance led by Adley Rutschman who went four-for-four with a homer and two runs.

Kiermaier gets Blue Jays home in slugfest

Kevin Kiermaier came to the Toronto Blue Jays' rescue after Matt Chapman's grand slam as they rallied back from 6-0 down to win 12-11 over the Los Angeles Angels in 10 innings.

Kiermaier, who went three-for-five with five RBIs, blasted a two-run triple after Chapman's grand slam as part of a six-run sixth-inning rally. Kiermaier's two-run single made it 10-6 in the next inning, before his ground rule double drove in Cavan Biggio, before scoring himself in the 10th inning.

Jays pitcher Tim Mayza retired Shohei Ohtani with bases loaded for the final out, after the Japanese had launched a two-run blast in the third inning. Ohtani's homer was one of four for the Angels.

Adam Duvall starred before blasting a walk-off two-run homer over the Green Monster as the Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 9-8 on Saturday.

Duvall, who joined the Red Sox from the Atlanta Braves in the offseason, had four hits, three runs and five RBIs for the game in a glittering display at Fenway Park.

But his crowning moment came with the Red Sox two out with a runner on first at the bottom of the ninth, hammering a Felix Bautista fastball just above the Green Monster for the walk-off blast.

The Red Sox capitalised on Ryan McKenna's fielding error at deep left field that allowed Masataka Yoshida to get on first base after hitting a routine fly ball.

Duvall's subsequent blast just cleared the Monster, caroming into a tabletop and back on to the field, but the lights flickered, signalling the walk-off homer.

The 34-year-old outfielder homered in the third inning as part of a four-run salvo after the Red Sox trailed 7-1.

Baltimore had raced ahead with Ryan Mountcastle's two-run first-inning homer along with Cedric Mullins three-run blast in the third. The Orioles tagged Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale for seven runs across three innings.

The Red Sox cut it to 8-7 in the seventh after Enrique Hernandez's homer and Duvall's ground rule double for Rafael Devers to score. Austin Hays went five-for-five with two runs for the O's.

Flaherty's mixed day as Cardinals register first win

St Louis Cardinals pitcher Jack Flaherty threw five no-hit innings along with giving up a career-high seven walks as his side claimed their first win of the season, 4-1 over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Flaherty fanned four, tossing down 49 of 95 pitches for strikes, but only had one clean inning, albeit his final one, on a mixed day on the mound.

The Cardinals opened up a 3-0 lead in the third inning, capitalising on a two-out throwing error by Jays third baseman Matt Chapman, before Nolan Gorman's two-run single.

Angels pile on the runs in Fujinami's A's debut

The Los Angeles Angels scored 11 runs in the third inning as they spoiled Shintaro Fujinami's debut for the Oakland Athletics, winning 13-1.

Fujinami, who joined the A's on a one-year free-agent deal, fell apart in the third after a positive start, with his game ending after 55 pitches with the Angels leading 6-0. The Japanese pitcher allowed eight earned runs with three walks and four Ks.

Taylor Ward blasted a three-run homer off reliever Adam Oller, while Shohei Ohtani had two hits and two RBIs.

Trayce Thompson produced a three-homer, eight-RBI game as the Los Angeles Dodgers won 10-1 over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

After his record-breaking 2022 season, there was no one more fitting to hit the first home run of the 2023 campaign than Aaron Judge as the New York Yankees won 5-0 over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday.

Judge, who blasted an American League single-season record 62 home runs last season, lit up Opening Day with the first home-run shot of 2023 in the first inning at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees outfielder needed only two pitches before launching Logan Webb's sinker over the center-field wall. Judge's blast had an exit velocity of 109.3 mph and traveled 422 feet according to Statcast projections.

Gerrit Cole did the rest on the mound, recording an Opening Day franchise record 11 strikeouts across six scoreless innings.

Gleyber Torres creamed a two-run blast in the fourth inning to open up a 3-0 lead, while Torres scored again from a D.J. LeMahieu single in the seventh.

Judge chimed in with a broken-bat RBI single in the same inning, with Jose Trevino scoring, securing a 5-0 win and initiating "M-V-P!" chants from the home crowd.

Top prospect Anthony Volpe also got a rousing reception from the Yankees faithful, finishing 0-2 with a walk in his maiden start at shortstop.

Jays edge Cards in 19-run, 34-hit epic

The Toronto Blue Jays edged the St Louis Cardinals 10-9 in a wild 19-run 34-hit Opening Day classic where Vladimir Guerrero Jr played a key role.

Guerrero brought home the decisive run with a ninth-inning sacrifice fly for new addition Kevin Kiermaier to score the go-ahead run. Guerrero finished with three RBIs from two hits.

Alejandro Kirk had helped the Jays to a 3-0 first-inning lead with a two-run single on a line drive, after Daulton Varsho drove in George Springer on a double.

The chaotic contest saw the Jays become the first MLB team to allow a go-ahead run in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings on the road and still win since the Boston Red Sox in 1938.

Ohtani sends down 10 Ks in Angels defeat

Shohei Ohtani took the unusual step of calling his own pitches, sending down 10 strikeouts, but it was not enough for the Los Angeles Angels in a 2-1 loss to the Oakland Athletics.

Ohtani threw six shutout innings, allowing only two hits, but the A's capitalized after he exited, turning a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 victory, scoring two at the bottom of the eighth.

Tony Kemp doubled on a fly ball past Mike Trout in center field with Esteury Ruiz scoring, before Aledmys Diaz's line drive drove in Kemp.

Angels outfielder Hunter Renfroe produced a moment of magic in the fifth inning with a no-look catch, leaving Ohtani stunned.

Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr will not play for the Dominican Republic at the World Baseball Classic, withdrawing from the tournament due to inflammation in his right knee.

The 23-year-old slugger injured his knee Friday while running the bases in a spring training game and the team announced Saturday he would not participate in the WBC.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider said an MRI showed no structural damage, and he is not expected to be sidelined for long.

Toronto, though, obviously do not want to take any chances as they head into the 2023 season with high expectations after finishing with 92 wins and reaching the playoffs last year.

Guerrero was named to his second All-Star Game in 2022 after leading the Blue Jays with 32 home runs and 97 RBIs while batting .274 in 160 games.

He is the third Toronto player to withdraw from the WBC, along with catcher Alejandro Kirk and relief pitcher Jordan Romano.

The Dominican Republic begins their WBC schedule next Saturday against Venezuela.

The Toronto Blue Jays were still in shock as John Schneider and his players sought to reflect on a remarkable defeat to the Seattle Mariners that ended their season.

Toronto, the fourth seed in the American League, had lost their Wild Card opener at home to the Mariners on Friday but appeared on course to level the series the following day.

The Blue Jays led 8-1 at the end of the fifth inning, with Seattle needing to become just the third team to overturn a seven-run deficit in a postseason game.

But that was exactly what they did, with four runs in each of the sixth and eighth innings to win 10-9 and advance to the ALDS.

"Baseball sucks sometimes, and this group will be back in the exact same spot very, very soon," Schneider said. 

"Sometimes when you think you have an advantage, you don't win."

The interim Blue Jays manager gathered his thoughts more effectively than Teoscar Hernandez, whose two home runs proved in vain.

Hernandez is only the third Blue Jay to hit two homers in a single postseason game, although all three examples have now come in defeats that saw Toronto eliminated (also Jose Bautista vs the Kansas City Royals in the 2015 ALCS, Danny Jansen vs the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2020 Wild Card).

"Nothing goes through my mind," Hernandez said. "Every little thing that happened in the game, it's just incredible the way it happened.

"I mean, we were winning by seven runs. It sucks, but at the end, it's baseball, and we have to eat it, go home, think about it and get ready for next year."

While heartbreaking for the Blue Jays, the win continued the Mariners' Cinderella story, bringing playoff baseball back home to Seattle for the first time since 2001.

A 21-year postseason drought had been the longest such active run in any of the four major American sports.

"It's a credit to our players not quitting," said manager Scott Servais. "Just keep grinding through it.

"We've talked about doing the little things, just get on base, and that's what you saw. Nobody tried to hit a homer. It was just 'keep the line moving'. And all of a sudden, big things happen."

The Seattle Mariners launched the biggest road comeback in playoff history to advance to the ALDS after completing a Wild Card sweep over the Toronto Blue Jays with a 10-9 win.

The Mariners, in their first postseason campaign since 2001, trailed 8-1 at the bottom of the fifth inning before four runs in each of the sixth and eighth.

Down 9-6 in the eighth, J.P. Crawford hit a blooper to center, landing between center-fielder George Springer and shortstop Bo Bichette, who collided, allowing three runners to score and tie the game up.

Adam Frazier came up with the game-winning RBI double in the ninth inning, hitting to right-field to drive in Cal Raleigh.

The comeback was the joint second biggest in MLB postseason history, and the largest rally to clinch a postseason series.

Seattle now progresses to the ALDS where they will face the Houston Astros.

"To go to the World Series, you have to go through Houston,'' Mariners manager Scott Servais said. "They're really good. We understand that. We're really good.''

Phillies floor Cards to end Pujols' career

Albert Pujols' decorated career ended as the St Louis Cardinals bowed out following a 2-0 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies after Bryce Harper's second-inning home run.

Pujols went two-for-four, managing a hit with his final at-bat, but could not produce the heroics to lift the Cardinals, with their leading home-run hitter Paul Goldschmidt struggling throughout. Pujols ends his career with 703 home runs, the fourth most of all-time.

Aaron Nola was excellent for the Phillies on the mound, with six strikeouts across six-and-two-thirds scoreless innings, allowing only four hits.

The Cleveland Guardians completed a sweep over the Tampa Bay Rays with a 1-0 win after Oscar Gonzalez homered in the 15th inning.

Vintage deGrom helps Mets stay alive

The New York Mets stayed alive with a 7-3 victory over the San Diego Padres to square up their Wild Card series.

Jacob deGrom starred with eight strikeouts across six innings, while Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso homered in the first and fifth innings respectively.

With the Mets leading 3-2 in the seventh, Jeff McNeil managed a two-run double. Brandon Nimmo was important too, going three-for-four with one RBI.

The San Diego Padres began their postseason in style, making history in their 7-1 win on the road against the New York Mets in Game 1 of their NL Wild Card series on Friday.

With Max Scherzer starting on the mound for the Mets, the Padres clobbered four home runs off him in the first four-and-two-thirds innings. It was the first time in the Mets' 89-game playoff history they had conceded four home runs in a single game.

They were hit by Josh Bell in the first inning, followed by Trent Grisham in the second inning, before Jurickson Profar and Manny Machado both went deep in the fifth to spell the end of Scherzer's night.

The Mets were able to hit one homer of their own in the bottom of the fifth inning, but that would be the last run of the game as both bullpens pitched four scoreless frames to close the show.

Yu Darvish pitched a gem for the Padres, giving up one run from six hits and no walks in seven complete innings, striking out four batters.

New York will host Game 2 on Saturday, and Game 3, if necessary, on Sunday.

Phillies produce stunning comeback to steal Game 1

The Philadelphia Phillies trailed 2-0 heading into the last inning, and came away with a 6-3 road win against the St Louis Cardinals.

There were no runs from either team in the first six innings as Zack Wheeler pitched six-and-a-third innings for two hits and one walk, while Jose Quintana also gave up only two hits and one walk in five-and-a-third.

A two-run Juan Yepez homer in the seventh gave the Cardinals a late lead, but the Phillies would catch fire in the ninth with three hits, two walks, a hit-by-pitch and a sacrifice-fly in a six-run onslaught.

The Phillies' Jean Segura was the only player with multiple hits, with his second coming in the last frame with bases loaded to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead, and they never looked back.

Castillo shuts out the Blue Jays

Competing in their first postseason appearance since 2001, the Seattle Mariners are one win away from advancing to the NLDS after a 4-0 shutout win away against the Toronto Blue Jays.

After being secured in a trade at the deadline, starting pitcher Luis Castillo justified the hefty package the Mariners parted way with by throwing seven-and-a-third innings of scoreless playoff baseball, giving up six hits and no walks.

With the bat, the man who hit the memorable home run to secure their playoff berth, Cal Raleigh, stayed hot with a two-run bomb in the first inning, while Eugenio Suarez collected the other two RBIs.

Ramirez, Bieber come up big for the Guardians

Every run from the Cleveland Guardians' 2-1 win against the Tampa Bay Rays came from two swings in the sixth inning, with Cleveland stars Jose Ramirez and Shane Bieber producing match-winning performances.

On the mound, Bieber pitched seven-and-two-thirds innings, allowing three hits and one walk while striking out eight batters, but a Jose Siri home run in the sixth inning had the Rays leading 1-0.

That lead was quickly erased later in the same inning, with an Amed Rosario single setting up Jose Ramirez for a two-run home run that would end up being the difference.

Cleveland will have a chance to move on to the NLDS with a win in tomorrow's Game 2 in front of their home fans.

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