Yankees Rivalry Roundup: Orioles gain ground, Guardians clinch playoff spot

After the festivities of clinching a playoff spot on Wednesday night, Thursday saw the Yankees come back down to earth a bit. Despite have plenty of chances at the plate, New York couldn't take advantage, falling 3-2 to the Mariners. Seattle remains at least somewhat still in the playoff picture, two games back of the tied Twins and Tigers for the final Wild Card spot.

With the Yankees giving their chasing opponents in the AL a chance, could they take advantage? Let's take a look back in today's Rivalry Roundup.

Baltimore Orioles (85-68) 5, San Francisco Giants (74-49 3) The Orioles did so, as Anthony Santander's walk-off homer allowed Baltimore to snap their skid, despite blowing a lead in the top of the ninth. Combined with the Yankees' loss, the magic number remained frozen at six and their AL East lead fell to four games.

After Zach Eflin and Logan Webb exchanged zeroes early, the Giants broke through first in the fourth inning. Michael Conforto's two-run homer gave San Francisco a lead, although not one that would last long. The Orioles immediately answered in the bottom of the fourth. Adley Rutschman and Jackson Holliday both came through with RBI hits that flipped the score in favor of Baltimore.

The game held at 3-2 for quite as while, as the O's got within three outs of a win. However Seranthony Domínguez then issued a pair of walks to start the ninth, bringing Casey Schmitt to the plate. Schmitt hit one deep to center field, but it was still a fly ball that someone in the Orioles' outfield should've made a play on. However some confusion led to Cedric Mullins and Austin Slater running into each other to near disastrous consequences. Both were lucky that they weren't more seriously hurt, as the ball dropped in, allowing a run to score.

The Giants still had runners on first and second and a chance to take the lead, but they failed to after a Donovan Walton bunt pop up and a Mark Canha double play. The inability to take a lead there would come back to haunt them. With Gunnar Henderson on after a single and the Giants one out away from sending the game to extras, Santander was the hero for Baltimore, slugging his 43rd long ball of the season to allow them to win and gain a game on the Yankees.

For those curious, the O's next play three games at home against the Tigers.

Cleveland Guardians (89-65) 3, Minnesota Twins (80-73) 2 - 10 innings The Guardians joined the Yankees in the AL playoff field on Thursday, as Andrés Giménez's walk-off single officially punched their ticket.

After jumping out to a quick start on Kyle Manzardo's homer in the first inning, the Guardians kept putting runners on, only to waste chances. That eventually haunted them as the Twins took a lead on Manuel Margot's two-run double in the fifth. A Bryan Rocchio sacrifice fly ended up leveling things in the sixth, as the game eventually went into extras.

In the top of the 10th, the Twins loaded the bases and had a golden chance to take a lead, but their two best hitters in Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton couldn't come through. That allowed Giménez's single to win the game in the bottom half of the frame, securing a playoff spot. Their magic number to nail down the AL Central is at three.

In addition to Cleveland clinching, the game was also a crucial one for Minnesota in their playoff race as well. As noted, the loss dropped them into a tie with the resurgent Tigers for the last AL Wild Card spot.

Houston Astros (83-70) 3, Los Angeles Angels (62-91) 1 The Astros knocked their magic number down one as Jon Singleton's eighth-inning double gave Houston the edge they needed to beat the Angels.

The game started out poorly for the Astros as LA's Taylor Ward led off the game with a home run. However, that ended up being the only run that Yusei Kikuchi and Houston pitching allowed. Kikuchi ended up striking out nine batters in his six innings. The Astros have yet to lose any of his starts in the time since he came over at the Trade Deadline.

Meanwhile, Angels' starter José Suarez kept the Astros off the board for a bit, but they eventually tied things up on a Victor Caratini RBI single in the fourth. Yanier Diaz scored the run, having earlier reached base on a Eric Wagaman error, which was one of three the Angels made in the game.

The game stayed tied into the late innings, when Singleton eventually came up with the breakthrough, and the Angels had no answer, going down in order to end the game.

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