LEADING OFF: Yanks, Sox, Jays and Mariners in tight WC chase

A look at what’s happening around the majors Saturday:

___

LET’S GET WILD

Four teams are separated by two games in the AL wild-card chase, with the Yankees clinging to a one-game lead for the top spot with two games remaining.

New York will face Tampa Bay rookie Shane Baz (2-0, 1.69) in his third big league start. The 22-year-old struck out nine Miami batters over 5 2/3 scoreless innings in his previous outing, sparking speculation he could crack the Rays postseason rotation even though he didn’t debut in the majors until Sept. 20.

Boston is a game behind the Yankees with two games left against last-place Washington, while Toronto and Seattle are two games back. The Blue Jays have two games remaining versus lowly Baltimore, and the Mariners are closing things out against the Angels.

TWENTY FOR ONE?

Dodgers left-hander Julio Urías is the only pitcher in baseball with a shot at 20 wins this season, and he’ll try to earn it in a showdown against NL Cy Young Award contender Corbin Burnes of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Urías (19-3, 3.01) hasn’t lost since June 21, and Los Angeles has won each of his past 10 outings dating to Aug. 1. He’s 7-0 with a 1.81 ERA in that span.

Burnes (11-4, 2.29) leads the majors in ERA and has been in a tight race for the top pitching prize with Dodgers ace Max Scherzer and Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler. Urías might pick up some consideration with old-school minded voters with win No. 20.

STAT WATCH

Several individual stat races are coming down to the wire, including an NL batting crown that’s likely to go either to Dodgers infielder Trea Turner or his former Washington teammate Juan Soto. Turner entered Friday hitting .325, just ahead of Soto’s .318. They were both Nationals until Turner and Max Scherzer were dealt to LA in July.

Kansas City’s Salvador Perez is trying to close out the major league home run title. He entered Friday with 48, two ahead of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and three clear of Shohei Ohtani. Perez also led RBIs by a wide margin with 121 and is set to become the first primary backstop to lead a league in RBIs since Philadelphia’s Darren Daulton took the NL crown with 109 in 1992.

___

More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

Federal News Network Logo
Log in to your WTOP account for notifications and alerts customized for you.

Sign up