Last Night In Baseball: AL West Lead Change; Have The Twins Arrived?

There is always baseball happening — almost too much baseball for one person to follow themselves.

Don’t worry, we’re here to help you by figuring out what you missed but shouldn’t have. Here are all the best moments from last night in Major League Baseball:

We have a new leader in the American League West.

Defeating the Texas Rangers at home, 11-2, the Houston Astros (56-55) now have a half-game lead on their in-state rival for first place in the AL West. It marked Houston’s ninth win in its last 10 games.

As for Friday night, the Astros’ offense went to work in the bottom of the second inning and continued to pour it on. In said inning, left fielder LaMonte Wade Jr. doubled home a run, which designated hitter Yordan Álvarez later followed with a two-run single. Shortstop Jeremy Peña singled home a run in the fourth, with third baseman Isaac Paredes and first baseman Christian Walker hitting back-to-back solo home runs to open the fifth.

Texas put two runs on the board in the top of the sixth, but Houston put the game out of reach with a four-run seventh inning, with catcher Yainer Diaz — who had a game-high four hits — hitting a solo homer, Peña smacking a two-run double and Paredes adding an RBI single. An eighth-inning RBI single from Lucas Spence got Houston to 11 runs. The Astros got 5 ⅔ innings from Hunter Brown, who gave up just two runs.

The Miami Marlins won six in a row, then lost 12 in a row and are now back on track after playing the National League East?

Following the prolonged losing streak, the Marlins have won four of their last five games, highlighted by a sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies and, most recently, a Friday night road win over the New York Mets.

Miami scored the bulk of its Friday night runs in what was a four-run fifth inning. Center fielder Jakob Marsee had an RBI double, which catcher Joe Mack later followed with a two-run single and second baseman Xavier Edwards followed with an RBI single.

Then, in the sixth, first baseman Kyle Stowers got hold of a curveball and hit it over the right-center field wall for a solo home run, his 16th long ball of the year. On the hill, Janson Junk pitched five scoreless innings (no earned runs) for the Marlins, who won 5-2.

The Marlins are now 56-55, good for being just 1.5 games behind the Phillies for the third NL wild-card seed.

The Detroit Tigers may be gearing up to trade one-fifth of their roster at the MLB trade deadline, but they came to play in Sacramento.

Athletics catcher Jonah Heim hit an RBI single in the bottom of the first, and it was all Tigers after that — it just took a couple of hours. Detroit infielder Kevin McGonigle leveled the score at 1-all in the top of the third with a solo home run and then drove in a run on a sacrifice fly in the fourth.

The Tigers broke the game open with a seven-run eighth inning that saw center fielder Max Clark — who had three hits in what was his MLB debut — log an RBI double, infielder Javier Báez bring home a run on a single and catcher Dillon Dingler hit his first career grand slam.

But there was more.

Báez had a two-run single in the top of the ninth, and right fielder Ben Malgeri blasted a two-run homer, giving Detroit a resounding, 13-1 victory. Clark, Báez and first baseman Spencer Torkelson each tallied three hits. The Tigers rolled with a bullpen day after scratching right-hander Casey Mize in the wake of reported trade talks surrounding both him and two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal. In all, the A’s were held to just three hits.

As for the one who had the big swing of the night, Dingler, a 2026 All-Star, leads the Tigers in home runs (23), RBIs (72) — which also leads MLB catchers — slugging percentage (.520) and OPS (.853).

The 2024 NL Rookie of the Year and 2025 NL Cy Young Award winner is going through a rough spell.

Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes lasted just four innings in a road tilt against the Cincinnati Reds. Cincinnati struck for two runs in the bottom of the first on an RBI double from catcher Tyler Stephenson and an RBI single from designated hitter Nathaniel Lowe.

Later, left fielder JJ Bleday hit a solo home run in the third and first baseman Sal Stewart hit a two-run shot in the fifth. Skenes gave up seven hits and four walks, with the combined 11 baserunners the most he has surrendered in a start in his MLB career (2024-present).

To make matters worse for Pittsburgh, they led 7-5 entering the bottom of the eighth, but Cincinnati flipped the script with a three-run inning, as Stewart had a two-run single and Lowe brought home a run on a force-out, helping the Reds get an 8-7 win.

Skenes has a 6.38 ERA with opponents hitting .419 on balls put in play against him (BAbip) over the right-hander’s last seven starts. On the season, he boasts a 3.90 ERA, a 1.12 WHIP, a 111 ERA+ and 156 strikeouts over 124 ⅔ innings pitched (23 starts). Skenes has also given up 13 home runs, which is a career-high. For context, the superstar right-hander averaged a 1.96 ERA, an 0.95 WHIP and a 217 ERA+ per season from 2024-25.

Rhys Hoskins had an RBI single in the bottom of the first, and the Cleveland Guardians tried to hold a 1-0 lead against the Arizona Diamondbacks into the eighth inning, with right-hander Tanner Bibee pitching seven scoreless innings. Moreover, D-backs designated hitter Adrian Del Castillo struck out to open the top of the eighth.

But then, the dam broke for Cleveland.

After three consecutive runners reached base, shortstop Geraldo Perdomo pulled off an RBI single, with catcher Gabriel Moreno then smacking a two-run single and second baseman Ketel Marte adding an RBI single for good measure.

Arizona starter Mitch Bratt surrendered one run over five innings, with its bullpen then pitching four scoreless innings to give the D-backs a 4-1 victory; the Guardians were limited to three hits.

The Diamondbacks are in possession of the second NL wild-card seed at 58-52, whereas the Guardians have lost seven of their last nine and are tied for the third AL wild-card seed at 56-55.

The long ball and dominant pitching led the New York Yankees to a victory at Wrigley Field.

Yankees third baseman Amed Rosario broke the ice in the top of the fourth with a towering, solo home run to center field, with left fielder Spencer Jones launching a solo homer of his own in the fifth. Meanwhile, right-hander Will Warren posted seven strikeouts and gave up no runs and just four baserunners (four hits) over 6 ⅔ innings. Fellow right-handers Paul Blackburn and David Bednar shut the door on a 2-0 win for the Yankees with a combined 2 ⅓ scoreless innings of relief.

Jones, the Yankees’ long-time esteemed outfield prospect, has homered in two of his last three games and is 4 for his last 9, while the long ball was Rosario’s 10th on the year.

The Cubs were limited to just five baserunners (five hits). Ironically, the Yankees tallied just four hits. This marked the longest shutout of the season for Warren, his fourth shutout on the year (no unearned runs) and his second-longest outing this season altogether.

Both teams are 62-48 and the top wild-card seed in their respective league.

The Chicago White Sox are brought to you by the deep ball.

In a 6-1 road victory over the Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago blasted four home runs. The first one came off the bat of third baseman Miguel Vargas in the top of the first; the second one came on a leadoff homer in the second from designated hitter Andrew Benintendi; later, first baseman Munetaka Murakami went to the opposite field for a two-run homer in the third, with shortstop Colson Montgomery hitting a two-run shot of his own in the sixth.

Each of the four players who went yard for the White Sox make up the top-four home run leaders on the team, as Montgomery (25), Murakami (24), Vargas (23) and Benintendi (11) combine for 83 homers on the year, while Chicago is collectively fifth in MLB with 143 home runs.

If looking for a Tampa Bay bright spot, star third baseman Junior Caminero’s fourth-inning homer was his 30th of the year. That said, Chicago starter Erick Fedde gave up just one run over five innings, with three scoreless innings from Tyler Schweitzer serving as the bridge to a scoreless ninth inning from Trevor Richards.

The Boston Red Sox are on one right now.

Trailing the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3 entering the top of the seventh, Boston proceeded to have a five-run inning that saw center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela — who had a team-high three hits — crank a go-ahead, two-run home run, shortstop Andruw Monasterio hit a two-run double and left fielder Jarren Duran add an RBI ground out. The Red Sox got a ninth run on a sacrifice fly in the ninth, finishing off a 9-4 victory.

Elsewhere for Boston, Duran had an RBI single in the second and the Red Sox scored two runs on an error in the third. The unsung hero for the Red Sox, though, was Brayan Bello, who pitched four scoreless innings to close out the game.

While their 15-game winning streak came to a halt last week, the Red Sox have since won six of eight contests and are the No. 2 AL wild-card seed at 58-51. Furthermore, they went 21-4 in July.

Just one week ago, the San Diego Padres were spiraling. Now, they’ve stabilized themselves, as their Friday night win over the San Francisco Giants (7-0) was their sixth victory in seven games, moving them to 56-54 and just one game behind the Phillies for the third NL wild-card seed. 

Regarding the divisional matchup, San Diego plated two runs in the bottom of the first on a Manny Machado sacrifice fly and an RBI single from designated hitter Luis Campusano, who finished with a game-high three hits.

Later, shortstop Xavier Bogaerts — who also had a sacrifice fly in the sixth — drove in a run on a ground out in the third, and the Padres padded their lead in the fourth on a solo home run from left fielder Jase Bowen and a two-run single from first baseman Ty France.

The Padres shut out the Giants on a bullpen night, with Bradgley Rodríguez pitching the first inning, Yuki Matsui pitching the next three and German Marquez throwing the last five. They collectively surrendered just three baserunners (two hits and one walk).

Sticking with the NL West, Denver weather is a sight to behold.

Mere hours after hail was coming down at Coors Field, the sun was out and shining. The Colorado Rockies then went on to defeat the Kansas City Royals, 3-1.

We have a developing situation in the AL Central.

Beating the Seattle Mariners 5-3 on the West Coast, the Minnesota Twins (56-55) are now winners of seven of their last nine, are tied with the Guardians for the third AL wild-card seed and three games back of the White Sox for first place in the AL Central.

As for their latest win, third baseman Brooks Lee got the Twins even on the scoreboard at 2-all in the top of the second with a two-run home run. After going behind again, Twins infielder Royce Lewis tied the game at 3-all with a solo homer to lead off the seventh. Center fielder Luke Keaschall gave Minnesota the lead for good with an RBI double later in the inning, with catcher Ryan Jeffers giving the Twins some breathing room with a leadoff homer in the eighth.

Conversely, the Mariners (53-58) have lost seven of their last nine and are three games behind the Astros for first place in the AL West and three games behind the Guardians and Twins for the third AL wild-card seed.