Adam Frazier hit a two-out RBI double in the ninth inning and the visiting Seattle Mariners overcame an 8-1 deficit Saturday to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 10-9 and clinch their American League wild-card series.
The Mariners tied the second-biggest comeback in postseason history. The Philadelphia A’s overcame an eight-run deficit to win Game 4 of the 1929 World Series against the Chicago Cubs, and the Boston Red Sox escaped a seven-run hole in Game 5 of the 2008 American League Championship Series against the Tampa Bay Rays. It was also the biggest road comeback in postseason history.
Seattle swept the best-of-three series despite two home runs and four RBIs by Toronto’s Teoscar Hernandez. Jordan Romano (0-1) allowed Cal Raleigh’s one-out double to set up Frazier’s two-out double.
Andres Munoz (1-0) pitched around a walk and a stolen base in the bottom of the eighth. George Kirby pitched around a ninth-inning walk to earn the save.
Seattle will face the Houston Astros in the American League Division Series, which begins Tuesday.
Phillies 2, Cardinals 0
Led by Bryce Harper and Aaron Nola, Philadelphia dispatched St. Louis to sweep its National League wild-card series on the road and advance to the NL Division Series against the Atlanta Braves.
Harper hit a solo home run to prove the only offense Philadelphia would need and Nola (1-0) threw 6 2/3 shutout innings for the victory. Zach Eflin escaped a ninth-inning jam to earn the save.
Nola allowed just four hits while striking out six batters and walking one, continuing a trend that saw him post a 2.36 ERA in his six September starts.
For the Cardinals, their playoff elimination ended the career of Hall of Fame candidates Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina. Cardinals starting pitcher Miles Mikolas (0-1) allowed two runs on two hits in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out three and walked one.
Mets 7, Padres 3
Pete Alonso hit the tiebreaking homer in the fifth inning and factored into a four-run seventh for host New York, which forced a winner-take-all showdown in its National League wild-card series by beating the San Diego.
Francisco Lindor homered in the first and Brandon Nimmo had an RBI single in the fourth for the Mets, who stranded seven runners over the first four frames against Padres starter Blake Snell and Nick Martinez. Alonso homered to left on Martinez’s first pitch of the fifth.
Mets starter Jacob deGrom allowed the two runs on five hits — including a game-tying homer by Trent Grisham in the third and a game-tying RBI single by Profar in the fifth — and two walks while striking out eight.
Guardians 1, Rays 0
Oscar Gonzalez belted a walk-off homer in the 15th inning as Cleveland swept the best-of-three American League wild-card series against visiting Tampa Bay.
Gonzalez’s leadoff homer to left field against former Cleveland star Corey Kluber (0-1) ended a game that featured 16 pitchers and a postseason-record 39 strikeouts. Cleveland advanced to a division series matchup against the AL East champion New York Yankees, beginning next Tuesday.
Sam Hentges (1-0) struck out six over three scoreless innings for the Guardians, who ended an eight-game postseason losing streak with a 2-1 victory in the series opener on Friday. Tampa Bay dropped its seventh straight game overall after scoring a total of nine runs during that stretch.
–Field Level Media