How The Rivals Did: Jose Bautista Smacks Walk-Off 1B In 19th

The AL East had a flair for the dramatic on Sunday, with a couple of games being decided in extra innings. The Blue Jays would end up on the right side of their extra innings game, but the Rays would suffer a walk-off defeat at the hands of the Cubs.

Toronto Blue Jays 6, Detroit Tigers 5 in 19 innings

A day after Albert Pujols beat the Boston Red Sox with a walk-off homer in the 19th, the Blue Jays had a marathon game. It was the wrong time for Mark Buehrle to have a short start, but he went just 3.1 innings while giving up 5 runs (3 earned). However, the bullpen was brilliant, as they didn’t allow a run over the next 15.2 innings. Aaron Sanchez and Chad Jenkins had especially good outings, throwing 3.0 and 6.0 respective scoreless innings respectively

David Price was the starter for the Tigers, but he had a relatively poor start, giving up 4 runs over 6.0 innings of work. Melky Cabrera had a great day at the plate for the Jays, going 3 for 5 with 5 walks. Jose Reyes also did a great job, going  4 for 9 with a pair of RBIs. Jose Bautista had just 1 hit in 8 at-bats, but it was a huge walk-off single to finally end the marathon game.

Cleveland Indians 4, New York Yankees 1

Hiroki Kuroda was not great in his start for the Yanks, giving up 3 runs in 4.2 innings while walking 4 and striking out 3. Though David Huff tried to limit the damage, he let up a run in his 1.2 innings before Shawn Kelley got 2 outs without giving up more. In his MLB debut, Bryan Mitchell finished things off with 2.0 scoreless innings.

The offense, meanwhile, did not do a great job, totaling just 5 hits and taking only 2 at-bats with runners in scoring position. Jacoby Ellsbury had 2 hits, including his 10th homer of the year. He may not be hitting for the power he showed in 2011, but Ellsbury has been a solid addition to the Yankees nonetheless, hitting to a .280/.348/.412 line to this point.

St. Louis Cardinals 8, Baltimore Orioles 3

The news that the rest of the AL East had been hoping for: the 1st place Orioles lost their game. Kevin Gausman gave the Orioles a chance to win, giving up 3 runs in 5.0 innings of work while striking out 6. However the Orioles bullpen let the team down, giving up 5 runs over the next 4.0 innings. Meanwhile on offense, Nick Markakis had a great 4 for 5 day that included 2 runs scored and an RBI. However, the rest of the offense didn’t do much, and the team went just 2 for 13 with runners in scoring position.

Chicago Cubs 3, Tampa Bay Rays 2 in 12 innings

The Rays suffered a heart breaking loss to the Cubs, losing the lead in the 7th before ultimately losing in the 12th. Check out our full recap of the game.

Boston Red Sox 3, Los Angeles Angels 1

Rubby De La Rosa put together a great outing for the Red Sox, throwing 7.0 innings and allowing 1 run while striking out 8. De La Rosa, part of the Red Sox young pitching movement, has been solid this season, throwing to a 3.21 ERA in 11 starts. Behind him Edward Mujica and Koji Uehara each threw a scoreless inning to lock down the game.

The offense did not do a great job, managing just 4 hits on the night. But a key 3-run home run for Yoenis Cespedes was all that they would need thanks to the great pitching. Dustin Pedroia had a nice night, going 2 for 4 with a run scored.

Here’s a look at the standings after Sunday’s games

1. Baltimore (67-50) —
2. Toronto (63-56) 5.0 GB
3. New York (61-56) 6.0 GB
4. Tampa Bay (57-60) 10.0 GB
5. Boston (52-65) 15.0 GB

Today’s AL East pitching matchups are as follows.

7:05 PM- New York Yankees (Chris Capuano) at Baltimore Orioles (Bud Norris)
8:05 PM- Tampa Bay Rays (Drew Smyly) at Texas Rangers (Colby Lewis)
10:10 PM: Toronto Blue Jays (Drew Hutchison) at Seattle Mariners (Felix Hernandez)