David Price‘s solid performance helped keep the Rays in the hunt for the AL wild card. Credit: Rob Grabowski-US PRESSWIRE

The Rays dominated the Chicago White Sox Sunday, winning eleven games out of their last twelve. David Price also earned his 20th win of the season, becoming the first Rays’ pitcher to do so. As they continue to seek an AL Wild Card slot, let’s see how the other contenders fared.

Baltimore 6, Boston 3

Baltimore’s Nate McLouth started the game with a leadoff homerun in the bottom of the first inning. Red Sox pitcher Zach Stewart gave up two more runs in the inning. The Orioles came up big again in the bottom of the third inning as J.J. Hardy hit a solo shot to left field and Adam Jones scored off of Jim Thome’s single to right field. Boston’s Cody Ross retaliated with a solo homerun to left field in the top of the fourth inning, but Baltimore’s Chris Davis returned the favor with a homerun to right field in the bottom of the fifth inning. Boston came up big again in the top of the seventh inning as Daniel Nava hit a two run homerun, allowing Ryan Lavarnway to score, but it was not enough to win the game.

Oakland 5, Seattle 2

Erasmo Ramirez took the mound for Seattle, only to give up a triple to A’s Yoenis Cespedes in the bottom of the first inning, allowing Stephen Drew to score. Cespedes went on to score off of Brandon Moss’ sacrifice fly to center field. Seattle’s offense got hot in the top of the third inning as Kyle Seager singled off of Oakland starting pitcher Tommy Milone. Franklin Guiterrez scored on the play, and Casper Wells also scored in the inning to tie the game. However, Oakland was able to pull away with the lead in the bottom of the eighth inning as Yoenis Cespedes hit a solo shot to left field. Josh Reddick solidified the lead with a two run homerun, with Brandon Moss also scoring on the play.

New York 6, Toronto 6

New York’s starting pitcher Phil Hughes gave up a double to Toronto’s Yunel Escobar in the bottom of the first inning, allowing Rajai Davis to score. Edwin Encarnacion also scored in the inning off of Adam Lind’s sacrifice fly to center field. New York’s Eric Chavez hit a one run homerun to right field in the top of the third inning off of Toronto pitcher Henderson Alvarez. Toronto’s Brett Lawrie returned the favor in the bottom of the fifth inning while hitting a two run homerun. Yunel Escobar also scored in the inning off of Moises Sierra’s single. In the top of the sixth inning, Robinson Cano scored off of a wild pitch by Toronto’s Alvarez. New York went on to have an explosive seventh inning and tie the game as three runners scored, including Alex Rodirguez off of a wild pitch thrown by Toronto’s relief pitcher Aaron Loup. However, New York broke away with a lead in the eighth inning as two runners scored, and Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano also scored in the top of the ninth inning. Brett Lawrie scored for Toronto in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Angels v. Rangers Doubleheader

Game #1: Angels 5, Rangers 4

The day started off with a pitcher’s duel as Angels’ starting pitcher Zack Greinke gave up a two run homerun to Texas’ Nelson Cruz in the second inning. Mike Trout scored for the Angels in the top of the third inning as Albert Pujols singled to right field. Texas scored two runs in the bottom of the third inning as Josh Hamilton singled and Adrian Beltre doubled. However, the Angels went on to dominate the game as Torii Hunter scored a run in the sixth inning, and Mike Trout hit a single shot to center field in the seventh inning. Hunter continued to be influential as Maicer Izturis and Peter Bourjos scored off of his double in the top of the ninth inning.

Game #2: Rangers 8, Angels 7

Texas won the second game of the day as Derek Holland took the mound for them. He gave up four runs in the first inning, including a two run homerun to Angels’ Mark Trumbo. In the bottom of the first inning, Josh Hamilton hit a double off of Angels’ starting pitcher Ervin Santana, allowing Elvis Andrus to score. Both David Murphy and Mike Napoli hit solo shots in the bottom of the second inning for Texas, and Napoli hit a three run homerun in the following inning. Napoli continued to be influential as two runners scored for Texas in the bottom of the fifth inning off of his double to center field. Howard Kendrick delivered a big inning for the Angels as he hit a three run homerun in the top of the seventh inning.

Here’s a look at the AL Wild Card standings:

1. Baltimore Orioles -

2. New York Yankees -

3. Oakland Athletics -

4. Los Angles Angels – 3

5. Tampa Bay Rays – 3

New York and Baltimore have both clinched playoff berths.

The Rays extended their winning last night as they started off the game with two homeruns hit by Carlos Pena and Ben Francisco. But, they were not the only AL Wild Card contenders last night hitting homeruns. Let’s see how the other teams in the hunt for October fared and who else had hot bats.

New York 8, Minnesota 2

Minnesota’s pitcher Samuel Deduno last only 1.1 innings because his left eye was bothering him. However, Minnesota did not let this hold them back as Ryan Doumit scored off of Matt Carson’s single in the bottom of the second inning. New York retaliated with a dazzling third inning, scoring six runs, including a double hit by Robinson Cano and a triple hit by Curtis Granderson. Chris Dickerson kept up the pace for the Yankees by hitting a two run homerun in the top of the sixth inning. Minnesota’s Jamey Carroll scored in the seventh inning off of Pedro Florimon’s single to right field.

Orioles 12, Toronto 2

The Baltimore Orioles secured their lead in the AL Wild Card standings with a solid win against Toronto. Credit: Joy R. Absalon-US PRESSWIRE

Edwin Encarnacion got Toronto off to a great start by hitting a solo shot to left field off of Baltimore’s Carlos Villanueva in the top of the first inning. Nate McLouth proceeded to hit a one run homerun for Baltimore in the bottom of the first inning, with Miguel Gonzalez on the mound for Toronto. One run was scored by Toronto’s J.P. Arencibia in the top of fifth inning, but Baltimore owned the rest of the game by proceeding to hit homeruns in the bottom of the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth innings. Baltimore’s Manny Machado and Chris Davis both hit two homeruns during the game.

Oakland 9, Texas 3

Oakland messed with Texas, as the Rangers’ pitching staff struggled against the Athletics’ explosive offense. Oakland started the action right away as Yoenis Cespedes tripled, allowing Stephen Drew to score. The A’s went on to score four more times in the top of the first inning. Texas’ Roy Oswalt relieved Martin Perez before the last play of the inning. In the bottom of the first inning, Elvis Andrus doubled to left field, and Ian Kinsler scored for the Rangers. Texas went on to score twice in the following inning, however, the top of the third inning got mighty sticky for the Ranger’ pitching staff. Wilmer Font relieved Oswalt, only to give up two walks. Tanner Scheppers relieved Font but gave up two runs scored by Oakland’s Josh Donaldson and Josh Reddick. After the A’s Brandon Moss scored off of Josh Donaldson’s single in the fourth inning, Yoshinori Tateyama relieved Scheppers for Texas. Moss went on to score another run for Oakland in the top of the ninth inning. The Rangers’ used six pitchers, who had a combined 16 hits, 9 errors, and 11 strikeouts.

Angels 4, Mariners 3

As Felix Hernandez pitched for Seattle, he gave up two runs in the bottom of the second inning as Erick Aybar doubled to left field. Seattle scored twice in the third inning off of Angels’ pitcher C.J. Wilson. Justin Smoak hit a one run homerun in the top of the fourth to put Seattle ahead. However, Torii Hunter would go on to win the game for the Angels by batting in runners in both the top of the seventh and ninth innings.

Here are the AL Wild Card Standings:

Baltimore -

Oakland -

Angels – 2

Tampa Bay – 3

The Rays had another huge night, beating Toronto 12-1 and setting the American League record for the amount of strikeouts within a single season with 1,267 K’s. They are inching closer to the second AL Wild Card spot but still have some ground to cover. Let’s see how other AL Wild Card contenders fared tonight.

The Rays celebrate another won after gaining ground in the AL Wild Card race. Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

Yankees 2, Oakland 1

Tonight featured a pitcher’s duel between New York’s CC Sabathia and Oakland’s Jarrod Parker. Both went hitless during the first two innings, with Parker giving up his first hit to Ichiro Suzuki in the bottom of the third inning. However, he struck out the next two batters, including Derek Jeter. Nick Swisher scored on a sacrifice fly hit by Curtis Granderson in the fourth inning, making the score 1-0. Rafael Soriano relieved CC Sabathia in the ninth inning, giving up a solo homerun to Oakland’s Brandon Moss. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Sean Doolittle replaced Jarrod Parker. However, Russell Martin hit a walk off homerun in the tenth inning to win the game for New York.

Orioles 4, Red Sox 2

The Orioles win tonight held their lead in the AL Wild Card race. Jon Lester took the mound tonight for Baltimore but gave up his first hit to Adam Jones in the top of the first inning. Baltimore’s pitcher, Miguel Gonzalez, did not give up a hit until the bottom of the third inning, as Pedro Ciriaco doubled, allowing Daniel Nava to score. Balitmore’s J.J. Hardy and Adam Jones scored in the fourth inning off of Matt Wieter’s single. Pedro Ciriaco scored again for Boston in the fifth inning to tie the game. Ultimately, Baltimore was able to pull out the win with Adam Jones and Matt Wieter scoring runs in the sixth inning against Jon Lester.

Detroit v. Minnesota – postponed due to rain

Angels 6, White Sox 2

Chicago began the game with Alejandro De Aza’s solo homerun off of Angel’s pitcher Ervin Santana. However, the Angels returned the favor with Kendrys Morales hitting a solo homer off of Chicago pitcher Jake Peavy. Chris Iannetta and Mike Trout of the Angels scored two runs in the third inning off of Albert Pujols’ single to centerfield. The Angels made the score 5-1 after scoring two runs off of Jake Peavy, which Mike Trout followed with a solo homerun in the seventh inning. Kevin Jepsen relieved Ervin Santana in the top of the eighth inning, only for Chicago’s Danyan Viciedo to score off of a single hit by Gordon Beckham.

Here’s a look at the AL Wild Card Standings:

Orioles -

Athletics -

Angels – 3.5

Rays – 4.5

Tigers – 5.5