Once again, there’s been a changing of the guard atop the race for the final playoff berth in the American League and once again, the Blue Jays were unable to take advantage.
asserted
Jays → take → advantage
Now they’re in deep trouble.
asserted
they → ’re → trouble
A Cleveland win and Chicago loss Friday moved the Guardians back into first place in the AL Central, which means the White Sox are back in wild-card territory.
asserted
Sox → move → territory
Communities in Toronto and South Korea are rallying behind the Jays’ rising star who grabbed the
And even though it doesn’t affect the wild-card standings yet, the AL West race is tied now.
asserted
race → rally → standings
The Texas Rangers’ win over the Jays drew them even with the Houston Astros, who lost at home to Atlanta.
asserted
who → draw → Atlanta
But the Astros have the tiebreaker over Texas, so at least for now, Houston remains in top spot.
asserted
Houston → have → spot
Here’s how the race stacks up after Friday’s games:
asserted
race → ’ → games
Chicago White Sox
(78-76, two games ahead of Toronto)
How scary are they (1-10)? 5
Who owns the tiebreaker?
asserted
owns → own → tiebreaker
The White Sox fell back into the wild-card spot by blowing an 8-2 lead over the Detroit Tigers at home.
asserted
Sox → fall → home
They now trail the Guardians by one game in the AL Central.
asserted
They → trail → Central
Hao-Yu Lee and Riley Greene each hit a two-run homer for the Tigers as part of a five-run eighth inning to bring Detroit all the way back for an 11-8 win and knock the Sox out of first place in the AL Central.
asserted
Lee → hit → Central
The four-game series continues Saturday with the Sox turning to right-hander Sean Burke, who has been up and down lately.
asserted
who → continue → Burke
Burke has had two starts in his last four in which he didn’t allow an earned run.
asserted
he → have → run
He gave up seven runs in one of the other starts and walked eight in the other one.
asserted
He → give → one
The Tigers will counter with one-time top prospect Jackson Jobe, who is making his eighth start of the season after returning from Tommy John surgery.
asserted
who → counter → surgery
Games left: 8
Home (5): Tigers (2), Rockies (3)
Away (3): Royals (3)
Texas Rangers
(77-77, one game ahead of Toronto)
How scary are they? 5
asserted
they → leave → Toronto
Who owns the tiebreaker?
asserted
Who → own → tiebreaker
Need to know: The Rangers will try for their sixth straight win over the Blue Jays as their weekend series continues in Texas on Saturday night and could move into first place in the AL West if they get it.
uncertain
they → need → it
Port Hope’s Cal Quantrill, son of former Blue Jay Paul, gets the start.
asserted
Quantrill → get → start
The right-hander is having a tremendous season, having posted a 2.90 ERA and 1.05 WHIP.
asserted
hander → have → ERA
He threw four innings of two-hit shutout against the Jays in Toronto back in June.
asserted
He → throw → June
Games left: 8
Home (5): Blue Jays (2), Mets (3)
Road (3): Twins (3)
Blue Jays
(76-78)
Need to know: Break out the clichés!
asserted
Home → leave → clichés
The Jays’ backs are firmly against the wall after dropping the opener in Texas to remain two games out of a playoff spot with eight games to play.
asserted
backs → drop → games
With the White Sox now holding that final wild-card berth, the Jays are effectively 2 1/2 games out, since Chicago beat the Jays five times in six tries over the course of the regular season.
asserted
Chicago → hold → season
The Jays will look to right-hander José Soriano to bring them back from the brink on Saturday night.
asserted
Jays → look → night
Last time out, Soriano took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the Tigers, then hit a wall in the seventh inning in an eventual 6-5 Jays loss.
asserted
Soriano → take → loss
Games left: 8
Home (3): Reds (3)
Road (5): Rangers (2), Orioles (3)
Baltimore Orioles
(75-79, one game behind Toronto)
How scary are they? 5
asserted
they → leave → Toronto
Who owns the tiebreaker?
asserted
Who → own → tiebreaker
Toronto leads 6-4 with three games left.
asserted
Toronto → lead → games
Synopsis: There was drama at Camden Yards on Friday as the Orioles and Brewers went to the ninth in a 3-3 tie and Milwaukee scored a pair to take the lead then turned to closer Trevor Megill, who blew the save.
asserted
who → be → save
The O’s tied it up with a couple of sacrifice flies to force extra innings, where the Brewers scored their Manfred Man in the top of the 10th.
asserted
Brewers → tie → 10th
Chad Patrick replaced Megill and set the O’s down in order to close out the win.
asserted
Patrick → replace → win
Saturday, a battle of lefties is scheduled in Baltimore, with the O’s starting Trevor Rogers against Milwaukee’s Robert Gasser.
asserted
O → schedule → Gasser
Rogers gave up back-to-back-to-back home runs to George Springer, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Kazuma Okamoto in his last start, an eventual 8-1 loss to the Jays.
asserted
Rogers → give → Jays
Gasser, a rookie, has given up a total of five runs over his last four starts.
asserted
Gasser → give → starts
The Aporia
