Duran takes second loss in three appearances

Playoff ready, Gray was in the proverbial rocking chair during this start. It was the ninth time in his last 10 starts completing at least six innings and the Guardians barely threatened against him. An excellent finale to a stellar regular season, Gray finishes with a 2.72 ERA, 149 strikeouts, and 46 walks across 169 innings. The next time he’ll take the mound will be in the Bronx against the Yankees in the Wild Card round.

He just keeps doing it. Making his first appearance in 10 days after tending to some lat tightness, Chapman made the Guardians look silly here striking out all three batters he faced to preserve a 1-0 lead. Funny enough, he shied away from his hard stuff and threw five splitters among his 12 total pitches. Cleveland’s hitters flailed at all five of them. Chapman’s last blown save came all the way back in June as he’s set to enter the postseason on a roll.

Only in this game because Ceddanne Rafaela had to leave early with hamstring tightness, Duran was the spark plug that the Red Sox needed. He helped break a 0-0 tie with a lead-off single in the sixth, advanced to second on a groundout, then came around to score on a single by Andruw Monasterio. That lone run held up as the only scored in this game and Duran stole a base later on as well to give him 20 on the season. That plus his 20 home runs, .207 batting average, and .629 OPS give Duran one of the most disappointing 20-20 seasons of all time.

Needing a win to ensure their one game lead in the American League Central would stay intact, the Guardians were shutout by Sonny Gray and three relievers against the Red Sox. Kwan did all he could though with two knocks and now has an astounding .355 batting average and .440 on-base percentage in the second half.

A master escape artist, Griffin somehow held the Red Sox to just one run while scattering 10 hits. He only tossed one cleaning inning out of six and let runners into scoring position in all five of those. Yet, he forced key whiffs when he needed them – on his sweeper especially – and was practically never behind in the count. Of course, that’s because Boston’s hitters were often aggressive early in the count, but Griffin never faced a 2-0, 3-1, or 3-0 count in this game. He closed the regular season with a strong 3.60 ERA and 15 wins. He will likely pitch next for the Guardians in the postseason.

Rice took Mason Englert deep twice for his second two-homer game this year and fifth of his career. His is the 36th 40-homer season in Yankees history. He’s now two RBI away from reaching the century mark there, which is pretty good for someone who has mostly hit second and first.

Cole struck out eight and walked three to conclude the regular season 10-9 with a 3.61 ERA. Cedric Mullins homered off him, but that was one of only three hard-hit balls he allowed. It’s unclear if Cole will be penciled in for a start in the Wild Card series next week. He seems like the Yankees’ fourth-best option right now.

Englert was a late addition to the rotation today, with the Rays pushing back Ian Seymour. The Rays didn’t care much about results from him, but they would have liked some additional length. He wound up surrendering four homers, bringing his career total to 33 allowed in 161 2/3 innings as a major leaguer with Detroit and Tampa Bay. That’s just not going to cut it, so he’ll probably wind up on the waiver wire in the offseason.

The slam was hit 109.1 mph, though with a high launch angle and the wind blowing it, it made it just 332 feet down the right field line. Fortunately for him, that’s far enough at Yankee Stadium. It’s his fourth career five-RBI game, but his first since 2023. He actually had totaled just 35 RBI in 352 plate appearances this season, and he had hit .143 with four RBI in his previous 21 games.

Wetherholt collected singles in both Cardinals rallies as the team scored three runs in the third and two in the fourth. He had been 3-for-16 since coming off the injured list.