Griffin Jax strikes out five in win over Red Sox

Alonso took Blue Jays starter Trey Yesavage deep in the opening frame before capping his multi-homer performance with a go-ahead two-run blast off reliever Tyler Rogers with two outs in the eighth, pushing him over the 40-homer threshold for the fourth time in his career. The 31-year-old run-producing force, who has homered six times in his last nine games, will finish his Orioles debut as a top-five fantasy option at first base and has delivered borderline first-round value overall, hitting .265/.359/.510 with 94 runs scored, 40 homers, 108 RBI and five steals in 157 games.

There weren’t many bright spots for the Blue Jays as they squandered an early three-run lead to fall three games behind the White Sox for the final AL Wild Card playoff spot. Springer helped Toronto build their early advantage by delivering an RBI single into the left-center field gap against Orioles starter Shane Baz in the first inning.

Henderson’s three-hit effort included a solo homer off Toronto rookie reliever Chad Dallas as he finished a double shy of hitting for the cycle. It’s been a down year relative to expectations for Henderson, especially in the stolen base department where he has just 10 thefts after reaching the 30-steal mark last year.

Garcia got the call to protect a one-run lead in the final frame after Pete Alonso’s go-ahead homer and needed just 17 pitches to slam the door. He’ll continue splitting the closing duties with Andrew Kittredge, and possibly Félix Bautista now that he’s back in the mix, over the final week of the season.

It was undoubtedly a positive sign to see Baz work deep into this one after taking a 105-mph line drive off his right arm during his previous start against the Mets last week. He struck out two and also issued three walks. It definitely didn’t seem like he was going to turn in a quality start when he surrendered three runs on three hits and a pair of walks in an ugly opening frame. However, he managed to settle in afterwards and silence the Blue Jays into the seventh inning. He’ll take the ball for the Orioles’ regular-season finale against the Yankees in New York on Sunday.

Yesavage threw just 40 pitches (26 strikes) in his abbreviated return to Toronto’s rotation roughly six weeks after undergoing left knee meniscus surgery. The lone tally against him came on an opposite-field homer by Pete Alonso. He finished with three strikeouts and didn’t hand out a free pass. There’s very little incentive for the Blue Jays to push him from a workload standpoint, regardless of the playoff implications at stake, when he takes the ball against the Reds this weekend to close out the regular season. He’s too important to their future to put his long-term health at risk.

Basallo has taken an absolute beating behind the plate in recent weeks while managing to play through a lingering right shoulder issue. The 22-year-old former top prospect was able to stay in for a couple innings after taking a foul tip directly off his catcher’s mask. He was 0-for-2 at the dish prior to departing. The hope is that his early exit was merely out of an abundance of caution, but he’ll presumably undergo evaluation for a possible concussion. It’ll be Carlos Narváez handling the catching duties in his absence.

Bateman suffered the injury on an awkward slide while making a catch in the second inning of Monday’s series opener in Baltimore. The 24-year-old rookie walked and scored a run before his early exit. The positive news is that X-rays came back negative for any fractures. There’s a chance he manages to avoid the injured list. He’s been an unexpected late-season revelation, hitting .320 with two homers and three steals in 38 games since arriving in the big leagues last month.

Báez walloped a no-doubter to left field off Nationals starter DJ Herz, which traveled 426 feet, according to Statcast. It was his third big fly of the season. The 33-year-old veteran has lost playing time to some of the younger alternatives on Detroit’s roster over the last few weeks and he continues to fade from fantasy relevance, even in deeper leagues.

Morales came off the bench to take Tigers reliever Drew Sommers deep with an opposite-field shot into the right-field seats in the eighth inning. It was his third long ball in 13 games since being called up earlier this month. He’ll continue to get opportunities against left-handed pitchers over the final week of the season. The over-the-fence pop is very real and he has a shot at fantasy relevance if he can carve out a semi-regular role with the Nationals.