AL Playoff Race (Sept. 25): Astros Get to 100 Wins With Thrilling Comeback Over Orioles

The Houston Astros rallied for four runs in the ninth inning on Saturday night to beat the Baltimore Orioles 11-10 and get their 100th win of the year. Elsewhere, the Cleveland Guardians won again and can clinch the AL Central on Sunday. Here is Saturday's roundup, Sunday's pitching matchups and a snapshot of the current AL playoff bracket.

The Houston Astros rallied for four runs in the ninth inning on Saturday, beating the Baltimore Orioles 11-10 and claiming their 100th win of the season.

It was a historic night for Astros manager Dusty Baker, who became just the fourth manager ever to win 100 games in both leagues. He also did it in 1993 in his first season as the manager of the San Francisco Giants, when he won 103 games. Sparky Anderson, Tony La Russa and Whitey Herzog have also accomplished the feat.

It was a big win for Houston, which had dropped two straight to Baltimore and are still trying to wrap up home-field advantage in the American League playoffs. Their magic number is now down to four.

There was a lot that went on Saturday. Here are the results from teams currently in the AL playoff picture:

• ASTROS 11, ORIOLES 10: Houston scored four runs in the ninth inning off of Baltimore closer Felix Bautista to grab an 11-10 victory and snap a a two-game losing streak to the Orioles. Kyle Tucker had a big two-run double in the rally.
• YANKEES 7, RED SOX 5: Aaron Judge went homerless for the fourth straight game and remains stuck at No. 60, but the Yankees beat the last-place Red Sox for the third straight day, winning 7-5. Anthony Rizzo's two-run homer in the seventh was the difference for the Yankees, who have won six straight and 10 of 12 games.
• GUARDIANS 4, RANGERS 2: Cal Quantrill gave up just one run in six innings and picked of his 14th win of the year in Cleveland's 4-2 win over the Rangers. He has won 10 decisions in a row, the longest streak in the majors. Cleveland, winners of six straight and 17 of 20, can clinch their first AL Central title since 2018 on Sunday, with their magic number now down to one.
• BLUE JAYS 3, RAYS 1: Whit Merrifield hit a three-run homer off of Tampa Bay reliever Brooks Raley in the seventh inning, spoiling a great pitcher's duel between Alek Manoah and Drew Rasmussen. Toronto snapped a three-game losing streak to the Rays where they gave up double-digit runs in all three lossses. Manoah fixed that, throwing seven scoreless innings and 113 pitches. For the complete game story, CLICK HERE
• MARINERS 6, ROYALS 5: Cal Raleigh homered and had a tie-breaking double in the ninth inning to give Seattle a 6-5 victory over Kansas City. Raleigh has homered in consecutive games for the first time in his career and has six home runs and 14 RBIs in 16 September games.
• TIGERS 7, WHITE SOX 2: Chicago managed just five hits in an ugly 7-2 loss to Detroit and are now on the verge of elimination on the AL Central race after losing their fifth-straight game.
• TWINS 8, ANGELS 4: Gary Sanchez had a three-run homer and drove in four runs on the night as Minnesota beat the Angels 8-4 to keep their very faint playoff hopes alive for at least one more day.  

Sunday's schedule for playoff teams

• Houston Astros (Cristian Javier 10-9, 2.77 ERA) at Baltimore Orioles (Austin Voth 5-3, 4.32 ERA), 1:05 p.m. ET 
• Toronto Blue Jays (Ross Stripling 8-4, 3.21 ERA) at Tampa Bay Rays (Shane McClanahan 12-6 2.36 ERA), 1:10 p.m. ET
• Detroit Tigers (Tyler Alexander 4-10, 4.91 ERA) at Chicago White Sox (Dylan Cease 14-7, 2.13 ERA), 2:10 p.m. ET
• Los Angeles Angels (Jose Suarez 6-8, 4.11 ERA) at Minnesota Twins (Dylan Bundy 8-7, 4.78 ERA), 2:10 p.m. ET
• Seattle Mariners (Luis Castillo 7-6, 2.85 ERA) at Kansas City Royals (Max Castillo 0-1, 2.97 ERA), 2:10 p.m. ET
• Cleveland Guardians (Aaron Civale 2-6, 5.29 ERA) at Texas Rangers (Cole Ragans 0-2, 5.40 ERA), 2:35 p.m. ET
• Boston Red Sox (Brayan Bello 2-6, 4.75 ERA) at New York Yankees (Nelson Cortes  (104, 2.67 ERA), 7 p.m. ET. (TV: ESPN)

If the playoffs started today ...

• No. 1 seed — The Houston Astros (100-53, AL West champion, would get first-round bye) are the top seed, and are six games ahead of the New York Yankees for the top seed. Their magic number to clinch the top seed is four. They have already clinched a first-round bye.
• No. 2 seed — The New York Yankees (93-58, AL East leader, would get first-round bye) and their lead in the division is now back up to 8 1/2 games ahead of Toronto. Their magic number to clinch the AL East and a first-round bye is two.
• No. 3 seed — The Cleveland Guardians (85-67, the AL Central leader would host No. 6 seed in best-of-three first-round series) can clinch the division on Sunday with a win over Chicago loss.
• No. 4 seed — The Toronto Blue Jays (85-67, the top wild-card team, would host the No. 5 seed Tampa Bay in a best-of-three first-round series). The Jays are now one games clear of Tampa Bay for the top wild-card spot, but they do not hold the tie-breaker with Tampa Bay. The two teams play each other for the final time on Sunday.
• No. 5 seed — The Tampa Bay Rays (84-68, the second wild-card) is one game behind Toronto and a half-game ahead of Seattle. They are 4 1/5 games clear of the Baltimore Orioles, with a magic number of six to claim a wild-card spot
• No. 6 seed — The Seattle Mariners (83-68, third wild-card team, would play at No. 3 seed Cleveland in a best-of-three first-round series). They are four games ahead Baltimore with 11 to play

Outside looking in

• Baltimore Orioles: The Orioles are 79-72, and are four games behind Seattle for final wild-card spot. Blowing that lead to Houston on Saturday night really hurt.

Are they done now, too?

• Chicago White Sox: The White Sox are 76-76, and are 7 1/2 games behind Seattle for final wild-card spot.
• Minnesota Twins: The Twins are 74-78, and are 9.5 games behind Seattle for the final wild-card spot. They can be eliminated on Sunday with a loss or Seattle win.

Eliminated

• Boston Red Sox (72-79)
• Los Angeles Angels (66-86)
• Texas Rangers (65-86)
• Kansas City Royals (62-90)
• Detroit Tigers (59-92)
• Oakland Athletics (56-96)