This weekend marks the end of the MLB regular season, and the New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Guardians and Houston Astros face critical three-game series that will determine division champions and affect American League playoff seeding.
Here’s how Friday’s games played out and what it means for each team.
Red Sox 4, Tigers 3
Ceddanne Rafaela hit a walk-off RBI triple off Fenway Park’s center-field wall, helping Boston clinch its first postseason berth since 2021.
The Red Sox (88-72) rallied from a 3-0 deficit, with Masataka Yoshida singling in a run in the fourth, Nathaniel Lowe driving in a run on a sacrifice fly in the seventh, and Jarren Duran singling in a run in the eighth to tie the score.
In the bottom of the ninth, Romy González singled to center, setting up Rafaela’s big hit that secured a wild-card berth.
No words, just… RAHHHHHHHHHHHHH. pic.twitter.com/Vxd6i3XH8u
— Red Sox (@RedSox) September 27, 2025
Casey Mize’s 6 1/3 innings with eight strikeouts weren’t enough for the Tigers (86-74), who remained tied atop the Central with the Guardians and in the third and final wild-card spot, a game ahead of the Astros (85-75).
Red Sox need to find their offense
On Thursday, the Red Sox were held down by a slew of bullpen arms in Toronto.
On Friday, it was Mize.
They needed a walk-off win Friday, but can’t live this way in the postseason. They need to find more offense fast. — Jen McCaffrey, Red Sox beat writer
Tigers must wait to clinch
You can point to several reasons the Tigers blew a lead Friday. Tommy Kahnle left a center-cut changeup to Rafaela to do them in.
But Detroit also went only 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 runners. Justyn-Henry Malloy led off the ninth with a double against Aroldis Chapman, but the next three Tigers batters struck out against the lefty flamethrower. Squandered opportunities have been a far too prevalent theme of a Tigers slide that takes them into the final two games of the year still fighting for their playoff lives. — Cody Stavenhagen, Tigers beat writer
Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton hits a two-run home run against the Baltimore Orioles in the first inning at Yankee Stadium. (Brad Penner / Imagn Images)
Yankees 8, Orioles 4
Giancarlo Stanton hit two two-run homers, and Aaron Judge added a two-run blast at Yankee Stadium as New York kept pace with the Blue Jays atop the AL East.
The Yankees and Blue Jays, who had already clinched playoff berths, are 92-68. They’re playing for the division title and the AL’s No. 1 playoff seed. The Blue Jays own the head-to-head tiebreaker against New York and the Seattle Mariners (90-70), who lost 3-2 to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday.
Yankees must keep it going
The Yankees faced their toughest challenge of the weekend, going up against Orioles ace Trevor Rogers. Rogers had allowed just three home runs all season before Friday’s game. The Yankees hit three in the first three innings against Rogers, with two coming from Stanton and one from Judge.
Cam Schlittler, the Yankees’ rookie starting pitcher, will make the most important start of his season so far Saturday afternoon. Schlittler is in contention to be New York’s third starter in the postseason. How he handles the pressure of a potential division title looming could be a good indicator of how he might pitch in October. — Chris Kirschner, Yankees beat writer
Blue Jays 4, Rays 2
Nathan Lukes’ two-run home run broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the fifth inning at Rogers Centre, keeping Toronto in a first-place tie in the East with the Yankees.
The Blue Jays’ magic number to clinch the division and the No. 1 seed is two.
Dependable depth keeps Blue Jays on pace in East
With the Yankees besting the Orioles, Toronto needed a win to stay on top of the East, a division it has led since July. A homer from Lukes and 2 2/3 shutout innings from relievers Tommy Nance and Mason Fluharty lifted Toronto over the Tampa Bay Rays.
Toronto’s productive depth has been a huge reason it sits atop the division. It’s moments from Lukes, Joey Loperfido, Braydon Fisher, Davis Schneider, Myles Straw and others that vaulted the Blue Jays to the top of the East to begin with.
On Friday, that same secondary group kept them there, for now. The final two days will decide the division. If Toronto wins out, the East belongs to the Jays. — Mitch Bannon, Blue Jays beat writer
Rangers 7, Guardians 3
Jack Leiter struck out 10 in seven innings for Texas, which played spoiler at Progressive Field as Cleveland (86-74) stayed in a first-place tie with the Tigers in the Central.
Guardians owe Red Sox a fruit basket
Cleveland used a 17-2 September surge to erase an 11-game deficit and bully its way to the top of the Central, but consecutive losses have left Stephen Vogt’s crew with some work to do this weekend.
The Guardians lost to the Rangers’ skeleton crew, the result of another quiet night of offense and a rough first inning from Slade Cecconi, who allowed nearly as many hits (five) as he did in his previous three starts combined (six).
The Guardians and Tigers remain tied atop the division, thanks to Boston’s comeback win against Detroit, but the Guardians own the tiebreaker, so if they match or exceed what the Tigers do the rest of the weekend at Fenway Park, they’ll repeat as Central champions. Or, they have a path to a wild-card spot if they finish tied with or ahead of the Astros.
Joey Cantillo will start for Cleveland on Saturday, and if it needs to break glass in case of an emergency, Gavin Williams (3.06 ERA) can start on regular rest on Sunday. — Zack Meisel, Guardians beat writer
Angels 4, Astros 3
The Astros scored three runs in the fourth inning to jump to an early lead, but it wasn’t enough as Angels star Mike Trout hit two home runs. Houston’s loss lowered its elimination number to one.
Trout delivers dagger to Astros’ playoff hopes
The matchup made sense: a left-hander with drastic reverse splits facing a string of three right-handed hitters. Houston’s Bryan King held righties to a .197/.233/.311 slash line in his previous 193 plate appearances. Just nine of the hits he allowed went for extra bases.
Ideal matchups matter little against Trout, who lifted King’s 2-0 fastball into the right-field seats for a go-ahead solo home run that may have spelled doom for the Astros’ playoff hopes. Trout hit two home runs in the Angels’ win, one marred far more by Houston’s continued absence of clutch hitting.
The Astros went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and stranded six base runners.
One more victory by the Tigers or Guardians, or one more loss by the Astros, will eliminate Houston from playoff position for the first time since 2016. — Chandler Rome, Astros beat writer
(Photo of Ceddanne Rafaela celebrating the Red Sox’s first playoff berth since 2021: Eric Canha / Imagn Images)