MLB Hoosiers (Sept. 26): Aaron Slegers Gets Save as Tampa Bay Clinches Best Record
Aaron Slegers hadn't pitched in seven days, so it wasn't surprising that he had to knock off a little rust when he came in to pitch the seventh inning for the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday night. Even though he struggled out of the gate, he pitched three innings to earn the save in a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
It was a night of celebrations for the Rays, who clinched the best record in the American League (39-20) earlier in the day when the Oakland A's lost. It made the second straight win over the Phillies even sweeter. It was the first time since 2010 that the Rays have finished with the best record in the league.
Slegers entered the game with the Rays leading 4-2, but he gave up three straight singles to start the inning, including a third by Bryce Harper, an infield single that drove in a run.
But he dominated from there, getting a double play and a strikeout to end the threat. He pitched a perfect eighth inning and faced the minimum in the ninth after a double play.
“Our pitching was really good,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said. “(Ryan Yarbrough, 3 1/3 scoreless innings) was outstanding, and everybody that followed suit seemed to be very efficient.
"And other than Slegers, who had a little bit of a hiccup and he kind of got beat on some ground balls that we just weren’t positioned [on], he did a really nice job of getting through three innings of work.”
The Rays play the Phillies again on Sunday and will start the playoffs at home on Tuesday against the No. 8 seed. That would be the Toronto Blue Jays for the moment, but if they win Sunday and the New York Yankees lose to the Miami Marllns, the Yankees will be the No. 8 seed.
Tampa Bay is 8-2 vs. New York this year and 6-4 vs. Toronto.
“This is a huge accomplishment for the team, especially with everything we’ve been through, and really sweetens what our season has been thus far,” Tampa Bay second baseman Brandon Lowe said. "But we’re nowhere near done, and no one thinks we are.''
It was Slegers' second save of the season and the third of his career. His three saves, amazingly, are the second-most in Indiana history. Only Barry Jones (23) has more. Jones played for five different major-league teams from 1986 to 1993.
As an aside, Jones is the answer — a very difficult answer — to a great trivia question. On July 1, 1990, Andy Hawkins pitched a no-hitter over eight innings for the New York Yankees, but lost the game on a three-run error. Barry Jones was the winning pitcher for the White Sox.
Other 'Hoosiers in the Pros' on Saturday
- Alex Dickerson, San Francisco Giants: Dickerson and the Giants lost 6-2 to the San Diego Padres, dropping them out of the final playoff spot for the moment. Dickerson was 1-for-3 with a first-inning single, and his batting average is at .300 for the season. "There's real frustration ... and rightfully so," Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. "We know we had a chance to win today's game and we had a chance to win last night's game and we didn't get it done. That's super frustrating. We're better than that. At the same time we don't have much time. We have to come back tomorrow, get prepared for tomorrow's game and win." The Giants must win Sunday and hope the Milwaukee Brewers lose to grab that eighth-seed.
- Caleb Baragar, San Francisco Giants: Baragar did not pitch in the Giants' 6-2 loss. He has gone 16 consecutive appearance without allowing a run.
- Kyle Schwarber, Chicago Cubs: Schwarber was 0-for-3 with a walk in the Cubs's 9-5 loss to the Chicago White Sox. Because of a St. Louis loss earlier in the day, the Cubs did at least clinch the National League Central title. That's their third division crown in the past five years.
- Jonathan Stiever, Chicago White Sox: Stiever did not pitch in the 9-5 win over the Chicago Cubs.
- * Kyle Hart, Boston Red Sox: The Red Sox placed Hart on the 45-day injury list on Tuesday, so his season is done with Boston. He struggled in his major-league debut, appearing in four games — three starts — but allowing 19 runs and 24 hits in just 11 innings.
- * Josh Phegley, Chicago Cubs: Phegley was designated for assignment by the Cubs and was sent to their alternate site on Sept. 3.
If the playoffs started today ...
There's still plenty to determine on the final day of the regular season on Sunday, but here's where we stand for now. There were four more changes in the American League on Saturday, and one in the National League, with the Milwaukee Brewers moving ahead of the San Francisco Giants for that final spot in the NL.
The first round is a best-of-three series, playing at the home ballpark of the higher seed. Here's what the playoff bracket would look like as of Saturday morning.
American League
- No. 1 Tampa Bay Rays vs. No. 8 Toronto Blue Jays
- No. 4 Chicago White Sox vs. No. 5 New York Yankees
- No. 3 Oakland A's vs. No. 6 Houston Astros
- No. 2 Minnesota Twins vs. No. 7 Cleveland Indians
National League
- No. 1 Los Angeles Dodgers vs. No. 8 Milwaukee Brewers
- No. 4 San Diego Padres vs. No. 5 St. Louis Cardinals
- No. 3 Chicago Cubs vs. No. 6 Miami Marlins
- No. 2 Atlanta Braves vs. No. 7 Cincinnati Reds
Scores, schedule and standings
- For the most up-to-date scores and schedule, CLICK HERE
- For the updated MLB standings in real time, CLICK HERE