Scoreboard Watching: Mariners tied for top spot in AL West, Astros’ no-hitter turns into ninth-inning meltdown

The Toronto Blue Jays can’t seem to get themselves going despite not having much runway left. Thankfully for them, a few other teams in the American League wild-card picture aren’t winning either.

The Houston Astros appeared to be on their way to a win over the Detroit Tigers but a ninth-inning rally flipped the script.

Houston starter Framber Valdez tossed seven no-hit innings but the Astros went to the bullpen to close the game. Bryan Abreu cleared through the eighth inning and Ryan Pressly had two outs in the ninth before the Tigers exploded with four runs.

Miguel Cabrera hit a single to start the rally, Zach McKinstry kept it going with another single, and then Javier Baez tied the game at 1-1 with a single of his own. After that, Parker Meadows came up to the plate and smashed a walk-off three-run bomb.

The Astros have now lost three games in a row and they sit alone in the third wild-card position with a 72-58 record.

Things are going even worse for the other Texas team.

The Rangers blew a lead and dropped their series opener with the Minnesota Twins on Thursday and then they got pounded on Friday. Dane Dunning was tagged for four runs in the first inning and the Twins cruised to a 12-2 win. Texas has now lost eight games in a row.

Later in the evening, the Seattle Mariners beat the Kansas City Royals by a score of 7-5. They now have the same record as the Rangers at 72-56 and the two teams are tied at the top of the AL West standings.

Texas has become the team to watch for the Blue Jays. Not only are they imploding right now, but they play a four-game set in Toronto in mid-September. That could be a huge head-to-head in the standings.

It was a special day at Fenway Park on Friday, as Mookie Betts made his return to Boston for the first time since the Red Sox traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Sox got out to an early lead but the Dodgers rallied in the sixth inning to tie things up at 3-3. Betts led off the inning with a double before Will Smith, Max Muncy, and Enrique Hernandez all drove in runs. L.A. pulled ahead in the seventh inning and won the game 7-4.

Boston and Toronto have both gone 5-5 in their last 10 games and the Red Sox remain two games behind the Blue Jays in the standings.