Settling the Score: Saturday’s results

There was significant movement Saturday in Major League Baseball’s divisional and Wild Card races.

The Yankees failed to capitalize on several scoring chances, falling 3-2 to the Blue Jays. The Orioles, meanwhile, bested the Red Sox by a score 4-3. There’s now a tie atop the American League East.

The Tigers rode another fine outing by Justin Verlander to a 6-4 win over the Twins and the White Sox lost 10-4 to Tampa Bay. Detroit has a two-game lead in the American League Central standings with four games to play.

In the National League, the Cardinals lost 6-4 in extra innings to the Nationals and the Dodgers blanked the Rockies 3-0. Los Angeles is suddenly just two games back for that second Wild Card spot.

It’s all setting up for a dramatic finish. Wednesday marks the end of the regular season.

Your Saturday box scores and recaps:

Yankees 2, Blue Jays 3

Rays 10, White Sox 4

Tigers 6, Twins 4

Mariners 4, Athletics 7 (10 innings)

Angels, Rangers (Postponed)

Royals 7, Indians 6 (14 innings)

Phillies 9, Marlins 5

Nationals 6, Cardinals 4 (10 innings)

Cubs 2, Diamondbacks 8

Giants 3, Padres 7

Rockies 0, Dodgers 3

The Marlins have announced that they have inked manager Don Mattingly to a two-year contract extensions. There’s a third year in the form of a mutual option.

Mattingly is finishing up the final year of the four-year contract he signed with the Marlins prior to the 2016 season. He’s 272-364 in that period and the club has lost 99 games already this season. The current bad run, however, obviously corresponds with a massive rebuild the team began undertaking following the 2017 season and the team’s change in ownership. Mattingly has not had much to work with over the past two seasons but he has likewise, largely, kept the team on as even a keel as one could hope under the circumstances. He has certainly impressed the Marlins’ brass enough to take the unusual step of keeping on a manager they inherited from a previous ownership and front office group.

In other news, the Marlins also announced a two-year contract extension for shortstop Miguel Rojas valued at $10.25 million. There’s a vesting option for a third year. The deal buys out Rojas’ final year of arbitration eligibility and one year of free agency, plus that option.

Rojas, 30, is hitting .285/.335/.383 (OPS+ 92) this year.

Follow @craigcalcaterra