The Subway Series is coming to a climax, the Mets eking out a victory to set up a must-see rubber game Sunday. Juan Soto’s return to the Bronx wasn’t the only national baseball narrative to grab headlines on Saturday, Rafael Devers blasting his first career walk-off home run to defeat the Braves and add another twist to the saga between him and the organization.

Texas Rangers (23-22) 5, Houston Astros (25-22) 1

Tyler Mahle twirled yet another impressive start in what has been an improbable first quarter of the season for the veteran righty. He held the Astros to a run on five hits in six innings to lower his season ERA to 1.47 — the third-lowest mark among all qualified starters. The lone damage came in the form of a Christian Walker RBI double to open the scoring in the first. It’s a remarkable comeback story for a pitcher who only threw 38.1 innings in 2023 and 2024 after suffering several serious injuries, and he has yet to give up more than two runs in a start, ten starts into the campaign.

The Rangers tied it up in the third before receiving a pair of big blows in the middle innings. First Joc Pederson with a two-run blast in the sixth to give Texas the lead. Then Wyatt Langford smacked his own homer in a two-run seventh to add some extra padding to a lead that their bullpen kept intact.

Boston Red Sox (23-24) 8, Atlanta Braves (23-23) 7

This topsy-turvy affair looked like it was firmly within the Braves’ grasp before their bullpen blew it late. They jumped out to a 5-0 lead through three off Lucas Giolito, who has struggled mightily since his injury-delayed start to the season. Matt Olson and Marcell Ozuna smashed back-to-back home runs in Atlanta’s three-run first, and Drake Baldwin followed with a two-run shot in the third. Jarren Duran responded with his own two-run homer in the bottom half but an Olson RBI single in the fourth kept the gap at four.

But then in the seventh, Aaron Bummer gave up consecutive RBI hits to Devers and Alex Bregman — a single by Devers and a double by Bregman. Rafael Montero was no better in the eighth, ceding a pair of RBI singles to Carlos Narváez and Duran to knot the scores at seven apiece. Devers wasted no time leading off the bottom of the ninth, blasting a hanging 2-1 curveball from Pierce Johnson for the first walk-off home run of his career. He may not see eye to eye with upper management about proposed positional changes, but he hasn’t let it affect him at the plate.

Other Games

It was a pitchers’ duel between the Blue Jays and Tigers, but not in the classic sense of the term, Toronto rolling out a bullpen game for this contest. Eric Lauer and Yariel Rodríguez combined to hold the Tigers to a run on four hits through the first five innings, Spencer Torkelson homering in the second. Reese Olson had a one-hit shutout rolling through six but had to depart with a finger cramp. That proved to be the answer for the Blue Jays offense, Alejandro Kirk tying the score in the eighth with an RBI single to set up Ernie Clement to walk it off with an RBI single in the ninth.

The Battle of Ohio went in favor of the Reds, giving them a chance to sweep their cross-state rivals on Sunday. Daniel Schneemann hit a solo shot for the Guardians but otherwise the Reds pitchers kept Cleveland quiet. Will Benson and Rece Hinds hit solo shots of their own while Santiago Espinal and Austin Hays each also drove in a run.

Pablo López hurled six shutout innings allowing two hits and two walks against six strikeouts to lower his ERA to 2.40. It was a hit parade for Minnesota, finishing the day with 18 base knocks. Ryan Jeffers went 4-for-5 with a double and a homer and Kody Clemens 3-for-5 with a homer. Trevor Larnach, Brooks Lee, Ty France, and Royce Lewis each contributed multi-hit efforts as the Twins win their 13th in a row.

This battle of high-powered West Coast clubs went the way of the Mariners. Nick Pivetta and Emerson Hancock each allowed just one run in their starts. Gavin Sheets opened the scoring for San Diego with a solo shot in the fourth, but it was all Seattle from there. Rowdy Tellez led off the sixth with a homer to tie it, Cal Raleigh tied Aaron Judge for second in MLB with his 15th home run to lead off the seventh, and Dylan Moore put the final nail in the coffin with a two-run single in the ninth.