The Yankees are facing their last chance to directly tilt the standings in their favor, as their remaining opponents for the year all sit well outside of the postseason hunt. They got this final meeting with Boston off to a much better start than the last one, going up 4-0 before allowing a solo home run as their lone blip in a two-hit, dominating performance from their pitching staff. Luis Gil tossed six no-hit frames before turning it over to the ‘pen, and aside from Fernando Cruz giving up a bomb
to Nate Eaton the relievers did their job.
As for the rest of the field, there unfortunately wasn’t much ground to be gained on Friday.
Toronto Blue Jays (85-62) 6, Baltimore Orioles (69-76) 1
For four innings, it looked like Baltimore was building an upset bid that would’ve benefitted the Yankees greatly. They took a 1-0 lead in the third on a Jackson Holliday single, and Trevor Rogers was keeping Toronto off the scoreboard despite walking the bases loaded in the bottom of the third.
Things changed in the fifth, however, when Rogers issued a two-out walk to Davis Schneider. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. laced a single to center that got bobbled, leading to the runner scoring from first and tying the game.
From there, the Blue Jays began to pull away, starting by taking the lead in the sixth on a Miles Straw RBI double. The seventh saw them tack on with an Ernie Clement RBI single, and then the floodgates opened in the eighth as Daulton Varsho doubled in two runs and Guerrero singled him home.
Miami Marlins (69-79) 8, Detroit Tigers (84-64) 2
The Marlins got a vintage Sandy Alcantara to return for the night, tossing seven innings of two-run ball to keep the game in hand. He gave up a solo home run in the fourth inning and threw a wild pitch to advance a runner from third in the seventh, but outside of those two blips he was excellent, punching out eight Tigers along the way.
The Tigers’ minds were likely elsewhere for most of the game though, as the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner exited this one early. Tarik Skubal allowed four runs in 3.1 innings and got beat on two home run balls in the process, but he left the game due to discomfort in his left side that flared up after he got the first out of the fourth. Skubal is optimistic it isn’t anything serious, but any setback at this point of the season can be devastating, especially for an ace pitcher.
Houston Astros (80-68) 11, Atlanta Braves (65-82) 3
The Astros got to Hurston Waldrep good in the middle innings, tallying eight runs on him before he exited. Zach Cole started the scoring with a two-run shot in the third, homering in his first big league at-bat, and he tallied one more alongside Jake Meyers with a pair of RBI singles in the fourth.
The fifth inning proved to be the nail in the coffin, as Houston put up a six-spot. Christian Walker started it off with a two-run single that chased Waldrep from the game, but Dane Dunning didn’t fare much better. Meyers and Cole went back to the well with RBI hits that finished off Waldrep’s line, and Mauricio Dubon brought the two of them in on a single of his own. Jose Altuve made it 11-0 with a solo shot in the sixth before Atlanta got some garbage time runs against Colton Gordon, who stuck out a four-inning save.
Other Games
Texas Rangers (78-70) 8, New York Mets (76-72) 3: Jacob deGrom made his long-awaited return to Citi Field and he did not disappoint, tossing seven innings of three-run ball in a Rangers win to push them to their fifth straight W. His offense gave him a huge cushion, scoring six in the first inning led by two-RBI hits from Cody Freeman and Michael Helman.
Seattle Mariners (80-68) 2, Los Angeles Angels (69-79) 1: Luis Castillo and Yusei Kikuchi had themselves a pitchers’ duel, both delivering six innings to their team with one run allowed. Connor Brogden relieved Kikuchi for the seventh and broke the tie though, surrendering a go-ahead solo shot to Mitch Garver as Seattle stays deadlocked with Houston atop the AL West with Texas bearing down on them.
Philadelphia Phillies (88-60) 8, Kansas City Royals (74-74) 2: KC’s resurgence to get back in the Wild Card picture was fun, but they may meet their match this weekend. The Phillies overpowered Michael Lorenzen, collecting 10 hits, a pair of walks, and six runs in three innings against him. Bryce Harper punctuated the stretch with a two-run shot, his 26th of the year, and Bryson Stott added some insurance in the seventh with a two-run homer of his own.
