All good things have to come to an end, and the Yankees’ winning streak followed that rule as it ended at eight in the series finale against Houston. Luis Gil couldn’t keep the ball in the yard, serving up a pair of two-run shots and getting into further trouble leading to his exit in the fifth inning without recording an out. There was a last minute rally to make the score closer than it felt for most of the game, but this one was out of the Yankees’ hands early. C’est la vie, but that does mean
that the rest of the American League can play catch up instead of trying to keep pace, so let’s see what they did with the opportunity.
Boston Red Sox (11-17) 5, Baltimore Orioles (13-15) 3
Boston demolished the Orioles on Saturday, and then the news broke that they were shaking up their coaching staff significantly with Alex Cora going out the door. Now with interim manager Chad Tracy filling out the lineup cards, they had a less explosive day but still eeked out another win.
Two innings were all the Red Sox needed to come away with enough runs, and they came consecutively starting in the fifth. Caleb Durbin led off with a single, and promptly stole second base. Andruw Monasterio singled him home after a groundout, and then a force out brought O’s starter Kyle Bradish near an escape with minimal damage. Willson Contreras had other ideas though, catching a slider over the middle of the plate and driving it for a two-run homer.
The Orioles got on the board with a Samuel Basallo solo shot in the bottom of the fifth, but the Sox got right back to work in the sixth. Now facing Grant Wolfram, Wilyer Abreu greeted him with a single and scored on a Ceddanne Rafaela triple, who then scored on a Marcelo Mayer single to make it 5-1. Gunnar Henderson responded with another solo homer, but the Orioles couldn’t get rallies going against Connelly Early or the Sox bullpen, collecting just six hits in total. A pair of hits in the eighth converted their only non-home run score of the game, but Aroldis Chapman sat them down in order in the ninth.
Toronto Blue Jays (12-15) 4, Cleveland Guardians (15-14) 2
Toronto jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning thanks to a leadoff double from Ernie Clement, a walk to Daulton Varsho and an RBI single from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. followed by a sacrifice fly. Patrick Corbin cruised for the first four innings with said lead, but ran into trouble in the fifth inning when the first three batters all singled off of him. Corbin managed to induce a double-play from Steven Kwan that nearly got them out of the jam, but Angel Martínez doubled to tie the game and chased Corbin from the game.
Braydon Fisher came in and loaded the bases with walks (one of which was intentional), but he managed to strike out David Fry to end the inning. The Jays were quick to strike back though, getting a leadoff double from Guerrero in the sixth before Jesús Sánchez took Slade Cecconi deep to right for a two-run shot. Toronto’s bullpen was lights out in relief of Corbin, combining to go 4.1 innings with just two hits and no runs allowed.
Other Games
Tampa Bay Rays (16-11) 4, Minnesota Twins (12-16) 2: One inning was all the Rays needed to get their offensive output in this one, as they struck in the third for four runs. The first two batters singled and Chandler Simpson stole second to set up runners on second and third for Jonathan Aranda, who brought them both home on a liner up the middle. Yandy Díaz then brought him home as he trotted the bases with a two-run blast to right, giving Tampa enough to outlast the Twins. Minnesota could only manage a two-run shot in the seventh to avoid a shutout, but otherwise couldn’t solve the Rays’ opener in Griffin Jax or the arms that followed.
Detroit Tigers (15-14) 8, Cincinnati Reds (18-10) 3: The Reds took an early 3-2 lead thanks to a plethora of extra-base hits including solo shots from Nathaniel Lowe and JJ Bleday, but Detroit had the last laugh as they erupted for six runs late. Hao-Yu Lee and Spencer Torkelson homered in the seventh to lead a four-run inning (Torkelson has now gone deep in five straight games), and then old friend Gleyber Torres launched a two-run blast in the eighth to make it a non-save situation for Detroit’s relievers.
Seattle Mariners (14-15) 3, St. Louis Cardinals (14-13) 2: Seattle’s climb back towards .500 continued with a narrow win over the Cardinals, who are crashing down to the same spot after a hot start. Home runs dictated the outcome in this one, with JJ Wetherholt and Nathan Church going deep for both of St. Louis’ runs while Cal Raleigh and Rob Refsnyder homered for the Mariners. Cole Young singled in a run in the seventh for the only score to come from within the park, tying the game at two at the time while Refsnyder’s became the game-winning run in the ninth.
