The Yankees dropped the opener of their weekend series against the Red Sox on Friday, losing 5-3 with all of the damage done in three consecutive innings against Ryan Weathers. Spencer Jones went 3-for-3 with an RBI in his return to the team following Judge’s placement on the IL and Ben Rice hit his 18th long ball of the year, but the only other offense to be found for New York came on a Trent Grisham solo shot. Not the most encouraging sign of life for a lineup that’ll be without their captain for the foreseeable
future, but they’ll get back at it today looking to even the series back up. In the meantime, their rivals had the opportunity to either catch up to them or in the case of the Rays, get a little breathing room.
Tampa Bay Rays (37-23) 6, Miami Marlins (29-35) 0
Tampa controlled this game from the get-go, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning against Ryan Gusto. After a groundout opened the game, Junior Caminero ripped a double out to right and Jonathan Aranda walked to give them runners on. Yandy Díaz hit into a fielder’s choice that put runners on the corners, and Richie Palacios brought them both in as he dropped a ball out into right that deflected off of Owen Caissie’s glove and rebounded out to the wall in center for a triple. Ryan Vilade then singled him home to round out the threat.
That was all the offense the Rays needed, because Drew Rasmussen was dealing against the Fish. Rasmussen tossed seven innings as he blanked the Marlins, allowing just a single hit in the second inning to Javier Sanoja and stranding him with ease after striking out the next two batters to escape the frame. Rasmussen sat down nine Marlins hitters personally, and after he handed the ball over to the bullpen Cam Booser and Cole Sulser combined to strike out five more in the last two innings. Sulser did give up the second and last hit that Miami collected on the night via a leadoff bunt to third, but no rally was forthcoming.
There was more offense to be had for Tampa though, as they struck in each of the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings. Another Caminero double and an Aranda single brought in Tampa Bay’s fourth run of the game, and their fifth came on Cedric Mullins launching a home run to open the next inning. The final insurance run was brought home after a leadoff walk got moved to third via a hit and passed ball before Vilade earned his second RBI of the game with another single.
Other Games
Toronto Blue Jays (30-34) 3, Baltimore Orioles (31-33) 13: The Orioles took it to the Jays, but it didn’t become a blowout until much later in the game. The two teams traded a run in the first inning, Gunnar Henderson launching a solo shot for the O’s while Vladimir Guerrero Jr. lifted a sacrifice fly for Toronto. The Blue Jays briefly took a 3-1 lead in the fifth on a two-run blast from Brandon Valenzuela, but Baltimore took the lead right back with a five-run sixth inning — RBI hits from Adley Rutschman and Jeremiah Jackson set the stage for Coby Mayo to hit a two-run homer to cap it off.
The eighth and ninth inning turned this into a proper blowout. Baltimore scored three in the former thanks to a quartet of singles with a wild pitch in the mix, and then scored four more in the latter when Rutschman doubled home two and a throwing error allowed two more to round third. Brandon Young lasted 6.1 innings for the Orioles, allowed all three of Toronto’s runs, but the Baltimore bullpen clamped down allowing just a single baserunner the rest of the way.
Cleveland Guardians (36-29) 2, Texas Rangers (31-32) 3: For five innings Cleveland was slowly building itself a little lead, scoring one run in the first on a Travis Bazzana solo shot and a second run in the fourth on an RBI single from Austin Hedges to support starter Parker Messick. Messick allowed just a lone single through that point, but in the sixth Texas’ offense woke up: Kyle Higashioka led off with a blast, Wyatt Langford hit a one-out double, and then Corey Seager launched a two-run homer to take the lead away. Both pitching staffs kept the offenses in check from there, with Jacob Latz working around a single and walk in the ninth to secure a two-inning save.
Seattle Mariners (33-31) 3, Detroit Tigers (26-38) 7: Detroit apparently decided to play their best ball of the season against division leaders this week, taking it to Seattle coming off of their sweep of the Rays. The Mariners did take a 1-0 lead in the first, but Detroit answered back with three in the third, first scoring on a Dillon Dingler looped ball that dunked in front of Julio Rodríguez before the center fielder managed to fire it back in quickly enough to get a force out at second. Kerry Carpenter made it easier for the next two to cross, lifting a two-run shot out to right.
The game was locked down at 3-1 Tigers until the seventh, when Seattle got a solo shot from Colt Emerson to get within one but Detroit struck back immediately with a Gleyber Torres two-run double in the bottom frame. The eighth inning was a similar story, the Mariners carving back a run on a Cole Young RBI single only to give back two via a Spencer Torkelson home run.
