Thursday was an off day for the Yankees, but as we progress into the final weeks of the 2026 regular season, every game matters for many teams around the Junior Circuit. Between the mediocre races in the Central and West, or the fight for the final wild card spot, there is plenty of moving that could take place before the end of the season.
Let’s take a look at what went down on Thursday.
Tampa Bay Rays (93-59) 10, Athletics (61-92) 1
On a night where they had a free half-game to take in the East, the Rays
took full advantage on Thursday. Despite a quiet start on both sides, a big fourth inning fueled an easy Tampa Bay win against the A’s.
Starters Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen kept the game scoreless through three innings of play, before the Rays’ bats turned the corner in the fourth. In that inning, Chandler Simpson’s single score a pair, before a double from Richie Palacios cleared the the bases to plate three more. After the dust settled in the fourth, the Rays were up 6-0 and cruising into the middle innings.
Rasmussen turned in a good day at the office, tossing five scoreless for the Rays, while the offense continued to plug away, led by Simpson, Palacios, Liam Hicks, and Taylor Walls, who all tallied a pair of RBIs each. They made the most of their opportunities, as they needed just seven hits to reach their double-digit run total.
The only noise the A’s made in this one came from a long Lawrence Butler home run in the sixth, though it was a only a blip in the blowout the Rays dished out. With the win, they jump to a daunting five game lead in the East.
Other Games:
Texas Rangers (76-77) 3, Boston Red Sox (83-70) 4:
In the race in the West, the Rangers dropped a crucial one, as the Red Sox came back to win on Thursday. The Rangers went up 3-0 early on, with help from Josh Jung’s 10th homer of the season, and held that lead through six innings. After scratching a run across in the seventh, the big blow came off the bat of Trevor Story, who belted a three-run bomb to suddenly give the Sox the lead. They’d hold on to it, as they inch closer to clinching a postseason berth.
AL Rock Fight:
Houston Astros (77-76) 6, Kansas City Royals (67-86) 2: The Astros popped back above .500 with a win over the Royals on Thursday. Of their six runs, five of them came on a quintet of solo homers, including Jeremy Peña’s 20th of the season that tied things up in the first, as well as Yordan Alvarez’s 40th bomb of the season. Meanwhile, five different Houston pitchers helped to keep this one calm, as the Royals were only able to plate a pair with just three hits
The race in the West may very well come down to the final days of the season.
Chicago White Sox (78-75) 3, Detroit Tigers (72-81) 1: The White Sox rode the wave of a three-run bomb in the first inning, as Munetaka Murakami’s 32nd long ball of the season gave them a lead they’d never give up. The win gets them into a dead heat atop the Central alongside the Guardians, who had Thursday off.
