It took the Yankees two tries, but they managed to come back from losing positions to beat the Marlins, 9-7, putting them on the cusp of their second sweep in the first three series. After pitching carried them through their first six wins, it was encouraging to see the “never say quit” attitude displayed by the entire lineup, grinding out tough at bats against a stingy Marlins bullpen to come out on top.
That wasn’t the only exciting game in the AL, so let’s see how their Junior Circuit rivals fared.
Chicago White Sox (3-5) 6, Toronto Blue Jays (4-4) 3
On Wednesday it was an extra-innings loss to the Rockies. On Friday it was getting walked-off by the White Sox and last night brought another loss to the Pale Hose. The Blue Jays have now lost three straight games to the only two teams predicted to lose at least 95 games according to FanGraphs’ preseason projections. Both teams went with a bullpen game and did pretty well, Lazaro Estrada following Blue Jays opener Maso Fluharty’s first inning with four no-hit frames while Grant Taylor and Anthony Kay combined to give the White Sox 5.1 innings of two-run ball.
Munetaka Murakami has been electric since signing from NPB over the winter, opening the scoring with a sac fly in the first before crushing a 431-foot, two-run blast in the sixth to restore the White Sox lead for already four home runs, seven RBIs, and a 178 wRC+ in eight games — becoming the fastest Japanese player to four home runs in history.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. grabbed Toronto a short-lived lead with a two-run tank in the top of the sixth, but that was immediately nullified by Murakami’s bomb and a solo shot from Colson Montgomery in the bottom half. Nathan Lukes cut the deficit to one with an inning-ending sac fly double play in the seventh, but Luisangel Acuña restored a two-run cushion in the eighth on a two-run single, a throwing error and Acuña subsequently getting caught in a rundown allowing both runs to score.
Detroit Tigers (4-4) 11, St. Louis Cardinals (4-4) 6
Even on a day when Jack Flaherty gave up five runs, the Tigers at no point looked like losing this game as Dustin May surrendered seven runs in just 3.1 innings. Detroit jumped on him early, Kerry Carpenter clubbing a two-run homer in the bottom of the first. They continued to pour it on in the fourth, Zach McKinstry crushing a two-run blast followed by a Parker Meadows triple and Matt Vierling sac fly.
St. Louis fought back admirably, putting up a five spot in the fifth. Alec Burleson got things started in the frame with an RBI double before Jordan Walker demolished a 459-foot grand slam — part of a five-RBI day for the former top prospect.
Unfortunately for St. Louis, the Tigers never took their foot off the gas pedal. Gleyber Torres led off the seventh with a home run and Vierling backed it up with a two-run shot an inning later. Four Tigers left the yard while three logged three-RBI nights to erase Walker’s career performance.
Houston Astros (6-3) 11, Athletics (2-6) 0
The Astros got their revenge for the Athletics scoring 11 on Friday by scoring 11 of their own in a dominant shutout victory over their divisional foes. Offseason signing Tatsuya Imai shook off his bumpy debut to give fans a teaser of his ceiling, twirling 5.2 scoreless allowing three hits and three walks against nine strikeouts. Out of his 94 pitches, 85 were four-seamers or sliders, yet he still managed to induce a 43-percent whiff rate on the two pitches combined.
It certainly helps when your offense can score double-digit runs despite hitting just a pair of solo shots, the Houston bats collecting 18 base hits and drawing 13 walks against a clearly hapless A’s staff. Four of those walks belonged to Yordan Alvarez while Cam Smith added a pinch hit solo shot late. However, this game was about the bottom-half of the Astros order. Four of the final five hitters in the lineup — Christian Walker, Joey Loperfido, Yainer Diaz, and Christian Vásquez contributed three-hit, two-RBI performances in about as complete a team victory as one could hope for.
San Diego Padres (3-5) 3, Boston Red Sox (2-6) 2
The Red Sox woes deepen as they have now lost six out of seven games following an Opening Day victory. Boston Rookie Connelly Early allowed two runs on three hits and four walks in four innings, but it wasn’t enough to stand up against former Yankee Randy Vásquez’s six innings of one-run ball.
The two teams traded runs in the second, Freddy Fermin drawing a leadoff walk, advancing to third on a Ty France single, and scoring the opening run on a Bryce Johnson grounder before Marcelo Mayer responded with a sac fly after Willson Contreras led off with a single followed by a Wilyer Abreu walk. Fermin restored the Padres’ lead with an RBI double in the third after Miguel Andújar reached on a double of his own. Andruw Monasterio re-leveled the scores with an RBI forceout in the eighth after Ceddanne Rafaela and Roman Anthony opened the frame with a pair of singles, which allowed Alex Cora to hand the ball to Aroldis Chapman in the ninth, fresh off a 2025 campaign in which the erstwhile Yankees closer looked otherworldly.
However, Chapman surrendered a Fernando Tatis Jr. double to set up the go-ahead RBI single from Ramón Laureano, both with two outs. Mason Miller turned out to be a tougher customer than Chapman in this one, as he protected the 3-2 lead by striking out the side in a perfect ninth.
Los Angeles Angels (4-5) 1, Seattle Mariners (4-5) 0
This was a good ol’ fashioned pitchers’ duel, Emerson Hancock following up his six no-hit innings with nine strikeouts in his season debut with 6.2 frames of one-run ball against the Angels. However, it was Jack Kochanowicz who came out on top. He may have been the worst starter in baseball last season with a 6.81 ERA and -0.6 fWAR, but he turned in one of the best starts of his young career against Seattle — 5.2 scoreless innings allowing four hits and two walks against seven strikeouts.
The game started out with quite a bit of drama, Jo Adell robbing Cal Raleigh of a home run in the top of the first. In the bottom of the frame. Zach Neto led off with a booming 443-foot home run, and the Angels threatened to pour on more putting runners on second and third on a Nolan Schanuel double and Jorge Soler single, only for Schanuel to get thrown out at home to end the inning while attempting to score on a wild pitch.
In fact, that would constitute all the scoring in this contest.
The Mariners had their chances, loading the bases with two outs in the third and putting a pair on with no outs in the seventh, but the Angels pitchers averted the threat both times. The game ended in very much the same fashion as it began, Adell robbing another home run in the eighth — this time off the bat of Josh Naylor — before making it the trifecta by bringing a J.P. Crawford deep fly near the right-field foul pole back into the yard to preserve the 1-0 victory.
