The Yankees nearly lost a prime candidate for dumbest game of the year on Monday, but they managed to flip the script and end up on the winning end thanks to a game-tying Trent Grisham two-run shot in the ninth (his second bomb of the night) and a wild pitch that brought José Caballero home to walk it off. Aaron Judge played his part, launching two home runs of his own, and Caballero completed their offensive surge with a homer to go with his timely baserunning. Their win snaps a five-game losing
streak, and gives them their first chance in nearly a week to gain some ground on their rivals. Only a handful of other teams were playing on Monday, but they got some solid results nonetheless.
Minnesota Twins (10-7) 13, Boston Red Sox (6-10) 6
Garrett Crochet was on many people’s short lists for Cy Young winner entering this season, but he’s going to have an uphill battle to make it into those conversations after the slow start he’s gotten off to, and in particular after the night he had on Monday. He put up a uniquely-terrible line, giving up 11 runs (10 earned) in just 1.2 innings, getting battered around for nine hits and three walks without picking up a single strikeout.
Things got off to an immediately bad start for the Sox ace, as he recorded the first out on a flyout and then proceeded to give up back-to-back doubles and a single to go down 2-0. Crochet got the second out on another fly ball, but a walk and hit-by-pitch loaded the bases for Brooks Lee, who singled home two more runs and made it 4-0 after one.
If the first inning was bad, the second was an outright disaster. The first six batters all reached, culminating in Victor Caratini’s three-run blast to make it 10-0. Crochet miraculously recorded back-to-back outs to nearly escape the inning, but Ryan Kreidler ambushed him with another homer to push the score to 11-0 and chased him from the game at long last.
With a tremendous lead in hand, all the Twins needed was competent pitching to get them through the game, and they got that. Bailey Ober coasted through the first two innings, got into trouble in the third and allowed three runs on an RBI double and two-run homer, and then went back to coasting for a couple more innings. The sixth started off rocky, as the first three batters all singled to bring home a run, but a double-play ball and a strikeout got him to the end of his outing without further incident. Even with Eric Orze entering and coughing up two more runs in the seventh, the Twins were never in danger of blowing their massive advantage.
Seattle Mariners (8-9) 6, Houston Astros (6-11) 2
The Mariners may not have gotten off to the strongest start entering this series, but they did themselves a huge favor and got a leg up on their rivals by sweeping a four-game set. This time around they jumped on Mike Burrows from the get-go, as Josh Naylor launched his first home run of the year and made it a three-run shot for good measure. Naylor got to him again in the third inning, this time hitting a two-run homer to put the M’s up 5-0, and in the fifth Luke Raley poked an RBI single through to plate their sixth and final run against Burrows.
The Astros responded in the top half of the fifth, hitting three straight singles to get on the scoreboard. Nick Allen put a ball in play to score the second run of the inning, but it came via a double-play ball that halted the rally — sure enough, Jose Altuve grounded out to end it in the next at-bat. Houston wouldn’t get another batter past second base the rest of the way, stranding two in the eighth and one in the ninth as Seattle capped off the sweep. They’ve now won four in a row after having lost their previous five, something that New York would surely like to emulate. Meanwhile, Houston’s lost eight in a row as injuries have wrecked their pitching staff.
Other Games
Cleveland Guardians (10-7) 9, St. Louis Cardinals (8-8) 3: Both teams got on the board with a run in the first inning, but Cleveland broke out with a three-run fourth inning fueled by a pair of walks to lead off the frame. A pair of singles brought them both home, and a sacrifice fly wrapped up the inning and gave the Guardians their eventual winning run. They still tacked on plenty of insurance, getting a two-run blast from Brayan Rocchio in the sixth and a trio of runs in the eighth via singles from Rocchio and Steven Kwan. St. Louis scratched across a couple runs to shorten the gap, but they never got close to getting back in it.
