The Yankees have a good start to their road trip building, taking the first two games in Philadelphia thanks to some solid pitching performances and just enough offense to get by. This time it was Ryan Weathers’ turn to keep the ball rolling and he did just that, tossing 5.2 innings with just a lone run on his record while striking out seven. Austin Wells and Jasson Domínguez, two of the more maligned bats in the lineup, contributed solo homers to take the lead for good and the back of the bullpen
continued their dominant run shutting the door down on any potential comeback. There was a full slate of competition going on around them, so lets see if the Yankees managed to gain any ground.
Tampa Bay Rays (61-43) 3, Cleveland Guardians (54-52) 0
Tampa Bay threatened early and often against Tanner Bibee, but it took until the fifth inning before they got on the scoreboard. The offense collected a hit in every single inning that the Guardians’ starter was in, getting leadoff singles in the first and second that went nowhere as well as loading the bases with two outs in the fourth inning. Each time, Bibee managed to worm his way out of damage, but in the fifth Yandy Díaz lined a one-out double to center and moved to third on a single from Jonathan Aranda. Junior Caminero stepped up and ripped a double out to right, scoring Díaz to plate the first run of the game. The second came right behind it when Cedric Mullins lifted a sac fly, and in the sixth inning the Rays manufactured a third on a walk, single, and a sacrifice bunt.
On the other side, Nick Martinez was efficient in shutting down Cleveland’s chances. Steven Kwan led off the game with a single but got erased on a double play, and Gabriel Arias ended up stranded after he led off the third in similar fashion. Nobody made it to second base against Martinez in his six innings of work, and when he handed the ball over to the bullpen not much changed. Cole Sulser, Garrett Cleavinger, and Bryan Baker held down an inning each and prevented a rally from forming.
Other Games
Boston Red Sox (53-50) 0, Toronto Blue Jays (48-57) 6: Credit where credit is due, Dylan Cease isn’t fading behind in the Cy Young race at all. A day after Cam Schlittler tossed seven brilliant innings, Toronto’s ace went out and pitched a one-hitter against the surging Sox, allowing just an Andruw Monasterio double to lead off the sixth inning alongside a trio of walks scattered throughout his complete-game shutout. He struck out 12 batters along the way, utterly dominating Boston’s lineup (who are getting an upgrade after acquiring Curtis Mead yesterday, but he wouldn’t have made a difference in this one).
The Blue Jays backup up Cease with an explosive third inning, scoring five of their six runs. Sonny Gray got the first two outs in quick succession, but Nathan Lukes kept the frame alive with a double out to right before Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled him home. Kazuma Okamoto kept the line moving with a single kept within the infield, and then George Springer delivered the big blow — a three-run homer over the Monster to make it 4-0 in a hurry. Daulton Varsho singled and Ernie Clement doubled him in to cap off the rally, and though Boston’s offense would slumber until the ninth inning when they scratched across one more run they hardly needed it.
Texas Rangers (53-51) 7, Seattle Mariners (51-54) 1: Nathan Eovaldi’s had one of his rougher seasons in a while, but he looked vintage in this outing as he tossed seven innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts to his name. Only an RBI double from J.P. Crawford in the fifth did any harm to him, and by then his offense had already staked him a five-run lead after scoring three in the first with a pair of doubles and an Ezequiel Duran triple followed by two more in the second off a Wyatt Langford double and Duran single. Texas tacked on two more in the seventh when Alejandro Osuna doubled in a pair of runs, but the insurance wasn’t needed with how Eovaldi was dealing.
Chicago White Sox (54-49) 1, Houston Astros (52-54) 4: Sean Burke pitched phenomenally for the Pale Hose through five innings of this game, collecting eight of his 10 strikeouts while scattering a pair of hits. Unfortunately for him, the sixth inning would undo all his hard work, as he led off the frame by hitting Cam Smith and allowed a single to Jeremy Peña before walking the dangerous Yordan Alvarez to load the bases with no outs. Isaac Paredes singled out to right field, and what should’ve been a simple hit turned into a bases-clearing one when Braden Montgomery couldn’t get his glove under the ball and allowed it to roll to the warning track. Hunter Brown was similarly on point for Houston and didn’t have an inning get away from him, going seven strong to secure the win.
