Things have not always been pretty for the Yankees of late, but they will go into the All-Star break on a good note. Capping it off on Sunday, the Yankees had a trio of comeback wins over the weekend during their series in DC against the Nationals. There’s still plenty of things they need to do better and have go their way over the rest of the season, but they at least came away with a couple of wins to end the first half.
As that was going on, there were plenty of other games happening around the league,
with some also having an impact on the Yankees’ place in the standings. Let’s take a look at how some other AL notables ended their first halves.
Seattle Mariners (48-49) 8, Tampa Bay Rays (58-38) 2
The Yankees managed to gain one full game back before the All-Star break, as three RBI games from J.P. Crawford and Randy Arozarena allowed the Mariners to down the Rays.
Seattle broke things open fairly early into the game. In the second inning, Victor Robles drove home one run on a sacrifice fly before Crawford scored another two with an RBI double. However, they put up an even bigger frame shortly after that. In the fourth, Weston Wilson and Arozarena both went deep, with the latter being a three-run shot.
One big negative for Seattle came when starting pitcher Emerson Hancock was forced to leave the game after 1.2 innings, having gotten hit on the hand by a comebacker. (X-rays later came back negative.) However, the M’s bullpen backed him up very well. Tampa Bay did get two runs back in the eighth thanks to a Jonathan Aranda homer, but it wasn’t nearly enough. Seattle’s bullpen allowed just four hits over the final 7.1 innings to finish things off.
Other Games
- Texas Rangers (49-47) 6, Houston Astros (47-51) 5: Having blown a lead and needing to rally in the eighth, the Rangers then walked it off in the ninth on a Brandon Nimmo single. Texas held leads of 3-0 and 4-1, only for the Astros to chip away and then take a lead on a Cam Smith homer in the top of the eighth. However, Kyle Highashioka hit one to tie the game in the bottom of the inning, allowing Texas to walk away with the win in the following frame.
- Chicago White Sox (50-45) 9, Athletics (41-55) 1: The White Sox’s remarkable rise will see them go into the All-Star break tied atop the AL Central after crushing the A’s. Despite going down 1-0 in the top of the first, the White Sox struck with six in the bottom half of the frame, with Braden Montgomery hitting a three-run home run. It wasn’t much of a contest after that, as Noah Schultz and Chicago’s bullpen didn’t allow a run the rest of the after the first inning.
- Cleveland Guardians (51-46) 5, Miami Marlins (52-45) 2: The White Sox weren’t able to take first all for themselves, though, as the Guardians kept pace on Sunday. Cleveland never trailed in the game as they scored two runs in the top of the first after RBI hits from Brayan Rocchio and Kyle Manzardo. Joey Cantillo was pretty good on the mound for the Guardians, striking out nine while allowing one run in five innings. The Marlins cut into Cleveland’s lead at points, but the Guardians answered back to keep Miami at arm’s length.
