The Yankees took a beating on Tuesday from one of the regularly featured teams in this series, the Tigers. While the ten-run loss obviously leaves little to fondly look back on, there was plenty of other action around the league, with important games being played all over. Here’s a quick look at the American League’s action on Tuesday.
Toronto Blue Jays (83-61) 4, Houston Astros (78-67) 3
An important one between two of the Yankees’ primary rivals went right down to the wire on Tuesday. After not holding a lead through nine full innings, the Blue Jays
ultimately walked it off against the Astros, gaining some ground while the Yankees got pummeled.
The Astros took a quick lead against Shane Bieber and the Jays, thanks to Carlos Correa’s two-run blast in the first inning. His 12th long ball on the season was the only blemish in the run column for much of the early part of this game. Bieber settled in, and while Luis Garcia was effective, he left the game after 1.2 innings with elbow discomfort (his velocity was also notably down during the start). Nonetheless, the Houston ‘pen picked up the slack.
Houston would strike again in the sixth on a Yainer Diaz double that pushed them ahead 3-0. George Springer homered in the bottom half, but the Astros remained on top until the Jays were up for their last licks in the ninth inning.
In that ninth inning, a pair of walks and a single suddenly had the bases loaded against Bryan Abreu. The Blue Jays erased their two-run deficit in a flash, when Isiah Kiner-Falefa lined a single into left, squaring this game up at three.
The Jays were unable to scratch across any more, and this game was headed for extras. Jeff Hoffman did his job in keeping the Astros off the board in the tenth, setting the stage for Toronto in the bottom of the ninth. After a single from Vlad Guerrero Jr. moved the bonus runner to third base, a sharply hit grounder in the infield from Tyler Heineman sent the runner home, and sent Jays fans home happy. The comeback win puts the Jays up three games in the East.
Boston Red Sox (80-65) 6, Athletics (66-79) 0
23-year-old Connelly Early was the star of the show for the Red Sox on Tuesday. While they coasted to an easy shutout victory, Early cruised through five scoreless innings, racking up an impressive 11 strikeouts against the Athletics. Not too shabby for a Major League debut.
On the offensive side, things went nearly just as smooth for the Red Sox in this one. Romy Gonzalez and Rob Refsnyder each homered in the first inning to put Boston up 4-0 early on. Gonzalez pitched in once more to help get the Sox up 6-0, before actually leaving the game early with an injury.
With their win and the Yankees loss, the two storied rivals are knotted up at the second place position in the American League East.
Other Games
Cleveland Guardians (74-70) 2, Kansas City Royals (73-72) 0: The Guardians staff kept Kansas City scoreless throughout Tuesday’s game. Joey Cantillo was terrific through eight shutout frames, while a José Ramírez homer and a double from David Fry gave Cleveland all the offense they would need. The Guards are suddenly just two games out of a Wild Card spot.
Tampa Bay Rays (72-72) 5, Chicago White Sox (55-90) 4: The Rays return to .500 with their win against the lowly White Sox. They took an early lead thanks to a three-run second inning, fueled by a Josh Lowe homer, but fell back as the Sox tied things up going into the later stages of this one. The big blow came from Tristan Gray, who pummeled a go-ahead homer for the Rays that was ultimately the game-winner.
Texas Rangers (76-70) 5, Milwaukee Brewers (89-57) 4: The Brew Crew will have to wait on celebrating their 90th win of the season. A four-run fifth inning, which featured a two-run shot from Michael Helman, and run-scoring extra-base hits from Wyatt Langford and Kyle Higashioka paved the way for Texas, as they now sit just one game out of a postseason berth.
Seattle Mariners (77-68) 5, St. Louis Cardinals (72-74) 3: The Mariners took home a vital win against the Cards. Randy Arozarena’s three-run homer in the third, as well as the solo shot from Josh Naylor in the following inning did the job for Seattle, as they cling on to the final AL Wild Card spot.
