The Yankees kicked off the Subway Series with a win, scoring six on the Mets and managing to hold on despite the anomaly that was Paul Blackburn and Brent Headrick both struggling on the same night. David Bednar came in for the five-out save and got the job done, escaping a bases-loaded jam in the eighth before getting a game-ending double-play out of Juan Soto in the ninth. While they were handling business in the Bronx, they were also scoreboard watching with several key games going on simultaneously
— so let’s see what the result of those out of town scores were.
Tampa Bay Rays (88-59) 3, Houston Astros (75-73) 1
The Rays looked like they could’ve slipped up and lost this game ceding some ground to New York, but they came around to walk it off instead. Houston had their chances against Drew Rasmussen, scattering eight hits against the Rays’ ace, but the only run they managed to score came in the fourth inning when Isaac Paredes doubled with one out and Daulton Varsho singled to put runners on the corners. Yainer Diaz hit a ball hard to second base, and while Ritchie Palacios made a fantastic play on the ball flipping it to the shortstop quickly enough for the force out keeping the potential double play alive, Diaz managed to beat the throw letting the run count. However, several other innings were cut short by double plays that did get converted, and the Rays tied the game back up in the fifth when Victor Mesa Jr. launched a home run to lead off the inning.
Things stayed quiet until the bottom of the ninth, when the Rays got the winning run aboard on an Aranda double before Junior Caminero stepped up to the plate. Bryan Abreu chose to start him off with a fastball up in the zone and Caminero made him pay, ripping a walk-off two-run shot to left.
The win not only kept the Rays three games ahead of the Yankees in the standings, but it clinched a playoff spot for Tampa Bay — the first team to secure a spot in the 2026 Postseason. The Brewers would join them a little later in the night with a blowout win on their part, but the Rays are, for now, the only American League team holding a ticket to the dance.
Other Games
Boston Red Sox (80-68) 2, Kansas City Royals (66-82) 3: The Yankees did gain some ground on Friday, as the Red Sox fell behind early to Kansas City and couldn’t dig themselves out of the hole. Carter Jensen led off the game against Sonny Gray with a double and later scored on a Salvador Perez single to left, and then the Royals added to their lead in the third as Isaac Collins and Jensen hit back-to-back doubles followed by a Vinnie Pasquantino RBI single. Mickey Gasper got Boston on the scoreboard in the fifth with a solo shot, and after Adley Rutschman walked Wilyer Abreu doubled him in to cut the lead to 3-2. The Sox struck out from there though, and Boston would get just one hit the rest of the way stranding a Trevor Story double in the eighth.
Chicago White Sox (75-72) 3, St. Louis Cardinals (73-75) 7: The White Sox are squandering their advantage in the Central, losing their fourth straight game. The Cardinals scored a run in each of the first three innings, but they delivered the knockout punch in the fifth as Jordan Walker, Alec Burleson, Joshua Báez, and Leo Bernal chained consecutive hits to drive in three runs. The Cardinal bullpen dealt with some traffic on the basepaths but managed to limit Chicago to just one run in the final 4.2 innings. Chase Meidroth showed up for the Southsiders, launching two home runs to briefly keep them within arm’s reach of St. Louis.
AL Wild Card Rock Fight
Cleveland Guardians (75-73) 5, Minnesota Twins (69-78) 2: Chicago’s faltering opens the door for Cleveland, who moved to within a half-game of first place after taking this one against the Twins. The game was tied at two in the ninth when a wild pitch and a two-run double from Brayan Rocchio put them up three in a heartbeat. Cade Smith entered looking for the save and got the job done quickly with a double-play ball to erase a one-out single from Trevor Larnach.
Toronto Blue Jays (73-75) 4, Baltimore Orioles (72-76) 7: The O’s jumped out to a 6-0 lead in this game, scoring five in the second inning with two-run hits from Colton Cowser and Dylan Beavers leading the procession. Toronto had a rally in them in the ninth, scoring two runs on a Brett Bateman homer before George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit singles to bring the tying run to the plate. Unfortunately for Toronto this all came with two outs, and when Baltimore went back to their ‘pen summoning Rico Garcia to pitch he managed to get Alejandro Kirk to ground out to end it.
Texas Rangers (72-76) 1, Arizona Diamondbacks (79-69) 9: Two innings were all Arizona needed to put up a nine-spot on Texas in a rematch of the 2023 World Series. A trio of doubles in the fifth led to four runs scoring for the Diamondbacks, followed by Corbin Carroll and Nolan Arenado launching back-to-back homers in the sixth to drive the dagger home. Justin Martinez had the highlight of the night for the pitching staff, tossing an immaculate inning in the top of the sixth shutting the door on any potential response from Texas after Arizona took the lead.
