New York couldn’t start a new winning streak on Wednesday, dropping the middle game of this three-game set to the Astros as the bullpen once again showed its faultlines. Will Warren turned in a perfectly acceptable five innings, but every arm that took the ball after him played a part in Houston scoring eight runs by the end of the night.
As always, the Yankees’ loss is their opponents’ opportunity to take advantage. Let’s see what else went down in the Junior Circuit yesterday.
Toronto Blue Jays (81-59) 13, Cincinnati Reds (70-70) 9
Toronto eeked out a
victory over the Reds on Monday in a low-scoring affair, had a shootout on Tuesday, and then went back to the fireworks on Wedneaday. Cincinnati went ahead 5-0 after the second thanks to two-run hits from former Yankee Jose Trevino and Noelvi Marte, but it was short-lived.
The Blue Jays stormed back thanks to a home run barrage, starting with George Springer’s solo shot in the third to get them on the scoreboard. Daulton Varsho, Alejandro Kirk, Addison Barger, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. all followed suit to tilt the score in favor of Toronto by the fifth inning, and then a pair of sac flies made it 8-5 Jays.
Cincy got one back to claw within two, but Toronto put it to bed with a four-run eighth inning. The Reds got three of those back in the bottom half, only for Vladdy to tack on an insurance RBI double in the ninth.
Cleveland Guardians (69-69) 8, Boston Red Sox (78-63) 1
Fortunately, not all was bad for the Yankees’ scoreboard watching. Cleveland pummeled the Sox, and they did so nice and early.
A bullpen game went awry immediately for Boston, as Stephen Kwan led off with a double and scored on a Jose Ramirez groundout. The second was where the damage came through though: A Gabriel Arias two-run shot started it off, the rally was sustained by a catchers’ interference and a pair of costly errors, and Kwan singled in another set of runs. By the end of it, Cleveland was up 7-0 after two innings.
The Guardians managed to coast their way to victory from there, thanks to Joey Cantillo providing six strong innings. His only trouble came in the fourth, when a trio of singles broke the shutout and threatened for more, but he struck out Connor Wong to end the rally. Cleveland added one late in the eighth via sac fly, but it was hardly necessary.
Detroit Tigers (81-60) 6, New York Mets (75-65) 2
The Tigers and Mets traded early blows, Detroit getting on the board thanks to Jake Rogers’ RBI single in the second while Pete Alonso tied it with an RBI double in the third. Detroit pulled ahead for good though, thanks to Riley Greene knocking in a pair in the fifth inning.
The Mets fought back at first, starting with a rally in the sixth that saw Mark Vientos drive home Juan Soto to cut the deficit in half. Kerry Carpenter saw to it that there would be no comeback though, launching a three-run home run to put the game out of reach in the seventh.
Other Games
Tampa Bay Rays (70-69) 9, Seattle Mariners (73-67) 4: The Mariners continue to fumble their chances at pulling away from the first-out field, dropping this ome to the Rays who are now just 2.5 games behind them. The Rays scored eight runs by the second inning, collecting five-straight hits in the first to plate four and then getting five of their first six batters to reach in the second. Yandy Diaz had himself a night, collecting five hits and scoring once.
Los Angeles Angels (66-73) 4, Kansas City Royals (70- 69) 3: The Royals scored first on a pair of sacrifice moves in the third, laying down a bunt that forced a throwing error and later lifting a sac fly. The Angels were silent until the sixth, when Jo Adell launched a three-run home run to take the lead. The Royals fought back, Adam Frazier lining an RBI double to tie the game in the seventh, but Adell struck again with an RBI single in the eighth to go up for good.
