Thanks to two homers from Paul Goldschmidt and a go-ahead shot from Jasson Domínguez, the Yankees maintained their cushion atop the AL and East Division standings with a 4-2 win on Wednesday night. While the Tigers aren’t the same playoff team that they’ve been the past two years, winning a road series over a team that has some talent is always a good thing.
While the Yankees did their part on Wednesday, were they able to gain any ground? Let’s check in on the action from around the AL races in today’s
Rivalry Roundup.
Tampa Bay Rays (44-33) 5, Kansas City Royals (34-47) 3
The Rays jumped out to a 5-0 lead through four innings and ended up holding on from there, despite the Royals cutting into that and making a run late.
After a scoreless first couple frames, the Rays broke things open in the third. They recorded three hits and a walk in the frame, with a Jonathan Aranda single plating two runs in a three-run inning. Then in the fourth, Tampa Bay picked up two more thanks to RBI hits from Yandy Díaz — who had four hits on the day — and Jonny DeLuca.
On the mound, Griffin Jax started off the game with four shutout innings, but the Royals did get to him in the fifth, albeit with some help. A baffling error by Chandler Simpson in left allowed two runs to score, which ended Jax’s day after five frames.
While the Royals did score one further run in the ninth on a Josh Rojas homer, they didn’t threaten too much besides that. A Tyler Tolbert single ended up being the only other baserunner Kansas City mustered against the Rays’ bullpen. KC’s bullpen did plenty well themselves, but the hole that the Royals dug themselves before that was too much to overcome.
Other Games
- Cleveland Guardians (42-39) 4, Chicago White Sox (41-38) 3 – 10 innings: After blowing a two-run lead in the bottom of the ninth, the Guardians bounced back in the 10th to move back into a tie atop the AL Central. The White Sox had been shutout through six innings, but back-to-back ninth inning homers from Braden Montgomery and Randal Grichuk allowed them to tie things up with their last licks. However, Khalil Watson gave Cleveland the lead back in the 10th, and that time the ChiSox had no answer.
- Pittsburgh Pirates (40-40) 11, Seattle Mariners (41-40) 1: The Mariners continue to not take advantage of a weak AL West, as they got absolutely bulldozed by the Pirates on Wednesday. Pittsburgh starter Braxton Ashcraft struck out 10 batters in six strong innings, while the Pirates’ offense broke the game open in the fourth and added on late. All but two Pirates’ starting position player recorded a hit, while Ryan O’Hearn led the way, going 4-for-5 with three RBI.
- Houston Astros (39-43) 3, Toronto Blue Jays (39-41) 1: After both teams scored in the first inning, the game turned into a Mike Burrows-Trey Yesavage pitchers’ duel. The Astros’ offense eventually struck a couple times late to come away with the game, though. An error on a pick-off attempt by Toronto’s Jeff Hoffman gave Houston the lead, and Jeremy Peña added to it with a RBI single in the ninth. The Blue Jays had no answer from then on, eventually losing the game on a successful walk-off ABS challenge by the Astros.
