Not the most enjoyable Sunday for Yankees fans, huh? Elmer Rodríguez made one glaring mistake in his spot start. Unfortunately, that mistake resulted in a three-run home run. On a weekend when the Bronx Bombers couldn’t buy a hit with runners in scoring position, that was enough to sink the Yanks, losing the game and the series to Cincinnati. Next up, a road trip, beginning in Detroit. Monday is Gerrit Cole Bump Day though. And that’s always fun.
Elsewhere, the rival Blue Jays had their contest with
the Cubs postponed. At the very least the postponement means they avoided Pete Crow-Armstrong, who’s been unstoppable recently. In his last 19 games, PCA is slashing .450/.494/.938 with 10 home runs. Having him go off on the Jays Sunday would have been nice.
Tampa Bay Rays (43-31) 4, Washington Nationals (40-38) 3
After a CJ Abrams home run in the top of the sixth—his third consecutive day with a bomb at the Trop—Washington held a 3-1 lead over the Rays and were in good shape to take the rubber match of this three-set and move to a season-high four games over .500. Unfortunately, as they seemingly always do when you’re not paying close enough attention, the Rays persisted.
First, Ryan Vilade clubbed a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth, moving the Rays within one run. The next inning, Yandy Díaz, leading the Junior Circuit in batting average at .326, singled to put the tying run on and bring the go-ahead run to the plate in the form of Jonny DeLuca. The man once acquired from the Dodgers in the Tyler Glasnow trade didn’t miss his opportunity. A two-run blast staked the Rays to a 4-3 lead with two innings to go.
For the Nats, Daylen Lile singled in the ninth but was promptly erased trying to steal second base with one out. That was the only runner Washington managed in those final two frames and the Rays held on. The win moves Tampa Bay to within two games of the Yankees — though the Rays have played two fewer games on the season (74 to the Yanks’ 76).
Other Games
Cleveland Guardians (41-37) 1, Houston Astros (37-42) 2: It’s late June and the Astros, as putrid as they’ve been for much of the season, are lurking in the dumpster fire that is the American League West. Cleveland might have had a better chance if they’d mustered more than four hits against Kai-Wei Teng, who entered Sunday with a 4.31 ERA. Alas, they didn’t. So Houston turned a 2-1 lead over to its bullpen. Three shutout innings ensued, including a lockdown ninth from closer Josh Hader, recently returned from injury. Offensively, Houston was again led by its best player as Yordan Alvarez uncorked his 25th home run of the season.
Seattle Mariners (40-39) 3, Boston Red Sox (31-44) 1: Speaking of the AL West. Logan Gilbert did yeoman’s work Sunday to ensure the first-place team in the division did not have a below-.500 record. Gilbert tossed 6.1 innings of one-run ball, fanning eight before turning the game over to the Seattle bullpen. Meanwhile, Dominic Canzone did his part at the dish. Canzone opened the scoring with a solo home run in the first before driving in the third Seattle run in the sixth with a groundout. Those two runs were enough, as the Red Sox failed to dent the Seattle pen, though they brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth. Unfortunately for Seattle, Canzone left the game in the sixth running out his RBI groundball with what sure looked like a hamstring issue.
