It was a tense but rousing week in Yankees universe, New York taking two of three from two of their biggest rivals, with the games often ending in dramatic fashion. It was a fun, nervy time to be a fan, made all the better since the Yankees ultimately gained ground on most of their key foes. With another win in hand on Sunday, let’s see how the rest of the American League fared.
Texas Rangers (74-70) 4, Houston Astros (78-66) 2
The Astros dominated the Rangers Saturday, but couldn’t follow it up Sunday, dropping a key series to Texas.
This one started
as a pitcher’s duel, Patrick Corbin and Framber Valdez trading zeroes. The only run to score in the early going was a bit fluky, Dylan Moore coming home when Jonah Heim struck out swinging but catcher Yainer Diaz dropped the pitch. Moore alertly was running the whole way and scored from second:
Texas led 1-0 into the sixth when Corbin at last faltered. Mauricio Dubón doubled, and Jeremy Peña promptly singled to bring him home and tie the game.
But just as soon as Houston tied things did the Rangers pull away. Valdez pitched into the sixth and seemed in complete control, striking out Ezequiel Duran and Wyatt Langford to start the frame. With two down, the Rangers launched a furious rally; Cody Freeman singled, Josh Jung doubled, and Jake Burger homered, and in the blink of an eye, the Rangers led 4-1:
Houston did not have a rally in their bones, Robert Garcia and Shawn Armstrong working the eighth and ninth innings without allowing a baserunner. The Astros now lead the AL West by 2.5 games ahead of Seattle (four over Texas), while the Rangers stay within 1.5 games of those same M’s for a Wild Card spot.
Chicago White Sox (55-89) 6, Detroit Tigers (82-62) 4
It was not a particularly impressive weekend for the Tigers, who picked up a win on Tarik Skubal’s start on Saturday but dropped the series to the lowly White Sox.
They fell behind quickly on Sunday, Charlie Morton finding himself in a two-on two-out jam in the first. Andrew Benintendi drove home both runs with a double, his 16th in what’s been something resembling a resurgent season for the veteran outfielder.
Detroit did answer immediately, loading the bases with none out in the first against Davis Martin. Then, two days after they scored two runs on one wild pitch, the Tigers scored two runs on one sac fly, White Sox center fielder Brooks Baldwin committing a throwing error that went into the dugout:
Wenceel Pérez followed with his own sac fly, as the Tigers went ahead 3-2 scoring only on outs. Lenyn Sosa tied the game with a solo shot off Morton in the third, his 20th, though again the Tigers had an answer, nudging ahead 4-3 in the bottom of the fourth on, you guessed it, another sac fly, this one from Zach McKinstry.
Detroit nursed that lead late into the game, with Tyler Holton relieving Morton after just three frames, and Troy Melton following Holton (that’s a lot of names ending in ‘on’), Melton pitching into the seventh. He issued a pair of one-out walks before giving way to Tommy Kahnle (Kahnleon?), who surrendered an RBI single to Will Robertson to tie the game:
It was a banner day for Robertson, who had robbed Spencer Torkelson of a homer an inning earlier:
Kahnle stayed in for the eighth and ran into trouble, getting pulled after allowing a single and a walk to put two on with none out. Sosa put the finishing touches on a great game with a two-run single that would prove to be the game-winner:
Chicago’s bullpen did strong work in relief of Martin, four relievers combining to shut out Detroit down the stretch. Mike Vasil worked the ninth for his fourth career save.
Boston Red Sox (79-65) 7, Arizona Diamondbacks (72-72) 4
The Diamondbacks have hung gamely in the NL Wild Card race, and they did the Yankees a big favor in taking the first games of this series. They couldn’t hold a lead in this one though as the Red Sox avoided a sweep.
Brayan Bello was solid for Boston but Arizona was able to nick him here and there to build a lead. Blaze Alexander had an RBI single in the second, Corbin Carroll scored on a wild pitch in the fourth, and Gabriel Moreno doubled home a run in the sixth. That, combined with strong innings of one-run ball from Ryne Nelson, had the D’Backs with a 3-1 lead entering the seventh.
There, Ryan Thompson wasn’t able to maintain the advantage. After a single and a hit-by-pitch, David Hamilton singled one home to slice the deficit in half. Then, with two on and two down, Connor Wong grounded a routine ball to third, but given the chance to end the inning, Jordan Lawlar threw the ball away, allowing two runs to score and gifting the Red Sox a 4-3 lead:
Lawlar made up partially for his error with a game-tying RBI single in the home half, and the game went to the ninth at 4-4, where the Red Sox broke out again. With two on and two down, Nick Sogard came up huge with a two-run double off Taylor Rachi:
Carlos Narváez added an RBI single for a bit more cushion. Aroldis Chapman came on for the ninth and continued his outstanding season, accomplishing the rare feat of striking out four in one inning thanks to a dropped third strike. The Red Sox remain 1.5 games back of the Yankees in playoff race (and 3.5 behind Toronto).
Other Games
Cleveland Guardians (72-70) 2, Tampa Bay Rays (71-72) 1: This was a tight series between two well-matched teams all weekend, and it closed with another one-run game. Drew Rasmussen pitched five shutout for the Rays, and departed with a 1-0 lead, rookie Carson Williams hitting his second career homer in the fourth. But Garrett Cleavinger faltered in the sixth, giving up two runs, one on a José Ramírez RBI triple, and then a go-ahead RBI single to Gabriel Arias. That would prove to be the difference. Parker Messick picked up the win with six innings of one-run ball, while Cleveland’s bullpen did dominant work in relief, Hunter Gaddis, Matt Festa, and Cade Smith combining to strike out six over three shutout innings to close out the contest. Consider Tampa Bay cooled off after their seven-game winning streak, as they’re now back to four behind the M’s in the Wild Card race, with Cleveland passing them at 2.5 behind.
Minnesota Twins (62-80) 5, Kansas City Royals (73-69) 1: The Royals couldn’t close out a series sweep over the moribund Twins, Michael Lorenzen turning in an uneven start while Bailey Ober shoved for Minnesota. Byron Buxton and Kody Clemens each homered off Lorenzen to build an early lead, Buxton’s dinger his 30th of the season. Ober struck out six in 5.1 innings, the only run he allowed an RBI single from Vinnie Pasquantino in the sixth. Kansas City falls to two games back of Seattle in the AL Wild Card race.
Seattle Mariners (75-68) 18, Atlanta Braves (64-79) 2: It was an absolute laugher in Atlanta, the Mariners battering starter Joey Wentz for eight runs in 2.2 innings. Josh Naylor and Jorge Polanco both went deep as Seattle built a 10-0 lead for Luis Castillo, who would earn the win allowing one run over six, striking out six and walking none. The score reached comical status as Seattle put up a seven-spot in the ninth, including Cal Raleigh’s 53rd homer of the year — one shy of Mickey Mantle for the switch-hit record. Eugenio Suárez also went deep in the ninth, off position player Vidal Bruján. Suárez, Raleigh, Polanco, Randy Arozarena, and Julio Rodríguez all finished with three RBIs each on the day.
