It got a little weird at times, but the Yankees had control for the vast majority of last night’s game in Anaheim, a welcome return to normalcy after an ugly 10-1 blowout loss on Monday. Homers by Spencer Jones and Jazz Chisholm Jr. got them off on the right foot, and while stranded baserunners and a shaky sixth from Gerrit Cole allowed the Angels to stay in the ballgame, the Bombers pulled away late with some key insurance runs. They thus regained the game they lost on Boston yesterday (they’re
now four games ahead of the Red Sox), and remained 4.5 back of Tampa Bay.
Here’s what else was going on around the American League on Tuesday night.
Tampa Bay Rays (83-55) 6, New York Mets (62-77) 2
The Mets might have scored a surprising victory at the Trop on Monday, but for those who have been exposed to more than their fair share of the Mets over the years, the Tuesday night showdown against old friend Freddy Peralta went exactly as expected. The one-time Brewers ace was traded from Queens a month ago when that experiment went sour, and given the opportunity, he of course spun six innings of three-hit ball while fanning seven, getting burned on a Francisco Lindor leadoff homer but really nothing else.
Meanwhile, the Rays got to Sean Manaea via the ol’ “death by a thousand paper cuts” approach. They sprayed 11 hits on him in 5.2 innings, getting their first couple runs on RBI knocks from Junior Caminero and Ryan Vilade before breaking it open a bit with three in the sixth. Nick Fortes doubled down the left-field line to plate Chandler Simpson, Fortes scored on a sacrifice fly, and Yandy Díaz swatted a 396-foot homer to make it a 5-1 game.
Despite the deficit, the Mets did have a chance to get back into this game. Garrett Cleavinger walked the bases loaded with one out in the seventh, bringing Mark Vientos to the plate as the tying run. Kevin Cash called upon Tyler Wells, who got Vientos to foul out before walking Lindor to bring home one of the runners. The moment was there for Juan Soto … and he popped up.
Alas. The Mets never got another man on base, the Rays tacked on an insurance run, and that was that.
Other Games
Boston Red Sox (75-64) 6, Seattle Mariners (65-74) 9: Amid an 8-15 tailspin that may have finally put the nail in the coffin for their 2026 season, the Mariners began September on a better note. They’re gonna need more than a few Hail Marys to save themselves, but they at least had the decency to snap their skid against Boston rather than waiting until they left town. The M’s treated September call-up Jedixson Paez like a minor leaguer in his Red Sox debut, blasting him for eight runs on 10 hits in 3.2 innings, with Dominic Canzone and the red-hot Randy Arozarena both going yard. Paez’s fellow rookie Lazaro Montes broke into the bigs in style with an RBI single off Paez in the third for his first career hit; he later took Wyatt Olds deep to check off his first career homer as well.
Bryan Woo tossed six solid innings with one earned run allowed, but because the 2026 Mariners are the 2026 Mariners, not even wins with nine runs scored come easy. Seattle led 9-1 entering the sixth, when Boston plated an unearned run with the help of an error by third baseman Brock Rodden. Eli White hit a two-run double a couple innings later and Yankees legend Jahmai Jones clobbered a two-run shot to make it a 9-6 ballgame in the ninth. So Seattle brought in Andrés Muñoz to slam the door, and he did the job for the final two outs.
Chicago White Sox (73-65) 5, Houston Astros (70-69) 1: The White Sox held serve on their three-game lead over the Guardians in AL Central by punching back after the Astros took the Monday opener. Ronel Blanco was effective in four scoreless innings for Houston, but 88 pitches forced him from the game early. The door was open for the Pale Hose to do damage against Kai-Wei Teng and Tatsuya Imai, and they obliged, with both Colson Montgomery and Randal Grichuk delivering two-run doubles. Sean Burke delivered 5.1 innings of one-hit shutout ball to lead the way for the White Sox on the mound.
AL Wild Card Rock Fight
Texas Rangers (69-70) 8, The Athletics (53-86) 5: Houston’s loss allowed the under-.500 Rangers to trim the Astros’ AL West lead back down to one game. Texas has been fortunate to draw the hapless A’s this week at home, and they’ve done what they’ve needed to do. The 8-5 final score belies the fact that Texas led this 8-1 through six thanks in great part in a 4-for-5, five-RBI night from Brandon Nimmo, and three of the A’s runs were scored off former Nationals righty Trevor Williams, who was only signed that day.
Baltimore Orioles (69-70) 2, Colorado Rockies (52-86) 4: It took the O’s just over four months to finally get back to .500 on Monday night with a miraculous catch by Colton Cowser to clinch it. Now they’re right back under after stumbling at Coors. A Jackson Holliday homer in his dad’s old stomping grounds tied it up at 2-2 in the seventh, but Baby Bomber alum T.J. Rumfield struck the decisive blow on a two-run homer after the stretch. The O’s had been just a half-game behind Cleveland for the Wild Card, but now they’re a game and a half back.
Cleveland Guardians (70-68) 6, Toronto Blue Jays (68-71) 1: The Jays entered a three-game set in Cleveland hoping to cut into the Guardians’ lead for the last Wild Card spot and instead took a step back (to 2.5 games behind). Gavin Williams dominated the opener, fanning 13 and allowing just two hits and an unearned run across seven brilliant innings. Patrick Bailey, Angel Genao, and Angel Martínez each hit two-run homers for the Guardians as they turned a 1-0 deficit in the fifth into a 6-1 final.
![Mets can’t figure out [checks notes] Freddy Peralta?](https://glance-mob.glance-cdn.com/public/cardpress/binge-magazine-card-generation/spaces/US/en/sb-nation/images/ppid_2cf3d240-image-17883118528817115.webp)
