Poor Baltimore. The only AL East team to lose Sunday and it was in no small part because they were playing a divisional foe. The rest of the division, led of course by Cam Schlittler’s gem for the Yankees, all put notches in the win column.
Meanwhile, the rest of the AL continues to gravitate to the mushy middle. With the White Sox’s loss Sunday, they drop a mere three games above .500 leading the AL Central. The Astros, despite getting swept this weekend in Tampa, hold down the top spot in the West
with a perfectly cromulent .500 record.
Tampa Bay Rays (90-59) 14, Houston Astros (75-75) 4
Sigh. The Houston Astros can’t do anything right. After losing Friday and Saturday to Tampa in nail biters, Houston evidently decided to take the suspense out of it and let the Rays put two touchdowns on them in honor of opening Sunday of NFL season. Tampa attacked early and often, scoring in four of the first five frames, giving themselves an 11-0 lead before the Astros got off the schneid.
It was a very balanced attack from the Rays Sunday as well. Every starter either scored or drove in a run, with six of the nine ending the day with at least one ribbie and eight of nine stepping on home plate at least once. Former Yankee farmhand Hayden Wesneski was on the receiving end of the onslaught, giving up seven runs (four unearned thanks to an error) in just three innings of work.
Other Games
Boston Red Sox (82-68) 4, Kansas City Royals (66-84) 1: It’s a good thing the AL East is representing these days, because the rest of the Junior Circuit… woof. The Red Sox sit third in the division, 14 games over .500. Only two AL teams outside the East are above .500 at all. Sunday, Roman Anthony broke a 1-1 tie with a single in the seventh. Trevor Story provided the insurance in the eighth with a two-run single of his own and Boston held on to take down an AL also-ran.
Chicago White Sox (76-73) 1, St. Louis Cardinals (74-76) 3: Imagine getting called up from Triple-A, taking a perfect game into the sixth, and… losing. Such was David Sandlin’s fate for Chicago today. Sandlin was perfect through 5.1 innings. Then, a pair of singles and an error loaded the bases for Alec Burleson. His 36th double of the season cleared them all and gave the Cards a lead they never surrendered.
Cleveland Guardians (76-74) 9, Minnesota Twins (70-79) 2: And while Chicago was losing, Cleveland was notching a win to move within half a game in the AL Central. Power powered the Guardians for a change, as they clubbed three dingers Sunday. And in a small miracle, Tanner Bibee was on the hill for a win for a change. Sunday’s outing gives him six to go with his 15 losses.
Toronto Blue Jays (75-75) 8, Baltimore Orioles (72-78) 1: Canada’s long national nightmare has ended. The $500 million man, Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. has finally homered this season at home. Incredibly, it took 149+ games for the franchise player to put one in the seats in Toronto. Also of note, Dylan Cease put together another solid start as he continues to at least make the AL Cy Young Award race a conversation.
Texas Rangers (74-76) 7, Arizona Diamondbacks (79-71) 6: The Rangers took advantage of Houston’s loss Sunday. They scored five runs in the middle innings, just enough for the win, as Arizona scored twice in the ninth to get within one and brought the winning run to the plate. Corey Seager led the way for Texas, launching a majestic 458-foot bomb.
