The Yankees were one of the first teams in action yesterday, and quickly set about making the Royals one of the first teams out of action. It all turned into the Yanks’ first big blowout of the year, as they smoked KC with four homers in a 13-4 score. Huzzah! The only downside was that rain forced Paul Skenes from the game early in Pittsburgh to help the Rays win a 13-inning marathon, staying a half-game up on New York for first place in the AL East.
Here’s what else was going on among notable teams
around the Junior Circuit.
Detroit Tigers (11-10) 4, Boston Red Sox (8-12) 1
After losing a 1-0 pitchers’ duel in extras on Friday night, the Tigers at least felt confident that they could continue the excellent pitching yesterday since they got to sic Tarik Skubal on the Red Sox. The two-time defending AL Cy Young Award winner didn’t exclusively throw zeroes like All-Star teammate Casey Mize, but he did register his 20th career 10-strikeout game across six innings of one-run ball.
That one run was part of a good escape job too, as he got a double-play ball with the bases loaded and no one out. Isiah Kiner-Falefa then flew out and that was the end of Boston’s best chance to cause damage. The Red Sox did get back-to-back singles to begin the sixth, but Skubal then struck out Willson Contreras and Trevor Story before retiring Wilyer Abreu on a grounder to end his day.
The Tigers’ hitters missed out on opportunities against Brayan Bello too, but they converted enough to carry the day. Bello loaded the bases in the first on singles by Kevin McGonigle and Colt Keith as well as a walk to Riley Greene, and then threw four wide ones to Kerry Carpenter for the game’s first run.
Carpenter struck again in the fourth, this time in more emphatic fashion.
A Wenceel Pérez walk and a Javy Báez double followed, and both runners came around to score on a Jake Rogers sac fly and an RBI knock from McGonigle. Detroit was up 4-0 and never looked back. The Boston bullpen shut them down upon Bello’s departure in the fifth, but they squandered their chances and their old friend Kenley Jansen converted the save in the ninth — the 481st of his career, third all-time for those who recall him recently passing Lee Smith.
Houston Astros (8-14) 5, St. Louis Cardinals (12-8) 7
The Yankees’ biggest nemesis of the 2015–25 decade might be punted to “Other Games” in short order. It’s getting late early out there in Houston. Lance McCullers Jr. made a mess of things from the word “go,” plunking the first two batters of the day and walking Jordan Walker with one out to set the stage for Nolan Gorman. The DH lined one into right, plating a couple runs.
The Cardinals shook off a solo homer by Jose Altuve and countered with a dinger of their own in the third. Gorman had singled in the previous at-bat, so Houston-area native Masyn Winn’s first long ball of 2026 was a two-run shot to make it 4-1, St. Louis.
Blasts from Burleson and José Fermín gradually added to the Cardinals’ lead. They needed the padding because Houston almost made a furious comeback in the ninth, as a clout from Shay Whitcomb changed it from 7-2 to 7-5 in the blink of an eye.
Closer Riley O’Brien had to enter to restore sanity, and he did, inducing a grounder from Altuve and fanning Alvarez to polish off the win. Houston is now 3-12 since sweeping the Red Sox in the second series of the year. Two of those wins were against the Rockies.* Yeah.
*Okay fine, Saturday was not the best day for a Rockies drive-by, as they actually beat the Dodgers, 4-3. Good for them!
Seattle Mariners (9-13) 7, Texas Rangers (11-10) 3
The Astros’ saving grace might be that the actual AL West favorites are right there with them near the cellar. The .500 Angels are in third, and the Rangers and A’s are tied for the lead at a not-so-mighty 11-10. Go Sactown, I guess.
The Mariners at least avoided a share of last place by knocking the Rangers down a peg after getting blanked in the series opener on Friday. Although starter George Kirby was not particularly efficient, big-league veterans would’ve appreciated the way he grinded through 5.2 innings of one-run ball. A Josh Jung homer was the only damage despite six other hits—including a comebacker from Jung that struck his tuchus—and two walks.
That was enough for a win in the box score for Kirby, as the M’s offense came to play against a struggling Nathan Eovaldi. Julio Rodríguez’s RBI knock plated J.P. Crawford to make it 1-0, Seattle, three batters into the ballgame. Dominic Canzone drove in two with his own ribbie single in the fourth and Luke Raley had a quick counterpunch to Jung’s homer with a majestic solo shot.
By the bottom of the eighth, the lead was 7-1. Like with St. Louis, however, Seattle needed to smash the ol’ “break closer glass in case of emergency” shield because Cole Wilcox was not up to the task. Andrés Muñoz entered with two outs in the ninth and Brandon Nimmo the tying run at the plate with the bases jacked.
Strike one, strike two, foul ball, strike three swinging. Easy save for the two-time All-Star anyway, who got 38 last year.
Toronto Blue Jays (7-13) 2, Arizona Diamondbacks (12-8) 6
Let the Phoenix crowd—and a resigned Jeff Hoffman—tell you what happened.
The Jays’ status as defending AL champions gives them a longer leash than Houston in this upper area of Rivalry Roundup, but boy, are they testing it. A slew of injuries and regression has them behind the Astros and leading only the Royals, White Sox, and Mets* for baseball’s worst record. Woof.
*Ten-game losing streak for the Amazins now, by the way. Now that’s a Woof. Bad scene all around.
Max Scherzer gave Toronto a chance to win against the team that drafted him way back when some of their current players were toddlers at best. It was a needed return to normalcy for Mad Max, who left before the third in each of his previous two starts but stayed in for six innings on Saturday. Although the D-backs got two runs on a Geraldo Perdomo single and an Alek Thomas double, they registered just three hits otherwise against him. The slumping Kazuma Okamoto got off the mat for an RBI single in the sixth to get Scherzer off the hook for the loss and drive Zac Gallen from the game in a 2-2 tie.
From that point on, however, Toronto could only muster a few bases-empty singles. Arizona suffered no such issues. Hoffman’s nightmare beginning to 2026 continued, setting this one on fire with 13 pitches before recording an out. Thomas and Ildemaro Vargas led off the eighth with singles, Ketel Marte reached on a walk, and Corbin Carroll had liftoff:
Hoffman’s season ERA sits at 7.71 across 10 games.
Other Games
Cleveland Guardians (12-10) 4, Baltimore Orioles (10-11) 2: Skubal and Paul Skenes both pitched today, and so did MLB’s current strikeout leader. Yes, it’s surprisingly Gavin Williams leading the pack as the Guardians’ 26-year-old starter is really putting it together thus far following an encouraging 2025. He fanned 11 Orioles on Saturday to move to 40 on the season, his lone mistake a Leody Taveras solo shot. The O’s actually only gave up three hits, but one was a three-run blast by Bryan Rocchio against Dean Kremer and the other was an insurance-run solo shot by Bo Naylor off Albert Suárez. Cleveland reliever Hunter Gaddis coughed up a homer to Gunnar Henderson as well, but much to the Ghost of Earl Weaver’s chagrin, the three-run homer beat Baltimore. Cade Smith struck out the side to end it.
