After making the trip across Chicago, the Yankees opened their series on the North Side with a win over the Cubs on Friday afternoon. Led by a good outing from Will Warren, the Yankees got homers from Amed Rosario and Spencer Jones, and that proved to be enough for a victory.
Thanks to the win, the Yankees broke their little two-game losing streak, and had a chance to gain some ground back in their various playoff races. Did they, though? Let’s check in on what happened around the AL in today’s Rivalry
Roundup.
Chicago White Sox (58-51) 6, Tampa Bay Rays (64-45) 1
While the White Sox took a pair of games off the Yankees earlier this week, they did give them a bit of a hand on Friday night. The Yankees were able pick up a full game in the AL East, as an early onslaught by the White Sox allowed them to pull away from and beat the Rays. Tampa Bay now leads by 2.5 games.
Chicago never trailed in this game, as they took a led in the top of the first on a Miguel Vargas home run. Andrew Benintendi added another in the second, while Munetaka Murakami hit his 24th of the year, a two-run shot in the third to really open up a lead.
Junior Caminero got Tampa Bay on the board with a home run of his own—one of the longest you’ll ever see at the Trop, sailing 453 feet hitting the “D” ring of the catwalk—but the Rays managed just five hits in total for the game, and Chicago ended up tacking another couple runs on later with Colson Montgomery obliterating one of his own. Erick Fedde scattered just the one run on four hits over five innings, and his bullpen blanked the Rays the rest of the way. His Pale Hose pace the AL Central by three games.
Other Games
- Boston Red Sox (58-51) 9, Los Angeles Dodgers (69-41) 4: While the Dodgers held a lead after putting up a three spot in the fifth on Ranger Suarez, the Red Sox stayed hot and stormed back to come away with the win. Ceddanne Rafaela homered to give Boston the lead back, and they tacked on another couple runs, putting up four in the seventh, giving them the lead for good. The Red Sox finished July at a staggering 21-4; one can only hope that August cools them down.
- Arizona Diamondbacks (58-52), Cleveland Guardians (56-55) 1: The White Sox did the Yankees a favor in helping them pick up a full game in the standings, and they were rewarded by picking up a full one themselves. The Guardians scored in the first inning and held the lead for most of this game, but Arizona put up a four-spot in the eighth to steal the advantage and the win. Cleveland was five outs away from a victory, but six straight D-backs hitters reached base, with a Gabriel Moreno two-run single giving them the lead for good.
- Houston Astros (56-55) 11, Texas Rangers (55-55) 2: Our long national nightmare has returned: the Astros are in first place in the AL West. They’re only a win over .500, but that’s all they need right now in a wretched AL West. Led by a Yordan Alvarez two-run single, Houston scored three runs in the second inning and continued to pour it on from there. On the mound, Hunter Brown did end up allowing a couple innings, but he struck out five in 5.2 innings and mostly kept Texas at bat as the Astros pulled away, slugging three home runs on the day.
- Minnesota Twins (56-55) 5, Seattle Mariners (53-58) 3: After the Mariners led for much of the game, a two-run seventh inning by the Twins flipped things in their favor. Seattle held 2-0 and 3-2 leads after the first and second innings respectively and got a solid enough outing by starter Bryce Miller. However, Minnesota jumped ahead for the first time with on a Luke Keaschall double in the seventh and held on from there. The M’s continue to fade as the season heats up while the buying Twins are actually tied with the Guardians for both second place in the AL Central and the final Wild Card spot, half a game up on Texas and 1.5 ahead of Baltimore.
