The Yankees’ offense was up to its old tricks on Friday, mustering a mere solo shot by Paul Goldschmidt and three hits in total against the middling Patrick Sandoval and the Red Sox bullpen. They even had extra chances granted due to four walks, but still never came up with the big hit when runners were on. Thankfully, the superior part of the New York operation stood up, with Cam Schlittler firing 5.2 scoreless while Brent Headrick, Paul Blackburn, and David Bednar handled the rest. Cody Bellinger’s
pivotal outfield assist to throw Ceddanne Rafaela out at the plate as the potential tying was the play of the game, and the Yankees won, 1-0. Now they must play two and ideally come up with more support for Carlos Rodón and Max Fried.
There was plenty of notable Junior Circuit activity on Friday night, so let’s get into it!
Tampa Bay Rays (80-54) 9, San Diego Padres (72-63) 4
Casey Mize has not had the best time since joining the Padres at the Trade Deadline, though tonight five of the seven runs scored against him were unearned in a sloppy fourth inning. After Yandy Díaz opened the scoring with a solo shot in the third, the Dads committed a pair of errors after Junior Caminero was hit by a pitch and Jonny DeLuca drew a walk, resulting in a run scoring and the bases loaded with one out. A wild pitch plated another, followed by a Jorge Mateo sac fly, and consecutive RBI singles by Taylor Walls and Díaz.
San Diego scored two each in the fifth and sixth to cut into that lead, Jackson Merrill crushing a two-run bomb in the sixth. However, the Rays kept the pressure on scoring one each in the fifth, sixth, and seventh. DeLuca added an RBI single in the fifth, Caminero an RBI single in the sixth, and Mullins a solo shot in the seventh to make sure the Padres always remained at arm’s length. The Rays become the first team in the AL to reach 80 wins (the Brewers, Dodgers, and Braves already got there in the NL), and maintain their four-game lead over the Yankees in the East.
Other Games
Chicago White Sox (71-63) 7, Minnesota Twins (64-71) 4
The promotion of top prospect Walker Jenkins wasn’t enough to lift the Twins over their AL Central rivals. There was a flurry of scoring early, Chicago plating four with two outs in the first on three straight singles by Miguel Vargas, Andrew Benintendi, and Braden Montgomery, capped off by a Colson Montgomery three-run bomb. The Twins responded with three of their own in the bottom half on a two-run homer by Brooks Lee and a solo shot by Kody Clemens before tying the game in the second on an RBI single from Lee after Trevor Larnach led off with a double.
Only the White Sox kept their foot on the accelerator. Benintendi added an RBI double in the third before a passed ball allowed another run to score in the fourth and a wild pitch the final run in the eighth. With the win, the White Sox extend their surprise lead atop the Central to three and a half games over Cleveland.
AL Wild Card Rock Fight
Toronto Blue Jays (66-70) 8, Seattle Mariners (64-71) 1
Both AL Cy Young frontrunners pitched on Friday and Dylan Cease matched Cam Schlittler stride for stride, allowing a run on four hits and a walk with eight strikeouts in six innings. George Springer went 4-for-4 with a home run and three runs scored. Kazuma Okamoto went 2-for-3 with a homer and three RBIs while Nathan Lukes also left the yard. Dominic Canzone’s solo shot in the first was the Mariners’ only run.
Houston Astros (68-67) 3, New York Mets (60-75) 1
Hunter Brown pitched his best start of the year, allowing a run on five hits and a walk while striking out 10 in 6.2 innings. The Astros scored all their runs in the sixth, Yordan Alvarez, Isaac Paredes, and Jose Altuce drawing three straight walks before Daulton Varsho and Yainer Diaz cleared the bases with a pair of singles. This was after Carson Benge gave the Mets the lead with an RBI double the inning prior. Houston is two games ahead of Texas in the AL West, plus four up on fading Seattle.
Kansas City Royals (61-75) 3, Cleveland Guardians (68-67) 0
Michael Wacha was simply untouchable, twirling eight scoreless innings allowing four hits an no walks while striking out 10. Salvador Perez opened the scoring in the fifth with an RBI groundout. Carter Jensen gave the Royals some late insurance with a two-run blast in the ninth.
Milwaukee Brewers (84-51) 6, Texas Rangers (66-69) 1
Brewers rookie Logan Henderson logged one of the best starts of his young career, allowing a run on one hit and no walks with seven strikeouts in seven innings, that lone hit a Danny Jansen solo shot in the third. While the Rangers would manage just one more hit on the contest, the Brewers ended with 14. Christian Yelich went 3-for-5 with an RBI double, William Contreras 2-for-4 with three RBIs, and Jake Bauers 2-for-2 with three walks.
Baltimore Orioles (66-69) 4, The Athletics (53-82) 3
A’s starter Jacob Lopez was at fault for both Orioles runs in the second, committing an error after a HBP, walk, and single. The Athletics tied it up on a Jonah Heim solo shot in the seventh and Lawrence Butler RBI single in the eighth. Both teams had runners thrown out at home meaning this one went to extras. The O’s scored two in the top of the tenth on two-out singles by Coby Mayo and Christian Encarnacion-Strand to win it.
How about an overall picture of the hectic Wild Card race?
Cleveland Guardians (68-67)
Texas Rangers (66-69, 2 GB)
Baltimore Orioles (66-69, 2 GB)
Toronto Blue Jays (66-70, 2.5 GB)
Seattle Mariners (64-71, 4 GB)
Minnesota Twins (64-71, 4 GB)
Cleveland remains in front, nearly by default, but we still have just under a month of regular season play to go.
