I wonder if it is fair to call this a belated June swoon, the Yankees losers of three straight and seven of their last ten, the offense the chief culprit as it tends to be at this stage in the season. They are on the verge of a reverse Boston Massacre, dropping the first three games of this four game set to the last place Red Sox. Their loss today combined with results elsewhere around the division had implications on the order of the standings, so let’s see how those games unfolded.
Tampa Bay Rays (47-33) 4, Arizona Diamondbacks (41-41) 2
The Rays worked
their devil magic with another successful bullpen game, Cole Sulser and Michael Grove combining to pitch five innings of one-run ball to open the contest. Sulser was the opener and went two frames while Grove followed with three, the pair allowing just three hits and no walks against five strikeouts. Perhaps the Diamondbacks should have considered a similar strategy, as starter Jose Cabrera allowed four runs on seven hits in five innings including a pair of home runs.
Arizona opened the scoring in the top of the first, Geraldo Perdomo doubling with one out and coming home on a Corbin Carroll RBI single. Tampa Bay answered in the bottom of the frame, Junior Caminero crushing his sixth home run in his last five games. Jonathan Aranda tacked on two more with a two-out no-doubter in the fifth, and Cedric Mullins added Tampa’s fourth with a sac fly the following inning following a pair of singles from Victor Mesa Jr. and Chandler Simpson.
Ketel Marte dragged on back with a two-out solo shot in the eighth, but that was the only semblance of a comeback Arizona could muster. With the Rays winning their fourth straight and the Yankees suffering a three-game losing streak against Boston, Tampa Bay has once again leapfrogged them in the standings, the Rays holding the top spot on winning percentage with one less win and loss.
Other Games
Texas Rangers (41-42) 7, Toronto Blue Jays (39-44) 4
Dylan Cease had a bizarre start as he was able to strike out ten Rangers in just 4.2 innings but he also gave up four runs on four hits and five walks – in other words, the archetypical Cease start from his 2025 campaign in San Diego. Mason Fluharty completed the final out of that fifth inning, but not before giving up another two runs as the Rangers scored five in the frame to jump out to a 6-0 lead.
Jake Burger opened the scoring with an RBI single in the first as Cease recorded three of his five walks in the opening frame. In the fifth, Cease walked Josh Jung and gave up back-to-back two out singles to Brandon Nimmo and Burger to end his night. Fluharty walked the first batter he faced to load the bases, and then surrendered consecutive two-run base knocks – a single by Alejandro Osuna and a double by Elias Díaz.
Seemingly down and out, the Blue Jays responded by scoring a pair in each of the fifth and sixth innings sandwiched around a Corey Seager solo shot in the top of the sixth. Yohendrick Piñango hit a two-run bomb in the fifth, Alejandro Kirk a solo shot to lead off the sixth, and Andrés Giménez an RBI single later in the frame to draw within three, though they did strand a pair to end the frame. Peyton Gray saved the day for Texas coming out of the bullpen, pitching 2.1 scoreless innings starting in the sixth, allowing just one hit while striking out four.
Cleveland Guardians (43-40) 4, Seattle Mariners (42-42) 3
What started as a shutdown pitching performance by Cleveland almost ended in disaster, only for their top relievers to save the day. The Guardians may have gotten outhit and out-walked, but they have a knack for finding ways to win games. Slade Cecconi set the tone with six scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and two walks against four strikeouts, a pair of relievers then combining to pitch a scoreless seventh to outperform Logan Gilbert and his seven innings allowing four runs on seven hits.
Cleveland did most of their scoring in the fourth, Travis Bazzana and Kyle Manzardo reaching on a pair of singles. Kahlil Watson drove Bazzana home with a double and Cooper Ingle brought both remaining runners home with a two-run single. Brayan Rocchio tacked on another with an RBI single the following inning. However, it all unraveled once Shawn Armstrong entered in the eighth. He plunked Julio Rodríguez and served up a single to Dominic Canzone to set up a three-run rocket from Randy Arozarena to pull Seattle to within one.
After allowing another single, Armstrong was pulled from the game having allowed three runs and not recorded an out. Hunter Gaddis allowed a single but escaped the inning unscathed. Lockdown closer Cade Smith wasn’t quite as sharp, allowing a Rodríguez single and hitting Arozarena with a pitch, but he got former teammate Josh Naylor to ground out to end the game.
