The Yankees won an easy one against the Orioles on Thursday, though they find themselves in a position where they’ll take any help they can get from the outside. Luckily for them, there was plenty of opportunity for that around the American League, with both the Jays and Red Sox in action. Let’s take a look at what went down on Thursday.
Tampa Bay Rays (75-78) 4, Toronto Blue Jays (89-64) 0
For a second consecutive day, the Blue Jay bats were kept remarkably quiet by the Tampa Bay pithing staff, as
Shane Baz and company shut out Toronto on Thursday.
The Rays took a commanding lead early on in this one, as they put up three unanswered runs in their half of the second. A Chandler Simpson single plated a pair, before the same from Brandon Lowe put them up by three. In the sixth inning, Carson Williams belted a solo homer to put the Rays up by the final of 4-0.
While the offense did enough to stay afloat, Shane Baz was at his best on the mound for the Rays. Across five shutout innings, he allowed just a pair of hits and struck out four. Although his outing was not of the longest variety, four Tampa Bay relievers kept things quiet through the end of this one.
With the Yankees winning on Thursday, the Toronto lead in the East shrinks to three games. It is certainly an uphill battle with a limited schedule remaining, but the door is cracked for the Yankees and their divisional hopes.
Cleveland Guardians (80-71) 3, Detroit Tigers (85-67) 1
The Tigers are doing everything in their power to end this season on a rough note, and continued in that direction with a tough loss at the hands of the Guards here.
They took the lead first, on a Colt Keith RBI double in the bottom of the second, but that would be the extent of the scoring for Detroit. From that point forward, Tanner Bibee put together a terrific outing in his six innings of work. That second-inning run would be the only meaningful blemish on the night for the righty, as he allowed four hits and racked up eight strikeouts.
The Guardians countered the early Detroit lead in their half of the fourth, when Jhonkensy Noel tied things up with a booming solo shot deep into left-center, and it would stay that way for the middle stretch of the game. The big blow came in the top of the seventh inning, when José Ramírez did José Ramírez things. Batting against Troy Melton, the perennial MVP candidate belted a go-ahead two-run shot that ultimately gave the Guards the final lead of the game.
The Tigers still hold a 3.5-game lead in the Central, but they are certainly making it difficult on themselves here in the home stretch. Meanwhile, the Guardians sit just 1.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot with ten games left to play.
Athletics (72-81) 5, Boston Red Sox (83-70) 3
The Athletics also did their part in helping the Yankees on Thursday with their win at Fenway on Thursday. The Sox were pesky in this one, but the A’s offense did just enough to cruise to victory.
The A’s jumped ahead in a hurry in the top of the first, as the 30th homer of the season for Brent Rooker, a two-run shot, paved the way for an early 3-0 lead.
The Sox scratched a run of their own across in the first, before David Hamilton’s solo homer in the second cut the Boston deficit to two. A couple of throwing errors by Trevor Story at shortstop for the Sox helped the A’s score two more runs in the third and seventh, capping off their offensive output for the day.
Story did his part in making up for it, as he hit his 25th home run of the season in the eighth, but it was unsuccessful in starting a rally for Boston. The Yankees now have three games of space between them and the Sox, who only lead the Guardians by 1.5 games for the last Wild Card.
Other Games
- Seattle Mariners (84-69) 2, Kansas City Royals (76-77) 0: After having their 10-game winning streak snapped, the Mariners got back on the wagon with a shutout victory on Thursday. A couple of doubles from Jorge Polanco and J.P. Crawford did the lifting on offense, helping to support an excellent start from Luis Castillo. the M’s are now tied atop the AL West, with a crucial three-game dance on tap with the Astros, which could very well decide the fate of the division.
