The Yankees coasted to victory on Friday against the White Sox, as they continue to clean up in what was a crucial week against some sub-par squads. It comes at a perfect time, too, as both the Red Sox and Blue jays fell on Friday, allowing the Yanks to make up a game on both.
Let’s take a look at what went down around the American League on Friday.
Milwaukee Brewers (84-52) 7, Toronto Blue Jays (78-57) 4
The red-hot Brew Crew did the Yankees some favors on Friday.
Milwaukee and Toronto each kept the
other scoreless through five innings thanks to solid work from Shane Bieber and Freddy Peralta. It was the Brewers’ talented righty who ended as the best of ‘em, as he tossed six scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and striking out seven.
Andruw Monasterio’s solo home run opened the Brewers’ five-run sixth inning, which kicked off the scoring in this one. Run-scoring knocks from Andrew Vaughn, Caleb Durbin, and Isaac Collins followed, and the Brewers were suddenly up 5-0. The Brewers plated two more in the top of the seventh, establishing a comfortable 7-0 lead that would float them the rest of the way.
The Jays eventually scored a pair of runs, bit it was too little too late against the high-powered Brewers. With the Yankees win on Friday, the Jays loss lowers their division lead to three games
Pittsburgh Pirates (60-76) 4, Boston Red Sox (75-61) 2
The Red Sox suffered a tough loss to the Paul Skenes led Pirates on Friday. Despite an early lead, their offense couldn’t string much together, as the Buccos held on for their 60th win.
That early lead came thanks to an RBI single from Ceddanne Rafaela, before Roman Anthony’s eighth home run of the season in the following inning put the Sox up 2-0 against the uber-talented Skenes.
Down a pair of runs in their half of the sixth, the Pirates battled back thanks to doubles from both Tommy Pham and Andrew McCutchen, which turned the game around and had Pittsburgh ahead 3-2. Skenes ended up turning in a more-than-solid start, even if it was far from perfect. over six innings, he allowed seven hits, but kept the Sox to two runs and struck out six.
The Red Sox were never able to build on their early advantage, and fell to the Pirates, who also did some favors for the Yankees on Friday. The Bombers stand a half-game ahead of their rival in the East.
Houston Astros (75-50) 2, Los Angeles Angels (62-72) 0
Cristian Javier and the Astros kept the Angels out of the run column on Friday, as they move to three games ahead of the Mariners in the West.
The Astros right-hander was terrific for Houston in this one. Javier completed six shutout innings of work, notably keeping the Halos hitless throughout. Although they did eventually find some grass, Javier exited without allowing a hit, and easily did his part in this Houston win.
The Astros scored their runs late, in the seventh and eighth, thanks to RBIs from Carlos Correa and Yordan Alavarez. On the whole, it was only a so-so day for the offense, but Javier and company shut things down on the mound to fuel the narrow victory, with Kaleb Ort eventually locking down the save.
Detroit Tigers (79-57) 5, Kansas City Royals (69-66) 3
The Royals jumped out to an early lead against the Tigers in this one, but the heart of Detroit’s order eventually did their part in driving the cats to victory.
Homers from Mike Yastrzemski and Maikel Garcia in the first inning had the Royals up 3-0 early on, but the Tigers retaliated in quick succession. A well-timed Kerry Carpenter single up the middle would plate a pair for Detroit in the second to cut their lead to one. Two innings later, Riley Greene’s two-bagger gave the Tigers a lead they’d never surrender.
The Tigers received some insurance later on thanks to Dillon Dingler’s solo homer in the eighth, although their bullpen kept things quiet all the same. Despite neither Seth Lugo nor Chris Paddack completing four innings on the mound in this one, the Tigers were able to easily take home a win against their division rival, and give themselves a narrow lead as the American League’s top seed.
Other Games
- Cleveland Guardians (67-66) 5, Seattle Mariners (72-63) 4: The Mariners scored four runs in the top half of the first, and held the lead for much of the game. A couple of RBI knocks from the heart of the Seattle lineup and a two-run shot from Jorge Polanco paved the way, but it was all they could muster for the rest of the night. Cleveland scored in each of the final four innings, which included homers from Kyle Manzardo and Nolan Jones, with a walk-off sacrifice fly from Steven Kwan ultimately winning it.
