Welp, it looks like the Yankees offense is back in the toilet after a promising start to their series against the White Sox. They have failed to score in 28 of their last 32 innings played, scoring just two unearned runs in their last 22 innings. With just one dependable hitter in their lineup in Ben Rice, you just don’t seen an avenue toward improvement until the likes of Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, and Giancarlo Stanton return from injury as it remains highly improbable that they add multiple
impact bats before the MLB Trade Deadline on Monday. Instead, their pitching staff will have to continues to shoulder the load while they await the returns of their big boppers.
Tampa Bay Rays (64-44) 3, Texas Rangers (55-54) 2
Looking at the starting pitching matchups — the Rangers opting for a bullpen game while the Rays threw out their ace Shane McClanahan — you wouldn’t have thought this would have finished as close as it did. Part of that is down to the performance of the Rangers’ opener and bulk reliever, Cole Winn and Marco Gonzales combining to throw four innings of one-run ball. The other part is down to the misfortune suffered by Shane McClanahan.
Despite pitching a no-hitter through the first three innings, McClanahan’s velocity dropped precipitously when he came back out for the fourth and his command abandoned him. He plunked Ezequiel Duran and walked Brandon Nimmo to open the frame, prompting the trainer to come out and check on him, McClanahan immediately exiting the game. The injury is described as mid-back tightness, which is notable given McClanahan endured IL stints in 2021 and 2023 with back tightness and missed the entirety of the 2024 and 2025 seasons to Tommy John surgery and left triceps surgery, respectively. The Rays were already rumored to be one of the four teams most aggressively pursuing Tarik Skubal alongside the Dodgers, Brewers, and Braves, and you wonder whether this injury creates further impetus for Tampa to pull off that blockbuster despite it running counter to the way they normally conduct business.
Back to the game, the Rays opened the scoring in the third as Hunter Feduccia reached on a two-out double and Yandy Díaz plated him with a single. They would load the bases from there on a Jonathan Aranda single and Junior Caminero walk, but Gonzales got Cedric Mullins to ground out to strand all three in place. After McClanahan departed with a pair on and no outs in the fourth, Duran advanced to third on a Jake Burger fly out and scored on a fielding error by Taylor Walls on a Joc Pederson grounder.
Wyatt Langford grabbed a lead for his team the following inning with an RBI double after Alejandro Osuna reached on a one-out single. However, the Rays bullpen was shutdown from there, allowing Jonny DeLuca and Mullins to complete the comeback. DeLuca tied the game with a solo shot in the sixth and Mullins got just enough of a first-pitch fastball from Ben Peoples for the game-winning solo shot with two outs in the eighth. With the win and Yankees loss, the Rays extend their lead in the division to 3.5 games.
Other Games
Boston Red Sox (57-51) 5, The Athletics (45-64) 4
Sonny Gray did manage to give the Red Sox seven innings, though he did surrender four runs on seven hits and two walks in the process. The Athletics meanwhile got five innings of three run ball from rookie Mason Barnett. The A’s jumped out to an early lead, opening the scoring on a third inning RBI single from Jacob Wilson before adding two more in the fourth on an RBI double from Lawrence Butler and an RBI single from Donovan Walton, the A’s then loading the bases only for a Wilson pop out to end the inning.
Boston immediately made them pay for stranding those three runners by scoring three in the top half of the following frame. Andruw Monnasterio hit an RBI single and Ceddanne Rafaela a two-run double, the Red Sox aided by a pair of errors in the inning. Carlos Cortes grabbed the lead back for the A’s in the sixth with a sac fly after Butler led off with a double. However, Wilyer Abreu and Willson Contreras called game in the eighth, leading off the inning with back-to-back home runs as the win takes the Red Sox within 3.5 games of the Yankees for second place — just as close as the Yankees are to the first-place Rays.
Los Angeles Dodgers (69-40) 6, Seattle Mariners (53-57) 2
Bryan Woo made the shortlist of several publications’ preseason Cy Young candidate rankings, but his nightmare season continued tonight with five runs allowed on five hits and two walks in five innings. Meanwhile, Roki Sasaki continued to enjoy improved velocity and an uptick in strikeouts with 5.1 innings of two-run ball, striking out seven. Mookie Betts struck in the first with a two-out, two-run double after the first two batters reached. Dalton Rushing added three more in the fourth with a three-run tank after Kyle Tucker walked and Teoscar Hernández singled. Seattle broke up the shutout in the sixth, Cole Young leading off with a triple and scoring on a Randy Arozarena double before a Cal Raleigh walk with the bases loaded brought Arozarena home, the Mariners going on to strand three ducks on the pond. Teoscar wrapped up the scoring with a solo shot in the seventh.
