The Yankees got off to exactly the start they needed in this season-defining 12-game gauntlet, ambushing Astros ace Framber Valdez for six runs in five innings. Jazz Chisholm Jr. homered twice and Trent Grisham clubbed a grand slam while Max Fried was nails for seven innings in an eventual 7-1 series opening win. It was doubly important that the Yankees win with the Blue Jays and Red Sox also victorious earlier in the day as the AL East picture remains unchanged.
New York Mets (75-64) 12, Detroit Tigers (80-60) 5
Mets rookie Nolan McClean dealt with
some early trouble, walking a pair and giving up back-to-back RBI singles in the first, but he was nearly flawless for the rest of his start tossing five scoreless thereafter. He was spotted a 1-0 lead when Pete Alonso homered in the first, and the rest of the offense took over from there, scoring five in the fourth and six in the seventh.
In the fourth, Juan Soto drew a leadoff walk, Brandon Nimmo singled, and Mark Vientos walked to load the bases. Jeff McNeil hit a game-tying single as the runners went station to station and Cedric Mullins drove in the go-ahead run with a sac fly. That set up the big blow of the inning, a Luis Torrens three-run bomb to blow the game open.
However, the Mets offense was far from finished. In the seventh, Soto and Alonso slugged back-to-back homers to open the frame. Nimmo then singled and advanced to third on a Mark Vientos double, allowing a McNeil single to plate the pair. Torrens and Brett Baty followed with consecutive singles, the latter plating a run followed by a Francisco Lindor sac fly to bring home the sixth and final run of the inning.
Detroit grabbed three consolation runs in the ninth on back-to-back doubles from Justyn-Henry Malloy and Wenceel Pérez immediately followed by back-to-back singles from Zach McKinstry and Dillon Dingler, but the game was well in hand for the Mets at that point.
Toronto Blue Jays (80-59) 12, Cincinnati Reds (70-69) 9
Nick Lodolo was scheduled to start this game for the Reds but was a late scratch with illness, turning it into a bullpen game. The Blue Jays feasted on opener Scott Barlow for four runs in the first and unleashed a similar treatment on Brent Suter scoring six runs in the next three innings. George Springer led off the game with a home run, and Barlow compounded his problems by walking the next three batters to load the bases with no outs. Alejandro Kirk crushed a bases-clearing double and all of a sudden the Reds were in a 4-0 hole before even coming to bat. Toronto repeated the act an inning later, three singles by Andrés Giménez, Springer, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. plating the fifth run and setting a Bo Bichette three-run homer to make it 8-1 Blue Jays after Elly De La Cruz got the Reds on the board in the bottom of the first with an RBI single.
It’s a shame that Barlow and Suter were so useless, because even a modicum more effectiveness and the Reds might have had a chance to win the game. That’s because they responded by scoring five in the bottom of the second. Jose Trevino and Matt McLain slugged a pair of one-out doubles, Noelvi Marte reached on a run-scoring error and De La Cruz walked to set up a three-run blast from Austin Hays to cut the deficit to 8-6.
Unfortunately, the Blue Jays had no intention of taking their foot off the gas pedal, Springer crushing his second home run of the game in the fourth, a two-run shot after Isiah Kiner-Falefa was hit by a pitch to lead off. The Reds answered this pair of runs with consecutive two-out run scoring knocks by Hays and Gavin Lux in the bottom half, and Daulton Varsho and TJ Friedl traded solo home runs late as the Reds could never quite overcome the early deficit despite a valiant comeback attempt.
Boston Red Sox (78-62) 11, Cleveland Guardians (68-69) 7
The Guardians fought hard to erase an early 5-1 deficit and looked to have momentum in their favor late, only for the normally excellent closer Cade Smith to completely implode in the eighth. The game was certainly not an advertisement for quality starting pitching, Slade Cecconi and Garrett Crochet both giving up seven runs, the former on 11 hits in 5.1 innings and the latter on nine hits in six innings.
Jhonkensy Noel opened the scoring with a solo shot in the second, but the Red Sox responded with four in the bottom half. Nathaniel Lowe doubled, Romy Gonzalez singled, Masataka Yoshida doubled, and then Ceddanne Rafaela, Carlos Narváez, and Roman Anthony hit three straight singles, this hit parade all occurring with one out.
Crochet seemed like he had settled down after the Noel home run, only to give up six runs in the sixth that included three home runs. Austin Hedges led off with a tank, Angel Martínez singled to set up a David Fry two-run blast, and Kyle Manzardo and Noel lined a pair of two-out singles to keep the inning alive long enough for Brayan Rocchio to smash a three-run homer and give the Guardians a 7-5 lead.
That lead would not last long, the Red Sox scoring six unanswered to win the game. Rafaela tied it up at seven apiece with a two-run homer in the sixth. Then in the ninth, Smith entered with a runner on first and two outs, but couldn’t record a single out, yielding consecutive singles to Nate Eaton and Alex Bregman followed by consecutive doubles by Jarren Duran and Trevor Story to give Boston a four-run cushion as the Guardians threw this one away.
Other Games
Tampa Bay Rays (69-69) 6, Seattle Mariners (73-66) 5
The Mariners woes deepen, losing the fourth of their last five games to bring the chasing pack back into the race for the final Wild Card. Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez, and Jorge Polanco all homered for Seattle, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Junior Caminero’s huge day at the plate. The third baseman went 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBI to give him an even 100 driven in on the year.
Los Angeles Angels (65-73) 5, Kansas City Royals (70-68) 1
Mitch Farris was impressive in his MLB debut, giving the Angels five innings of one-run ball. Four relievers combined to allow just one hit over the final four scoreless innings as Los Angeles put a dent in the Royals’ playoff hopes. Joe Adell had the big day on offense for the Angels, going 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and a double.
