Hold up. The Yankees won, scoring more than two runs to boot? AND the Rays lost? And Boston lost? On the field at least, Sunday was as good a day as Yankee fans could have hoped for. The Yankee win along with the losses from its two biggest nemeses in the division moves New York to within 5.5 games of Tampa Bay. Moreover, they pick up a game on Beantown, moving three games up on the BoSox for the first Wild Card spot.
Speaking of the Wild Card. Ye gods, the American League is mid. After Sunday’s action,
the Baltimore Orioles, they of the 61-63 record, hold sole possession of the third and final Wild Card spot. Six more teams who aspire to mediocrity sit within 2.5 games of the O’s.
Tampa Bay Rays (74-49) 2, Baltimore Orioles (61-63) 10
If you had turned this game off after the third inning, I wouldn’t blame you for expecting it to be a low-scoring affair. Neither club put a tally in the run column until Ryan Vilade hit a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth to stake Tampa to a 1-0 lead.
That lead did not last long. After the O’s had already knotted the score in the top of the fifth, Pete Alonso came to the dish. The Polar Bear’s two-run double gave Baltimore a lead they never surrendered — but they were far from done. The top of the sixth started innocently enough, with Steven Matz quickly notching the first two outs of the inning. Then the train derailed. A single and home run made it 5-1. A single, a walk, and a double scored two more. Two more walks loaded the bases then a Christian Encarnacion-Strand double unloaded them. Five hits and three walks, all with two out. 10-1 Baltimore.
Other Games
Boston Red Sox (66-58) 3, Pittsburgh Pirates (61-65) 8: The Pirates jumped on Boston early and often Sunday, building a formidable lead that withstood one serious charge. Pittsburgh scored twice in the first on RBI knocks from Bryan Reynolds and Brandown Lowe. For each, they were just getting started. When they came back around in the third, both repeated their earlier feats. Their respective RBI were part of a larger five-run innning that put the Bucs up 7-0. Connor Wong got Boston back into shouting distance with a three-run home run in the fifth but Boston never got any closer than that.
Cleveland Guardians (60-65) 0, San Diego Padres (67-58) 5: This one was delayed due to rain and I bet Tanner Bibee wishes it had been delayed even further. This game was not all Bibee’s fault as his offense managed as many hits (three) as he gave up runs. It’s tough to win that way, but the loss was his 13th of the season. That is a big number. The poor guy has an outside shot at losing 20 games this season if he gets seven more starts and loses them all. For the Dads, the long ball was the key: they hit four of them on the day, including Luis Rengifo and Ben Sheets going back-to-back in the second inning.
Chicago White Sox (65-58) 7, Detroit Tigers (60-64) 5: Detroit jumped out to an early lead and looked like they might just be able to creep closer to the AL Central-leading ChiSox. However, the Pale Hose fought back from an early 4-1 deficit to tie it up. In the seventh, Munetaka Murakami untied it with one swing of the bat. A two-run shot, Murakami’s 28th home run of the season put Chicago in the lead for good. There were questions about whether Murakami would strike out too much stateside to be successful. But his power and elite walk rate (17.2 percent) are helping offset the swing and miss in his game.
Houston Astros (63-62) 2, Seattle Mariners (59-66) 3: What a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago, Cal Raleigh was the toast of the town. Now, everyone wonders if he is just toast. The old Raleigh made an appearance Sunday though as Seattle fights for a playoff spot, the Big Dumper’s solo home run in the sixth inning proved to be the winning run as Seattle moved to within four games of the lead in the AL West. It was not easy, however. In the home eighth, Houston loaded the bases with two out, giving them a chance. Unfortunately for The H, Daulton Varsho struck out to end the threat. and Seattle held on.
