The 2026 MLB Draft has dominated headlines in what’s been a full day of action around the league. The Yankees have the four newest members of their organization pending their signings with the team, and even managed to grind out another comeback victory against the Nationals thanks to eighth-inning home runs from Ryan McMahon, Trent Grisham, and Paul Goldschmidt. It means they are riding a modest three-game winning streak, which comes at an important time given the results elsewhere around the AL.
Tampa Bay Rays (56-37) 6, Seattle Mariners (47-49) 1
The Rays somehow worked their magic to secure the second pick in this year’s draft and wasted no time in using it on consensus top-two draft prospect Grady Emerson. They had to feel pretty gleeful about how the day went for them as a whole as they rolled over the Mariners for the second straight day and achieved a coup in the Draft. They handed Logan Gilbert one of his heavier defeats of the year, scoring four runs on nine hits and two walks off the Seattle starter, while Griffin Jax gave them five innings of one-run ball, that lone run a Cole Emerson sack fly to open the scoring after Cole Young led off the second with a double.
A Ben Williamson RBI double in the bottom of the frame leveled the score, and back-to-back doubles by Yandy Díaz and Jonathan Aranda to open the third gave them the lead. Gilbert managed to right the ship from there, but was left in a batter too long, an Aranda two-out double in the seventh knocking him from the game. An intentional walk of Junior Caminero put a pair on for pinch-hitter Ryan Vilade, who crushed the first pitch he saw for a three-run blast to put the game out of reach, a Nick Fortes RBI single an inning later wrapping up the scoring. The Rays maintained their four-game lead in the AL East.
Other Games
Chicago White Sox (49-45) 1, The Athletics (41-54) 0
Despite speculation that they might throw a curveball, the White Sox used the first overall pick on the player many consider to be the top college prospect: shortstop Roch Cholowsky of UCLA. He joins an organization that ascending well ahead of schedule, their win over the Athletics allowing them to stay tied atop the AL Central. A bullpen day that included four scoreless innings from bulk reliever Erick Fedde limited the A’s to four-hits, two apiece for Jacob Wilson and Joshua Kuroda-Grauer. The lone run of the contest came in the sixth, Colson Montgomery drawing a two-out walk and scoring all the way from first on a Chase Meidroth double. They remain in a virtual tie with Cleveland atop the AL Central.
Cleveland Guardians (50-46) 4, Miami Marlins (52-44) 1
With wins in the first two games, the Guardians have put themselves in pole position to sweep the hottest team in baseball since the start of June. It began with 6.2 innings of one-run ball from Tanner Bibee, a Liam Hicks RBI single in the seventh representing the lone damage. Cleveland did all of their scoring on a pair of two-run doubles from their eight and nine hitters. The first came from Steven Kwan with two outs in the fourth and the second was courtesy of Patrick Bailey with two outs in the eighth.
Houston Astros (47-50) 9, Texas Rangers (48-47) 3
Kumar Rocker was simply no match for the firepower in the Astros lineup, allowing seven runs on eight hits including three home runs. Peter Lambert meanwhile continues to be a revelation in the Astros rotation after joining on a minor league contract following a season with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. He allowed a run on just three hits and a walk with seven strikeouts in six innings to lower his season ERA to 3.14 in 15 starts after having pitched to a 6.28 ERA in his previous four season stint with the Rockies.
A day after crushing the 200th home run of his career, Yordan Alvarez kicked things off with a two-run blast after Jeremy Peña led off the first with a single, extending his lead atop the MLB HR leaderboard to 31. The big blast of the game arrive in the third after Alvarez doubled, Isaac Paredes walked, and Jose Altuve singled to load the bases. LaMonte Wade Jr. demolished a hanging 1-1 slider from Rocker for a no-doubter grand slam to right, and just like that it was 6-0, Astros.
Christian Vásquez scored their seventh unanswered run with a solo shot in the fourth, though Ezequiel Duran responded in the bottom half with a solo homer of his own. Things settled down until the ninth inning, Houston scoring their eighth and ninth runs on a Christian Walker RBI double and Cam Smith sac fly while Duran chipped in his second home run of the afternoon, a two-run shot this time after Cam Cauley led off with a single.
