The Yankees offense keeps on rolling, scoring nine in a rout of the Orioles to make it 16 runs scored in the first two games of the series. The starting rotation also continues to shine, Will Warren and Ryan Weathers both giving up just one earned run to Baltimore respectively across play on Friday and Saturday.
It was a full day of baseball around the AL, so lets see how some of those games played out.
Toronto Blue Jays (16-17) 11, Minnesota Twins (14-20) 4
Yesterday, it was winter signing Kazuma Okamoto and his two home runs that powered the Toronto victory.
Today, they spread the wealth around, five different Blue Jays leaving the yard. Dylan Cease continued his strong start to his debut season in Toronto, holding the Twins to four runs (three earned) in seven innings, his seven strikeouts moving him to second in MLB with 56 behind the Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski.
It was actually Minnesota that jumped out to an early 3-2 lead, a Byron Buxton leadoff home run in the first and Brooks Lee two-run single in the second giving them an edge after Lenyn Sosa and Myles Straw smacked solo shots in the first. After Okamoto hit a solo shot in the sixth to nullify a Trevor Larnach RBI single in the fifth, the game changed swiftly with the Blue Jays scoring eight in the eighth.
Ernie Clement led off with a single, advanced to second on a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. walk, and scored on an Okamoto single. A Sosa single brought Guerrero home and a fielding error by Anthony Banda on a Daulton Varsho grounder loaded the bases. Straw drew a walk to force home a run followed by a Davis Schneider two-run double. Brandon Valenzuela provided the coup de grâce with a mammoth three-run blast, and just like that a one run deficit became a seven run lead.
Houston Astros (13-21) 6, Boston Red Sox (13-20) 3
Strong starting pitching and a crooked number in the fourth allowed the Astros to put this game away early. Spencer Arrighetti continued his improbable start to the season, somehow holding Boston to one run despite giving up five hits and five walks in five innings. The only damage came in the fifth on a Willson Contreras sac fly after singles from Connor Wong and Jarren Duran put runners on the corners.
Christian Walker had a big day, going 3-for-4 including an RBI single to open the scoring in the first and a solo shot in the fifth, though he had to exit the game after getting hit by a pitch in the ninth. The big blow in the fourth was a three-run shot from Brice Matthews and Carlos Correa tacked on with an RBI single following a Cam Smith double to make it 5-0 at that point.
Boston fought back once they got into the Houston bullpen, scoring a pair in the seventh on RBI singles from Wilyer Abreu and Trevor Story. However, the comeback would stop there as they’ve now lost three of their last four after victories in the first two games under interim manager Chad Tracy.
Other Games
Cleveland Guardians (18-16) 14, The Athletics (17-16) 6
It was a hit parade in West Sacramento, both the Guardians and Athletics finishing with 14 hits apiece, though far more of Cleveland’s came with runners on. Both starters got tagged — Slade Cecconi for five runs on ten hits and Jacob Lopez for six runs on eight hits, both men completing 5.1 innings. Cleveland scored just one run through four, but then put up four in the fifth, one in the sixth, three each in the seventh and eighth, and two in the ninth.
Angel Martínez and Austin Hedges both logged three-hit nights, Hedges crushing a home run and a pair of doubles. Rookie Travis Bazzana — the first overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft — collected his first big-league hit in the seventh, a two-run single with the bases loaded. Kyle Manzardo truly put the game to bed with a pinch-hit, three run homer in the eighth. With the win, the Guardians remain the only team in the AL Central with a record better than .500.
Tampa Bay Rays (20-12) 3, San Francisco Giants (13-20) 1
The Rays leveraged a bullpen game as only the Rays can, Griffin Jax pitching 2.2 scoreless to open followed by three innings of one-run ball from bulk guy Jesse Scholtens. That lone run came courtesy of a Rafael Devers RBI double in the sixth. On offense, Tampa Bay opened the scoring on an RBI single from Jake Fraley in the fourth. They then scored three in the fifth on a bases loaded walk by Cedric Mullins and two-run single from Jonathan Aranda. Jonny DeLuca provided the final run with an RBI double in the eighth. The Rays joined the Yankees as the only two American League teams to reach 20 wins thus far.
Detroit Tigers (17-17) 3, Texas Rangers (16-17) 1
Keider Montero gave the Tigers one of his best starts of the year, limiting the Rangers to a run on five hits in 6.2 innings. That run came in the fourth on a solo shot from Jake Burger. The game was already a wrap at that point, the Tigers scoring three in the first and two in the second. In the first, Dillon Dingler clubbed a three-run homer following singles from Gleyber Torres and Riley Greene. In the second, Kevin McGonigle and Torres smacked back-to-back two-out RBI singles.
Kansas City Royals (14-19) 3, Seattle Mariners (16-18) 2
On the same night that Seattle honored Hall of Fame strikeout artist Randy Johnson by making No. 51 a double-retirement alongside Ichiro (à la No. 8 for the Yankees), their young righty Emerson Hancock authored one of the most dominant starts we’ve seen so far this season. He struck out 14 Royals in seven innings, allowing just one run — a Maikel Garcia RBI double in the third — on six hits, joining George Kirby as the only Mariners pitcher to strike out at least 14 in a game since old friend James Paxton struck out 16 in 2018.
However, he would not earn the victory as closer Andrés Muñoz blew the save in the ninth on a Jac Caglianone knock to center that got away from Julio Rodríguez. That sent the game to extra-innings, where it came to a mercifully quick end. Automatic runner Michael Massey stole third in the top of the tenth, allowing him to score the go-ahead run on a sac fly from Garcia. Lucas Erceg then retired the side in order in the bottom half to seal the Royals win.
