Offense was somewhat surprisingly at a premium last night in DC after the two-hour rain delay, as the Yankees couldn’t do more than hit register two solo shots against the Nationals’ Carson Palmquist/Zack Littell combo across the first seven innings. They weren’t dominating by any stretch; it just felt like the Yanks weren’t landing that key hit. So when Tim Hill coughed up back-to-back homers to Keibert Ruiz and James Wood to put the Nats ahead 3-2, there was a legitimate fear that Ryan Weathers’
work would go to waste.
Thankfully, the Nats’ weak relief pitching finally made a true appearance in the ninth. A few minutes later, the save was blown behind the bats of Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Austin Wells, two dudes who needed some big swings. Final score: 5-3, Yanks. Phew!
Here’s what else was going on in some of the notable American League action yesterday. Note that we’ve shaken up the teams covered again for this final series of the first half, focusing solely on those presently in playoff position. As always, these are subject to change! It’s just who’s getting the shine at the moment.*
*Although I will note that all of the Blue Jays, Red Sox, Tigers, and Orioles won, moving the middle tier of the Wild Card race all up a game. Minnesota is one back of Seattle for the last Wild Card; Houston, Toronto, and surging Boston are 1.5 behind; Detroit is within 2.5 and Baltimore is three back. Oh, and none of these teams are over .500. What a jumbled mess.
Tampa Bay Rays (55-37) 7, Seattle Mariners (47-48) 2
It was a great Friday for Rays starter Nick Martinez, who was chosen as a replacement for Boston’s Ranger Suárez on the All-Star roster and then went out and recorded a win over the Mariners. Named an All-Star for the first time at age-35, Martinez threw 5.1 innings, allowing two runs on four hits and a walk, giving up a homer to Cole Young and not much else. It wasn’t as shiny as some of his early regular-season starts, but the W’s all count the same.
Anyway, Martinez easily outpitched his opponent, fading veteran Luis Castillo. The former ace has been the clear weak link in the six-man(-ish) rotation, and it showed again on Friday night. He gave up homers to Richie Palacios, Cedric Mullins, and Victor Mesa Jr. between the fourth and the fifth, and while they were solo shots, they combined with an RBI knock in the third from Chandler Simpson to give Tampa Bay a 4-1 lead.
Following singles by J.P. Crawford and Randy Arozarena, Martinez departed with the tying run at the plate for Seattle with one out in the sixth. The M’s only got one run out of it though, with Cole Sulser inducing a fielder’s choice grounder from Dominic Canzone and fanning Cal Raleigh to keep it at 4-2. Garrett Cleavinger also did yeoman’s work to keep the M’s from tying it in the seventh, as Josh Naylor never got further from second after his leadoff single. Then in the home half, Junior Caminero dropped the hammer on José A. Ferrer with his 28th long ball of 2026:
It was smooth sailing from then on for the Rays, coasting to a 7-2 win. The only hitch was that it seemed like they would take a five-game AL East lead on the Yankees until New York’s ninth-inning rally off the Nats.
Other Games
Texas Rangers (48-46) 7, Houston Astros (46-50) 3: Yordan Alvarez’s 30th homer of the season and the 200th of his career brought some fireworks in this 2023 ALCS rematch of the two Texas teams, which are both battling with Seattle for the AL West lead. The next inning, Yainier Diaz hit a two-run shot off Chris Martin to tie the game at 3-3. That was unfortunate for Texas, which had built a 3-0 lead against Astros ace Hunter Brown, but they shook off losing that advantage in a hurry. The Rangers lit into Bryan King in the eighth, as Wyatt Langford belted a solo shot to give them a 4-3 lead and Jake Burger soon followed with a three-run smash. (Yes, we got a Burger/King matchup, and the former had it his way.) The Rangers lead the Mariners by 1.5 games in the AL West.
Cleveland Guardians (49-46) 3, Miami Marlins (52-43) 2: The surprising Marlins have MLB’s best record since the beginning of June, but Cleveland southpaw Parker Messick cooled down the Stinky Hot Fish™ by allowing just one hit and one run in six innings of work. The rookies got to Sandy Alcantara, with Chase DeLauter slugging a two-run homer to get the scoring going in the fourth and Travis Bazzana lifting a key sacrifice fly in the following frame. Leo Jiménez and Heriberto Hernández hit solo shots for Miami to cut the lead to one by the eighth, but Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith turned the Marlins away to win it.
Chicago White Sox (48-45) 14, The Athletics (41-53) 1: After getting swept at home by the Red Sox, the Pale Hose took out their frustration on the free-falling A’s, keeping pace with Cleveland. No. 9 hitter Tristan Peters was the story of this one, as he became the seventh player in White Sox history to hit for the cycle, the first since Jose Abreu on September 9, 2017. Remarkably, Peters finished his cycle by recording the two hardest parts—the triple and the homer—in the same inning. Andrew Benintendi also drove in four while notching a pair of doubles and All-Star Miguel Vargas hit his 21st homer of 2026. Sean Burke threw seven innings of four-hit, one-run ball.
