Yankees Rivalry Roundup: White Sox outlast Blue Jays in 12 wild innings

Last night saw a ninth inning Yankees’ rally fall just short in a 5-4 loss to the Rays. A potential game-tying Aaron Judge home run fell just a few feet short, getting caught on the warning track for the final out of the game. Even in a loss, it was an impressive effort to fight back and even get that close, considering they were down 5-2 going into the inning.

With other teams besides the Rays getting the chance to gain ground on the Yankees, let’s check in on the scores and action from their AL rivals.

Boston Red Sox (38-31) 5, Detroit Tigers (26-42) 4

It was a fairly similar story up in Boston as a ninth inning Tigers rally came up one run short. Detroit took two separate leads, albeit both by just a single run, but couldn’t hold either, as a three-run home run from Trevor Story gave the Red Sox a lead they would never relinquish. However, they very nearly did. Down 5-3, the Tigers picked up one run in the ninth, and brought the potential go-ahead run to the plate, but Miguel Cabrera ended up grounding out to end the game.

Chicago White Sox (33-33) 7, Toronto Blue Jays (38-30) 6 (12 innings)

Through six innings, Dylan Cease held the Blue Jays in check, allowing just one hit while striking out 11. After he exited the game, all hell broke loose. First, Toronto struck with four total runs over the seventh and eighth innings, taking a 4-2 lead. Suddenly down to their last out after leading most of the game, Luis Robert hit a two-RBI single to tie the game with two outs in the ninth. In Manfredball in extra innings, Toronto scored a run in the 10th. Chicago then answered with a run. Toronto scored a run in the 11th. Chicago again answered. Both teams had instances of squandering a chance at adding to their lead (in the Blue Jays’ case) or walking off with a win (in the White Sox case) in that time. There were plenty of interesting managerial decisions along the way. After the White Sox finally got a scoreless inning from their bullpen, Josh Harrison dropped an RBI single into center to seal a wild win.

Houston Astros (42-25) 8, New York Mets (45-25) 2

The Astros struck with three runs in the third inning and never looked back as they cruised to a win over the Mets. Only two of Houston’s starting nine failed to record a hit, and even those two both drew walks as they handled business. Kyle Tucker led the way with three RBI, while José Altuve, Yordan Álvarez, and José Siri all homered. On the mound, they got six innings of one run pitching from José Urquidy.

Cleveland Guardians (35-28) 6, Minnesota Twins (38-31) 5 (11 innings)

After 11 back and forth innings, the Guardians came out victorious thanks to an Andrés Giménez go-ahead single. Cleveland had jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the early innings before the Twins reeled the back in and then seemingly took control of the game, going up 5-3 in the seventh. However, the Guardians answered in the eighth as the game would go on to extras. Minnesota will probably be kicking themselves as they couldn’t capitalize on a two-on, nobody out spot in the bottom of the 10th as Guardians’ reliever Trevor Stephan responded by striking out the side, keeping his team alive so they could win the game the next inning.