Rivalry Roundup: Red Sox bounce back after their disastrous weekend

After wrapping up the weekend with a win over the Orioles, the Yankees got Monday off ahead of a Subway Series meeting against the Mets. However, elsewhere in baseball, much of their AL competition was in action to kick off a new week. Ahead of the Yankees retaking the field tonight, let’s check in on yesterday’s games in today’s edition of the Rivalry Roundup.

Baltimore Orioles (48-48) 5, Tampa Bay Rays (52-44) 1

A four-run fifth inning from the Orioles broke a 1-1 tie and ended up being decisive as Baltimore picked up a win. Ryan Mountcastle came up with the big hit on a two-RBI single, which broke the tie and ended up being the game-winner. Meanwhile, the Rays’ offense had their chances but went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position, leaving 10 runners on base. However, most of those chance came in the early innings, as the Orioles’ bullpen put in an impressive outing. Just two Rays reached base after Baltimore took the lead, and only one got into scoring position.

Boston Red Sox (49-48) 3, Cleveland Guardians (48-47) 1

After a weekend from hell, the Red Sox bounced back on Monday settling down to pick up a win over the Guardians. The story of the weekend, and recent weeks in general, had been poor defense and struggling pitching combining to repeatedly get them crushed. Against Toronto, Boston had been outscored 40-10 in a three-game set. In this game, they committed zero errors, while Nick Pivetta gave them 5.2 solid innings before the bullpen finished things off.

On the offensive side of things, the Red Sox scored two runs in the sixth inning to break a 1-1 tie. Alex Verdugo and Christian Vázquez both came through with RBI hits that ended up providing the difference in the win.

Oakland Athletics (36-63) 7, Houston Astros (64-33) 5

While the Astros struck first with a home run in the second at-bat of the game, six runs from the A’s in the third and fourth innings combined turned the tide and allowed Oakland to come away with the win. Tony Kemp drove in a game-high three runs and scored two, helping the Athletics take control, eventually pulling out the victory.

Houston fought back with one run in the fifth and two in the sixth. The two in the sixth were particularly weird, with one coming a double steal that ended with Yordan Álvarez nabbing home ...

... and the other coming on whatever this was in the play prior to that:

However, Oakland got a much needed insurance run in the eighth, and were able to close things out in the ninth. The Astros did bring the potential go-ahead run to the plate in the ninth, but A’s closer Lou Trivino eventually sealed the deal.

Seattle Mariners (52-45) 4, Texas Rangers (43-52) 3

A solid six-inning, two-run start from Chris Flexen gave the Mariners a bounce back win, although things got a little adventurous towards the end.

While a wild pitch from Flexen gave Texas a lead in the third inning, the Mariners’ starter would not allow another hit until the sixth inning, by which point the Seattle offense had given him a lead. Cal Raleigh, Carlos Santana, and Ty France on a fifth inning home run, were responsible for driving home Seattle’s runs and giving them the lead.

Flexen turned things over to the Seattle bullpen and things were mostly going fine until the ninth inning. With a two-run lead to worth with, Diego Castillo promptly allowed a home run to Nathaniel Lowe to start the inning. A single and then a four-pitch walk put the go-ahead run on base. After Castillo finally got the first out, the Mariners made a pitching change and brought in Erik Swanson. It took him just three pitches to get a pop up and a ground out to escape the jam and get Seattle the win.