Yankees Rivalry Roundup: Jays, Rays gain ground on the Yankees

Any time the Yankees lose, these recaps become just a little bit more important. New York is still the odds-on favorite to win the division, but with a loss last night, the AL East race got a little bit closer with wins by both the Blue Jays and Rays. Catch up on the rest of the league’s action with our daily recap.

Toronto Blue Jays (83-63) 6, Baltimore Orioles (75-69) 3

Gunnar Henderson made his mark on yesterday’s game with the Jays, bringing in both Orioles runs with a single in the third inning, then scored the third run as Baltimore attempted a comeback in the eighth. That was the only real positive for the O’s in this one, though, as the Jays powered through with six runs in the first five innings, with Raimel Tapia getting the biggest hit:

José Berríos had his second straight solid start, allowing two runs over six innings, albeit with only a 3:2 K:BB ratio. Jordan Romano recorded his 34th save of the season, a mostly unblemished outing save for a marathon, ten-pitch walk to Adley Rutschman.

Tampa Bay Rays (81-64) 5, Texas Rangers (63-82) 1

In that annoying Rays way, six different pitchers combined to allow one run as Tampa got their win back from Friday night. Ryan Yarborough had the longest night, working three innings and allowing the lone run, a solo shot off the bat of catcher Jonah Helm.

Taylor Walls had his seventh home run of the season for the Rays:

Isaac Paredes had the other big blow, a two-run double that was really the dagger in the end of the game.

Oakland Athletics (53-93) 8, Houston Astros (95-51) 5

Oakland hasn’t exactly been a problem for Houston — coming into play, the Astros had a .647 winning percentage against the A’s this season, not far off their .655 overall pace — but there have been more than a few games where the Athletics have at least been a thorn in Houston’s side.

The AL West leaders were up 4-1 after the first inning, clubbing three home runs off starter Cole Irvin, but keeping faith in him ended up paying dividends. He stopped the bleeding and didn’t give up a run after the first frame, pitching seven against a very powerful lineup. The A’s clawed their way back into the game, with Seth Brown the one to eventually give his club the lead:

The Astros did try to mount a comeback off AJ Puk, with Yordan Alvarez hitting his fourth home run of the series, but stability reigned and the A’s won their seventh game this season against the potential number one seed in the AL.

Los Angeles Angels (63-82) 2, Seattle Mariners (80-64) 1

For the second straight night, the Angels played spoiler to the Mariners hopes of moving up in the Wild Card race. Tungsten Arm O’Doyle was the difference, as he often is, as Shohei Ohtani pitched seven innings of shutout ball, striking out eight against a single walk. He drove in Mike Trout in the first inning, and came around to score in the fourth, accounting for both Angels runs.

The Mariners actually outhit LA on the night, but scratched across just one run on Taylor Trammel’s home run in the eighth. It looked for a moment like the Mariners would make a game of it, but it was too little too late as the Angels secured the series win.

Other Contenders

• Cleveland Guardians (78-66) 5, Minnesota Twins (72-72) 1 (Game One)

Cleveland Guardians (79-66) 5, Minnesota Twins (72-73) 1 (Game Two): Shane Bieber dominated over eight innings in the first game of the double dip, while José Ramírez went deep on his 30th birthday to help pace the offense. In the nightcap, Cleveland went up 5-0 before the Twins clawed all the way back to tie it up in the seventh. We ended up going 13 innings in this one before Nick Gordon finally brought Carlos Correa home on a sac fly to give the Twins the lead ... only for them to cough it up in the bottom half. We went all the way to the 15th, before a terrible Twins error allowed Austin Hedges to come home and win the game for the Guardians.

• Chicago White Sox (75-70) 4, Detroit Tigers (54-90) 3 (11 innings): The mediocre played the terrible to help decide the mundane division. Eduardo Rodriguez pitched 6.1 solid innings and Akil Baddoo had a banger of a play, scoring from second on a ground ball, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Yoan Moncada’s eventual game-winning single in the 11th.