Yankees Rivalry Roundup: Blue Jays’ offense struggles, Rays cruise

After getting Friday off, the Yankees were back in action on Saturday, in a game that wasn’t quite as fun as Opening Day. While Anthony Volpe picked up his first two career hits, the Yankees fell 7-5 to the Giants as a ninth inning rally came up short.

Besides that, it was a busy day around baseball, so let’s check in on what some of the Yankees’ competition did on Saturday.

St. Louis Cardinals (1-1) 4, Toronto Blue Jays (1-1) 1

The Blue Jays were held in check by Cardinals’ starter Jack Flaherty, who threw five no-hit innings, before handing it over to the St. Louis bullpen to finish off a win.

The bulk of the Cardinals’ offense came in the third inning, when they picked up three runs with two outs, thanks to some help from Toronto. With Brendan Donovan and Paul Goldschmidt on base, Nolan Arenado grounded one to Matt Chapman for what should’ve been the final out of the inning. Instead, Chapman fumbled with the ball and sent the throw wide of first base.

Even beyond the run that scored on that play, the error also kept the inning alive for Nolan Gorman, who singled to plate two more runs.

Despite the no hits against him, Toronto had some chances against Flaherty. The best came in the first inning, when he walked the bases loaded. However, he struck out Brandon Belt to escape that jam. In total, Flaherty walked seven batters in five innings, but Toronto couldn’t get a hit to compliment them.

They eventually broke up the no-hitter against Andre Pallante in the seventh, and got on the board in the eighth on a wild pitch in the eighth. That was all they would get, and the Cardinals answered with an insurance run with an RBI single from the highly-touted Jordan Walker.

Houston Astros (2-1) 6, Chicago White Sox (1-2) 4

Three late runs were the difference for the Astros after a back-and-forth first couple innings. Houston had initially taken the lead in the first thanks to RBI singles from Kyle Tucker and Chas McCormick.

However, the White Sox began to work their way back into the game with a Yoán Moncada homer in the second, and then took the lead on Seby Zavala’s two-run shot in the fourth.

Houston quickly answered to even things up in the bottom of the fourth, and the game remained tied until the seventh. There, Tucker put the Astros back in front with a go-ahead single.

The Astros tacked on two more runs in the eighth, with one coming from former White Sox first baseman José Abreu. Chicago got a bit of a rally going in the ninth, scoring one run but left the potential tying runs on base.

Tampa Bay Rays (2-0) 12, Detroit Tigers (0-2) 2

While they already had a lead, the Rays broke this one open with a seven-run third inning and never looked back as they blew out the Tigers.

Already in front thanks to a Randy Arozarena RBI double, Tampa Bay struck early and often as they took control in the third. The Rays brought 13 batters to the plate over the course of the third, as they plated seven runs. The biggest blows came from Jose Siri and Josh Lowe doubles, each of which scored two runs.

While Detroit would eventually pick up a few runs, the Rays picked up a whole bunch more. All but one Rays’ starter recorded at least one hit, with Yandy Díaz and Wander Franco leading the way with three apiece.

Cleveland Guardians (2-1) 2, Seattle Mariners (1-2) 0

After splitting the first two games of the series in Seattle, the Guardians took game three after a nice little battle between the two starting pitchers. For the Mariners, Logan Gilbert struck out seven, while allowing one run on four hits in six innings. However, he was outdueled by Aaron Civale, who threw seven shutout frames, helping his team to victory.

While the Guardians were known for their contact abilities last season, they got their lead in this one thanks to a pair of homers. Cleveland got on the board in the fourth when former Yankees’ nemesis Josh Naylor went deep.

Three innings later, with the score still on a knife edge, Andrés Giménez double the Guardians’ lead.

Cleveland’s bullpen held things down after Civale left to finish off the win.

Other Games

• Boston Red Sox (1-1) 9, Baltimore Orioles (1-1) 8: Despite leading 8-5 going into the final innings, the Orioles couldn’t hang onto the win. The Red Sox scored two runs in the seventh, and then walked it off with two in the ninth on Adam Duvall’s home run.