Yankees Rivalry Roundup: Gausman makes mincemeat of Mariners

After getting blanked by the Rangers last night, the Yankees are now one game out of last place. The crazy part is that this scenario was both unthinkable and predictable seeing how the organization’s winter and spring transpired. It may be early, but if they’re not careful they risk being left behind by the AL teams that show up to play on a consistent basis.

Toronto Blue Jays (18-9) 1, Seattle Mariners (11-16) 0

Kevin Gausman certainly appears to be heating up, as he now has back-to-back outings going seven scoreless with at least eleven strikeouts. Last time out was against the Yankees and this time it was the Mariners on the receiving end, as they struck out 13 times to give the Toronto righty a new career-high.

Even with this dominant performance, it was his competitor who held the upper hand for much of the contest. Easton McGee, making his major league debut, carried a no-hitter for 6.2 innings until a Matt Chapman double broke up the bid and knocked him from the contest. It was a pitcher’s duel throughout until Daulton Varsho walked it off with a single in the tenth.

Philadelphia Phillies (15-13) 6, Houston Astros (14-13) 1

Looking at the starting pitching matchups, one could expect fireworks from a meeting between Zack Wheeler and Cristian Javier, but it was the former who won the day with six scoreless innings and seven strikeouts. Even without Bryce Harper and Rhys Hoskins, this Phillies offense looks like a juggernaut from top to bottom, tagging Javier for three runs on seven hits in 5.2 innings.

Nick Castellanos opened the scoring in the fourth with a booming solo shot, J.T. Realmuto doubling their advantage with a sac fly following a Brandon Marsh double.

Philadelphia added two more in the sixth on a Realmuto double and a Kody Clemens two-run shot that knocked Javier from the contest.

The Phillies made it 6-0 in the eighth thanks to an RBI double from Alec Bohm and RBI single from Jake Cave, the Astros managing just the lone consolation run in the bottom-half on a Jeremy Peña leadoff home run.

Tampa Bays Rays (23-5) 12, Chicago White Sox (7-21) 3

The White Sox really are the unintentional trolls of the first month. They provided false hope leading the game, 3-0, with a no-no through six before a meltdown of monumental proportions saw them concede 10 runs in the seventh inning. They’ve now lost 10 straight and even benched Luis Robert Jr. in the first for this effort:

Lance Lynn had a no-hitter and ten strikeouts through six innings while his offense was humming along scoring two in the second on an Elvis Andrus single and one in the sixth on an Eloy Jiménez double. But then he imploded the minute he faced the Rays lineup for the third time.

Words cannot do justice to what transpired next, so perhaps these will suffice:

How quickly Lynn’s fortunes turned, as he winds up with four runs to his name. His replacements fared no better, Aaron Bummer and Jimmy Lambert each converting just one out while yielding three and four runs in the seventh respectively.

The big winners for the Rays included Randy Arozarena and Wander Franco. The former went 2-for-5 with two home runs and four driven in while the latter was 2-for-4 with a home run and three driven in. Josh Lowe and Mejía also left the yard as the Rays continue to widen their ridiculous lead atop the run differential leaderboard.

Other Matchups

Detroit Tigers (10-15) 7, Baltimore Orioles (17-9) 4 (Game 1)

The Orioles dropped the first game of the doubleheader, with Dean Kremer getting knocked around for five runs on 11 hits while Eduardo Rodríguez shoved for 5.2 one-run innings. Jorge Mateo had a three-run home run while Detroit’s Matt Vierling drove in four as part of a three-hit afternoon.

Baltimore Orioles (18-9) 6, Detroit Tigers (10-16) 4 (Game 2)

They did manage to split the doubleheader on the back of an outstanding performance from their top pitching prospect Grayson Rodriguez — five scoreless innings allowing two hits against nine strikeouts. Ryan McKenna was 2-for-4 with a home run and three driven in while the Tigers’ Tyler Nevin had a pinch-hit three run blast in the sixth to keep the score close.

Kansas City Royals (7-21) 3, Minnesota Twins (16-12) 2

The Royals’ Brad Keller and the Twins’ Bailey Ober dueled into the middle innings, both holding their opposition to a run with the latter converting one more out than the former. The Twins held a 2-1 lead heading into the eighth, but Kansas City scored a run in each of the final two innings including off dominant Twins closer Jhoan Duran to eke out the divisional victory.

Cleveland Guardians (13-14) 7, Boston Red Sox (14-14) 8

The Red Sox jumped out to a 6-1 lead through the first six innings that included a Rafael Devers three-run blast in the first and Cristian Arroyo two-run single in the fourth. However, the Guardians came roaring back with a four run seventh thanks to an Andrés Giménez leadoff home run and Josh Naylor three-run double. They tied it in the ninth to send it to extras, but the Red Sox prevailed on an Alex Verdugo walk-off single.