Yankees Rivalry Roundup: Blue Jays score slightly less than 20, lose to Rays

After picking up one of the more fun wins of the young season on Tuesday, the Yankees followed that with one of the more frustrating losses last night. After six strong innings to start the game, Nestor Cortes again struggled in the third time through the order, getting knocked out of the game. Then the bullpen completed the collapse, allowing an eight-run seventh inning en route to a loss to the Orioles.

While there weren’t many more eventful games than the Yankees’ one yesterday, let’s check in on what went down around the league.

Tampa Bay Rays (36-15) 7, Toronto Blue Jays (26-24) 3

After getting hit all over the ballpark on Tuesday, the Rays got seven strong innings from Shane McClanahan last night, allowed them to bounce back.

To start things off, McClanahan retired the first 10 batters of the game, as his offense did their part, scoring five runs over the first four innings. Luke Raley and Jose Siri led the way with homers, as seven of nine Rays’ starters recorded at least one hit.

In the end, McClanahan struck out seven in seven innings, allowing just one run on four hits.

After he left, the Blue Jays threatened a slight rally, cutting the score to 5-3 in the eighth. However, the Rays answered right back, sealing the win.

Milwaukee Brewers (27-22) 4, Houston Astros (28-21) 0

Five and a third good innings from Brewers’ starter Adrian Houser and a couple more from the bullpen were enough for Milwaukee to fire a shutout against the Astros for the second consecutive game. Houston hasn’t scored since it pushed its winning streak to eight on Monday.

On the offensive side of things, Milwaukee got off to a very quick start. After Christian Yelich led off the bottom of the first with a double, Willy Adames homered in the very next at-bat, demolishing a two-run shot to straightaway center.

After that, Houser went to work, as he retired 17 of the first 19 batters he faced, including 15 in a row at one point. That streak ended after a Alex Bregman in the sixth, at which point, Milwaukee went to their bullpen, who continued the impressive performance. The Brewers added two runs in the seventh on Owen Miller and Brian Anderson homers, as they finished off a shutout.

Other Games

• Los Angeles Angels (28-23) 7, Boston Red Sox (26-24) 3: Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout were among the Angels to homer as LA downed the Red Sox. The biggest home run of the night came from rookie Zach Neto, who took former Yankee James Paxton deep for a three-run shot in the second inning. That was part of a four-run frame from the Angels, who mostly cruised after that as they polished off a three-game sweep. The Red Sox are now back into a last-place tie with the Blue Jays, 3.5 games behind New York for third.
• Seattle Mariners (25-24) 6, Oakland Athletics (10-41) 1: A five-run fourth inning propelled the Mariners to a win as they had no trouble with the hapless A’s (who have now dropped 15 of their last 17 games). On the mound, Seattle pitcher Bryce Miller threw six shutout innings, allowing just two hits in his fifth career start, continuing a very impressive rookie campaign so far.
• Texas Rangers (31-18) 3, Pittsburgh Pirates (25-24) 2: Three first-inning runs from Texas held up as they picked up a win over Pittsburgh. Marcus Semien homered for the Rangers on the second pitch of the game as they led wire-to-wire. The Pirates got two runs back in the second inning, but that was all they could muster against Rangers’ starter Martín Pérez. In the eighth, Pittsburgh did have a bit of a chance, loading the bases, but they came up short in that inning and in the game.
• Minnesota Twins (26-24) 7, San Francisco Giants (24-25) 1: Much like the Rangers, the Twins took a lead in their first at-bat of the game and never relinquished it as they beat the Giants. Edouard Julien led off the bottom of the first with a homer, leading the way as Minnesota put up six runs over the first four innings and never looked back. On the mound, the Twins got five innings of one-run ball from Joe Ryan, before their bullpen sealed the deal.
• Chicago White Sox (21-30) 6, Cleveland Guardians (21-28) 0: Clint Frazier recorded a hit, a walk, and two runs as the White Sox blanked the Guardians. The former Yankee was involved in a big five-run inning from Chicago as they opened up a sizeable lead. The six runs they scored on the game ended up being more than enough thanks to Michael Kopech, who allowed just two hits and a walk in seven innings, striking out nine.