Yankees Rivalry Roundup: Rays, Jays, O’s all fall

The Yankees showed a grit and determination notably absent from previous contests as they came back to walk off the Padres, 3-2, in extra innings. With most of their AL East opponents losing, the Bombers pick up a game on the competition, and have a chance to win the series tomorrow afternoon. For now, let’s recap the action in the games involving their AL rivals.

Minnesota Twins (27-25) 9, Toronto Blue Jays (27-26) 7

Toronto’s offense may be waking up after dropping 20 on the Rays, but their pitching was profligate, yielding nine runs to the Twins. Chris Bassitt was responsible for seven of those, coming on nine hits in four innings. Twins starter Pablo López wasn’t much better, surrendering four runs on five hits in 5.2 innings.

Bo Bichette opened the scoring in the first with a solo shot and would drive in another pair in the third with a triple as part of a 3-for-5, four RBI night. Kevin Kiermaier was forced to leave in the second with lower back discomfort, and his replacement Cavan Biggio contributed a solo shot in the fourth.

The Twins answered Toronto’s opening blow with three runs in the bottom of the first. They’d score another three in the fifth on back-to-back home runs from Willi Castro and Matt Wallner — two of Minnesota’s biggest contributors on the day. The former left the yard twice driving in three while the latter was a perfect 4-for-4, also driving in three. Edouard Julien had a nice night, going 3-for-5 with two doubles, a home run and two RBI.

Toronto attempted to mount a comeback in the ninth, scoring three on a Whit Merrifield lead-off single, Daulton Varsho two-run homer, and Bichette RBI single, but it was too little too late, 9-7 your final score.

Texas Rangers (33-18) 5, Baltimore Orioles (33-19) 3

Texas was in control throughout, leading 5-1 through eight before a late push from Baltimore made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth. Andrew Heaney twirled seven innings of one-run ball while Marcus Semien went 2-for-5 with a pair driven in. With two outs in the final frame, Austin Hays walked followed by back-to-back RBI doubles from Ryan Mountcastle and Ramón Urías cut the deficit, but Rangers closer Will Smith slammed the door shut, striking out James McCann to seal the 5-3 victory.

Houston Astros (30-21) 6, Oakland Athletics (10-44) 3

This one was much closer than the final scores would indicate, with Houston clinging to a 2-1 lead through seven innings. Framber Valdez went six innings giving up a run on four hits but was out-dueled by Hogan Harris, who went five scoreless allowing a hit and a walk against five strikeouts as the bulk man to follow the opener. Unfortunately, the opener himself was far less effective, kicking off the contest by serving up a leadoff Jose Altuve single followed by a Jeremy Peña two-run bomb.

Oakland reliever Garrett Acton had a nightmare eighth, yielding four runs without recording an out including three straight doubles from Altuve, Peña, and Alex Bregman to open the frame. The A’s would answer with two runs in the bottom-half, but the hole Acton dug was too deep as they fell to the Astros, 6-3, for the 10th consecutive loss.

Los Angeles Dodgers (32-21) 6, Tampa Bay Rays (38-16) 5

The Dodgers roughed up Tyler Glasnow in his season debut, touching him for three runs on five hits in 4.1 innings, though he did strike out eight. Meanwhile, Clayton Kershaw had one of his shakier starts of the season, surrendering four runs on six hits in five innings. Freddie Freeman smacked a pair of doubles while Max Muncy added a double and a home run with two driven in.

Muncy opened the scoring leading off the second with a home run, and LA would push the lead to 3-0 in the fourth thanks to a Muncy RBI double and David Peralta RBI single. Tampa Bay answered with a pair of their own in the bottom-half, a two-run single from Manny Margot. They would even grab the lead an inning later on a two-run home run from Harold Ramírez.

The Dodgers hung around, scoring two in the seventh on Freeman’s second double and one in the eighth on a Miguel Vargas solo shot, and it turned out they needed all of that cushion with Tampa Bay making things uncomfortable in the bottom of the ninth. A Taylor Walls double and Yandy Díaz walk put a pair on for Wander Franco, whose RBI single cut the deficit to one, however Caleb Ferguson got Ramírez to ground into the game-ending force out as LA held on, 6-5.

Other Games:

Seattle Mariners (27-25) 5, Pittsburgh Pirates (26-25) 0

Luis Castillo twirled six shutout innings of one-hit, ten-strikeout ball as the Pirates offense never looked close to scoring, mustering just two hits in the contest. Seattle scored three in the first on RBI doubles from Ty France and Teoscar Hernández and an RBI single from Eugenio Suárez, adding one each in the second and seventh to cruise to the 5-0 victory.

Boston Red Sox (28-24) 2, Arizona Diamondbacks (29-23) 1

Garrett Whitlock looked sharp in his return from injury, holding Arizona to a run on three hits in five innings. Ketel Marte’s solo home run accounted for all of the Diamondbacks’ offense while Kiké Hernández and Reese McGuire each drove in a run in the fourth of the Red Sox’s 2-1 victory.

St. Louis Cardinals (24-30) 2, Cleveland Guardians (22-29) 1

Jack Flaherty had his best start of the season, limiting Cleveland to a run on seven hits in seven innings. His counterpart Tanner Bibee was just as sharp, going six strong allowing a run on two hits against nine strikeouts. Brendan Donovan opened the scoring in the second with a solo shot, but José Ramírez responded in the third with an RBI single. St. Louis would win it in extras as a David Fry passed ball allowed Donovan to score in the 10th.