Yankees Rivalry Roundup: Orioles, Blue Jays mash, Rays don’t

Yesterday was another late night from the Yankees’ perspective, as the Bombers continued their West Coast road trip with game two of their series against the Mariners. However, there was still plenty of baseball that you could’ve watched prior to that, if you wished. Let’s check in on that action and take a look at how some of the Yankees’ AL rivals did on Tuesday.

Baltimore Orioles (35-20) 8, Cleveland Guardians (24-30) 5

While Cleveland got within a couple runs late, eight early runs from the Orioles ended up being enough in their win over the Guardians.

Baltimore scored two runs in the first inning, but really broke things open with five runs in the second. They got some help thanks to Cal Quantrill walking Adley Rutschman with the bases loaded, and Will Brennan misplaying a ball, leading to bases loaded Anthony Santander triple.

Kyle Gibson was solid on the mound for Baltimore, but Cleveland did eventually get to him and made it close later on. Cleveland got within three in the seventh inning and would bring the tying run to the plate then and again in the eighth inning. However, the Orioles’ bullpen eventually got the job done.

Toronto Blue Jays (29-26) 7, Milwaukee Brewers (28-26) 2

The Blue Jays slugged seven runs over the first three innings and never looked back as they beat the Brewers.

Milwaukee actually scored the first runs of the game when William Contreras hit a two-run homer in the top of the first. Toronto responded with five of their first six batters reaching base. Whit Merrifield delivered the big blow with a two-run double that ended up giving the Jays the lead for good.

After allowing the homer in the first, Yusei Kikuchi settled down a bit for Toronto, and ended up going five innings allowing two runs on three hits and five walks. The Blue Jays’ bullpen followed that up with four scoreless innings, including two from Nate Pearson, who impressively struck out four batters.

The Toronto offense added a couple more runs for the road, with Vladmir Guerrero Jr. and Alejandro Kirk each recording three hits.

Chicago Cubs (24-30) 2, Tampa Bay Rays (39-18) 1

An impressive performance from Cubs pitching allowed them to hold the good Rays offense in check and pull out a win over Tampa Bay.

Chicago got out to a very quick start when Nico Hoerner homered on the very first pitch Shane McClanahan threw in the bottom of the first.

Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks was pretty good, but Tampa Bay eventually evened the score on a Randy Arozarena RBI single in the fifth, which would be Hendricks’ final inning. Chicago would then take the lead back in the sixth, thanks to a familiar face for Yankees fans. With Ian Happ on third, Mike Tauchman delivered a two-out single to put the Cubs back in front.

Chicago’s bullpen held up after that as the Rays would finish 2-for-10 at the plate with runners in scoring position.

Houston Astros (32-22) 5, Minnesota Twins (28-27) 1

The Twins finished the game with more hits than the Astros (6-5), but Houston got them in big moments, allowing them to outscore Minnesota 5-1. Alex Bregman and Chas McCormick each went deep for Houston, while José Abreu also picked up an RBI for the Astros. Meanwhile, Brandon Bielak was solid for Houston on the mound, holding the Twins to one run on three hits in 5.2 innings.

The Twins had their chances, but they ended up stranding nine runners over the course of the game, and that was never going to be good enough.

Other Games

• Texas Rangers (35-19) 10, Detroit Tigers (25-28) 6: While it wasn’t a great day for Martín Pérez and Texas’ pitching, their offense held their own as they continued their impressive start to the season. Jonah Heim drove in four runs, while Adolis García and Josh Jung recorded four and three hits respectively as the Rangers slugged their way to a win.
• Cincinnati Reds (25-29) 9, Boston Red Sox (28-26) 8: After spotting the Reds an eight-run led, the Red Sox nearly rallied all the way back before coming up 90 feet short. Going into the ninth, Boston trailed 9-3, but fought back. A Jarren Duran groundout made the score 9-8, but put the tying run at third with two outs. However, Cincinnati’s Alexis Díaz struck out Triston Casas to save the Reds from a complete collapse.