Yankees Rivalry Roundup: Rays hold off Padres, Orioles crushed by Cubs

Friday night was, uh, less than ideal for the Yankees. Domingo Germán struggled on the mound and before you know it, the Yankees had allowed 10 runs to the Red Sox through three innings. Needless to say, a comeback was not on the cards after that.

Taking a blowout loss to Boston is always bad enough, but let’s check in on the Yankees’ rivals and see if they added to the misery on Friday night.

Tampa Bay Rays (51-22) 6, San Diego Padres (33-36) 2

Shane McClanahan went 6.2 solid innings, while Randy Arozarena drove home four runs in a Rays’ win.

Tampa Bay picked up some early runs on an Isaac Paredes homer in the second and an Arozarena RBI single in the fourth, but the Rays did their big damage in the fifth. They scored four runs in total in the inning, with three coming on an Arozarena homer.

Meanwhile, the Padres eventually got on the board, picking up a run off McClanahan in the seventh, and one off the Rays’ bullpen in the eighth. The Rays’ starter ended up allowing one run on three hits and three walks, while striking out five in 6.2 innings.

The Padres made a run at a comeback in the ninth, loading the bases and brining the tying run to the plate. However, Pete Fairbanks managed to induce a double play to get the final outs.

Toronto Blue Jays (39-32) 2, Texas Rangers (42-27) 1

The Blue Jays got nearly all of their offense in the fifth inning, but that ended up being all they needed in a low-scoring win against the Rangers.

Kevin Gausman and Martín Pérez were both pretty good, but Gausman ended up being just slightly better. Toronto got both of their runs off Pérez on Danny Jansen’s home run, which ended up being the difference in the game.

Texas got their lone run on a Leody Taveras homer back in the third. However after that, Gausman settled down, and the Blue Jays’ bullpen followed him with a couple scoreless innings to seal the win.

Chicago Cubs (32-37) 10, Baltimore Orioles (43-26) 3

The Cubs jumped on Orioles’ pitching in a three-run third inning and a six-run sixth, as they blew out Baltimore.

In the third inning, three different Cubs hit solo homers, as Chicago knc out Orioles’ starter Cole Irvin after four innings.

After that, the Orioles did fight their back into the game, scoring a run each in the fourth and fifth innings. However, Chicago soon answered that with a sixth inning that included four hits, three walks, and a balk. One of the Cubs’ outs in the inning came on a bunt, and another came on an out at home, so things could’ve been even worse. The O’s were pretty much out of the game after that frame.

Eight different Cubs recorded a hit, led by Christopher Morel, who went 3-for-5 with a home run, a double, and three RBI.

Cincinnati Reds (35-35) 2, Houston Astros (39-31) 1

The Reds’ Andrew Abbott continued the impressive start to his MLB career, as he outdueled the Astros’ J.P. France to help the Reds to a win.

Abbott and France put on a pitcher’s duel for most of the game, with no runs scoring until the seventh inning. Tyler Stephenson’s one-out homer in the sixth broke the deadlock, and Kevin Newman added a RBI double a couple batters later.

Cincinnati went to the bullpen after that, ended Abbott’s day after six scoreless innings, allowing just four hits and two walks. The Reds’ bullpen kept that going until the ninth when things got a little scary for them. José Abreu eventually came around to score after leading off the inning with a double, and Chas McCormick ended up in scoring position after drawing a two-out walk. However, Alexis Díaz shut the door after that, getting the Reds to .500 on the season.

Other Games

• Detroit Tigers (29-39) 7, Minnesota Twins (35-35) 1: We’re back to have no AL Central teams above .500 as the Tigers cruised past the Twins. Led by Javier Báez’s three-run homer, Detroit put up a five spot in the third inning and never looked back from there.
• Arizona Diamondbacks (42-28) 5, Cleveland Guardians (32-37) 1: Ketel Marte, Corbin Carroll, Christian Walker, and Jake McCarthy all had two-hit days, as Arizona racked up 11 and beat the Guardians. Diamondbacks’ starter Zac Gallen put in another good outing, allowing just one run on six hits, while striking out seven.
• Seattle Mariners (34-34) 3, Chicago White Sox (30-41) 2: Teoscar Hernández’s go-ahead home run in the seventh inning proved the different after the teams matched each other over the first six frames. Hernández’ homer saved the Mariners after they had gone just 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position and left 11 on base over the course of the game.