Yankees Rivalry Roundup: 11 runs against multiple rivals

Following an absolutely putrid weekend trip to Boston, the Yankees thankfully had last night off, which means we were spared from watching an offense that has been quite offensive to New Yorkers lately. While it was a relatively light day throughout the league, several of the Yankees American League rivals nonetheless took the field. Let’s go over how they did:

Miami Marlins (42-31) 11, Toronto Blue Jays (39-35) 0

Kicking off a three-game set against the surprise of the National League East, the Toronto Blue Jays continued their cold stretch, as they dropped their third straight game and seventh of their last 10.

Absolutely no part of the Toronto team showed up yesterday. Starter José Berríos, who has bounced back well after a disastrous 2022, allowed five runs on eight hits in four innings of work, including a two-run home run by Jorge Soler in the third that put the first runs on the board for the Marlins. Reliever Nate Pearson allowed the first five batters to reach base in the bottom of the seventh; all five would come around to score. Add on a two-run fourth and one run against infielder Ernie Clement in the eighth, and you get an 11-run outing for the Blue Jays pitching staff.

The lineup, meanwhile, did not do much better. Not only did they fail to score a run, after Danny Jansen led off the third with a double and advanced to third on a fielder’s choice, they did not get a single runner to third base. As Yankee fans are more than aware, it doesn’t matter what your pitching staff does when your offense can’t put a run on the board.

New York Mets (34-38) 11, Houston Astros (39-34) 1

Both the Mets and Astros entered into action Monday night on losing streaks. Fortunately for Yankees fans, at the end of the night, it was the Astros’ streak that remained active, as the defending World Series champs dropped their fifth straight and 10th of their last 13.

Rookie starter Hunter Brown put together his worst start of the season, allowing six runs on seven hits in 5.2 innings. Most of the damage occurred in the top of the third, in which Daniel Vogelbach led off with a solo shot, then Brett Baty and Francisco Alvarez followed that up with a pair of singles. After Brandon Nimmo lined out, Starling Marte laced an RBI single up the middle to make it 2-0, and Francisco Lindor capped off the scoring with a three-run homer to stretch the lead to five.

On the other side, Max Scherzer reminded everyone that, even in a down season at the end of his career, he’s still a Hall of Famer. He spun an absolute gem, delivering eight innings of one-run ball. The only blemish was a solo home run by catcher Yainer Diaz.

A Tommy Pham double and a Jeff McNeil single tacked on one run in the sixth, while a two-out rally in the ninth plated another five to bring the score to 11-1.

Texas Rangers (45-27) 5, Chicago White Sox (31-43) 2

In the closest thing to a close game last night, the Texas Rangers sweated out an attempt at a ninth-inning rally by the Chicago White Sox to win their third straight game and extend their lead in the AL West to five games.

Andrew Heaney got the ball for the Rangers, and in what has become a trend for the left-hander since he left the Yankees, put together a very solid start. He allowed just two runs in 5.2 innings, striking out six and not walking a single batter. The only damage he surrendered came on a pair of two-out solo home runs in the fifth (Andrew Vaughn, Luis Robert) that ultimately chased him from the game.

The Rangers lineup never put together a big inning, but instead racked up five runs with a series of cuts and scrapes. Adolis Garcia doubled in Josh Jung with two outs in the first. Josh Jung homered in the third. Mitch Garver singled in Nathaniel Lowe in the fourth. Jonah Heim knocked in Marcus Semien and Adolis Garcia in the seventh. Even though they couldn’t put together an inning that would put the game away, Texas did not waste a single scoring opportunity.

Chicago attempted to rally off Texas reliever Will Smith in the bottom of the ninth, as a Clint Frazier leadoff walk and Elvis Andrus single brought the tying run to the plate with nobody out. Zach Remilland, however, struck out swinging, Andrew Benintendi lined out to second, and Andrew Vaugh grounded out to third to end the game.

Boston Red Sox (38-35) 9, Minnesota Twins (36-37) 3

The Red Sox continued their quest to climb out of the AL East basement last night with a decisive victory over the Minnesota Twins. Minnesota starter Pablo López, the main piece acquired in the trade that sent Luis Arraez to the Marlins, put together another “meh” outing. After shutting down the Sox in the first two innings, he allowed Boston to get on the board in the third, courtesy of a one-out walk by Pablo Reyes, a Jarren Duran double, an Alex Verdugo plunking, and an Adam Duvall walk with the bases loaded.

Boston added on in the fourth. Connor Wong got things going with two outs in the second. Pablo Reyes followed that up with an infield single, with both runners advancing to second and third, respectively, on an E4. That allowed both to come around to score on Jarren Duran’s second double of the day, giving the Red Sox a 3-0 lead.

The Twins rallied for three runs to knot things up against former Yankee James Paxton in the fifth. However, the tie would not last long, as Boston would themselves rally for three in the top of the sixth, chasing López from the game.

Boston would tack on two more runs in the seventh and one more in the eighth, while the Minnesota lineup managed just four hits against the Red Sox bullpen. And once more, the entire American League East would sit at the top of the AL Central.