Yankees Rivalry Roundup: Orioles rally, Rays sweep doubleheader

After a generally dispiriting game on Friday, the Yankees bounced back with a much better one on Saturday. They got a good performance on the mound from Clarke Schmidt, and got good games out of a couple different players in the lineup.

As they were doing that, there was plenty of other action going on elsewhere around baseball. Let’s check in on it in today’s Rivalry Roundup.

Tampa Bay Rays (59-35) 6, Kansas City Royals (26-66) 1 [Game 1]

Jose Siri hit two home runs as the Rays pulled away late to take the first game of their doubleheader against the Royals.

Siri hit the first of those homers in the third inning, opening the scoring, and Francisco Mejía then added another solo shot two innings later. Bobby Witt Jr. got KC on the board with a homer of his own, keeping the Royals within striking distance.

However in the eighth inning, Royals reliever Collin Snider walked the bases loaded, which came back to haunt him. The Rays picked up two runs in the eighth thanks to a Luke Raley hit and a Josh Lowe sacrifice fly. Siri added his second homer in the ninth as Tampa Bay pulled away.

The Rays were also able to eventually take control thanks to a very good outing from Tyler Glasnow, who allowed one run in six innings.

Tampa Bay Rays (60-35) 4, Kansas City Royals (26-67) 2 [Game 2]

In the nightcap, the Royals took a lead into the late innings, only for the Rays to score a run in all of the seventh, eighth, and ninth inning to complete the doubleheader sweep.

The teams each scored a run in third, and Kansas City took a lead in the fifth. That held up for a while with Royals’ starter Cole Ragans putting in a solid five-inning performance. However, once they went to their bullpen, the Rays turned the tide.

Lowe evened things up in the seventh when his triple drove home a run. The next inning, a Raley RBI single gave Tampa the lead. The Rays tacked on one more run in the ninth, and that ended up being enough to take the second game. They’re now nine games up on the Yankees in the AL East.

Toronto Blue Jays (52-41) 5, Arizona Diamondbacks (52-41) 2

Whitt Merrifield’s two RBI and Bo Bichette’s late home run proved the difference as the Blue Jays won their interleague matchup against the Diamondbacks.

Toronto opened the game’s scoring when George Springer drove home two on a single in the second inning. Arizona then evened things in the fourth, scoring two runs on an infield single which featured a very close play at first base.

However, Merrifield gave the Jays the lead in the seventh, and he and Bichette gave them some breathing room as Toronto came away with the win, securing their two-game edge on New York.

Texas Rangers (54-39) 2, Cleveland Guardians (45-47) 0

Yankee legend Andrew Heaney threw 5.1 scoreless inning as his bullpen combined to finish off a shutout win over the Guardians.

The game’s only runs came early, with one scoring on an Adolis García groundout in the first, and another on a Marcus Semien sac fly in the second. After that, pitching took over. Despite the Guardians putting up eight hits and a walk on the day, the Rangers’ pitching kept them off the board with another former Yankee — Aroldis Chapman — recording the save.

Baltimore Orioles (56-35) 6, Miami Marlins (53-41) 5

Anthony Santander’s two-RBI double in the seventh inning gave the Orioles their first lead of the game as they rallied past the Marlins.

A wild second inning saw the Marlins score four runs, only to lose nearly the entire lead as the Orioles answered with three. Miami got one run back in the fourth inning, only to to give up one in the fifth. That set things up for Santander’s heroics in the seventh.

The Marlins had a chance to answer in the eighth when Luis Arraez double as part of his four-hit day. However, Baltimore’s bullpen sealed the deal, retiring four-straight batters after that double.

Los Angeles Angels (46-47) 13, Houston Astros (51-42) 12 (10 innings)

After an absolutely wild game, the Angels won in the only way possible: a walk-off error on what otherwise would’ve been an inning-ending double play.

While the Angels took a 3-0 lead in the second on a Luis Rengifo home run, Houston came back with two runs in the third and two in the fourth, taking the lead on a Manny Maldonado double. The game stayed there for a while until an absolutely wild seventh inning.

The Astros seemed to take control of the game, as they put up five runs in the top half of the inning, capped off by a three-run shot from José Abreu. However, the Angels came all the way back in the bottom half of the inning, scoring six runs to tie the game.

After all that, it appeared that the Angels were still in for some pain. A two-run homer from Chas McCormick gave Houston the lead back, and they tacked on another in the ninth.

Down three and down to their last chance, Shohei Ohtani gave the Angels some hope with a ninth inning solo shot. The next three hitters all singled, loading the bases. After a passed ball on Maldonado, LA got within one run and suddenly had the winning run in scoring position. Hunter Renfroe delivered a single, tying the game, but the Angels couldn’t plate another run, and the game was off to extras.

The Angels managed to strand Houston’s auto-runner at third, setting up the bottom half of the inning. After getting the first out, the Astros understandably walked Ohtani. That moved appear to work when Taylor Ward hit a ground ball to second base. However, Mauricio Dubón’s throw was wide of the target, giving LA a ridiculous win.

Other Games

• Chicago Cubs (43-48) 10, Boston Red Sox (49-44) 4: Cody Bellinger has been one of the players most connected to the Yankees for trade deadline season, and he put a notch in the “pro” column in this one. His grand slam helped the Cubs open up a big lead and beat the Red Sox. This game plus the Yankees’ win means the Yankees are no longer tied for last in the AL East. Hooray?
• Detroit Tigers (41-50) 6, Seattle Mariners (45-46) 0: Thanks to 6.2 shutout innings from Michael Lorenzen and four RBI from Kerry Carpenter, Detroit cruised past Seattle. While Lorenzen walked five, he allowed just two hits, keeping the M’s off the board.

AL Central Rock Fight

• Minnesota Twins (47-46) 10, Oakland Athletics (25-69) 7: The Guardians already got covered due to playing the Rangers, so today’s edition of the Rock Fight features the Twins, who got back above .500 with a wild game against the Twins. Despite jumping out to a 6-0 lead, Minnesota ended up finding them in a tied game going into the seventh inning. However, they scored a run each in the last three innings as they avoided a dumb loss to Oakland. Minnesota is now 1.5 up on Cleveland in the division.