Yankees Rivalry Roundup: Rays take series in Houston

While the weekend saw the return to Aaron Judge to the Yankees’ lineup, it ended in frustration. With Judge sitting out and the Yankees taking it easy with him, the Orioles jumped on Luis Severino early and often. Baltimore rode that to a victory and a series win.

That may have played out poorly for the Yankees, but let’s check in on how some of their AL competition did on Sunday.

Los Angeles Angels (55-51) 3, Toronto Blue Jays (59-47) 2 (10 innings)

Hunter Renfroe’s two-run homer in the top of the 10th ended up being the difference as the Angels won in extras, despite the Blue Jays scoring themselves.

The game was low scoring prior to the 10th, with the Angels denting home plate on a Renfroe sacrifice fly in the third, and Whit Merrifield hitting an RBI single in the fifth. However other than that, it was a mostly a pitchers’ duel between Tyler Anderson and José Berríos.

Once the game went to Manfredball in the 10th, the Angels took the lead in the top of the inning thanks to Renfroe’s homer. The Blue Jays got their answer in the bottom of the inning off to the perfect start when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled home a run to lead off the frame. A walk after that brought the potential game-winning run to the plate with still nobody out, but Carlos Estévez responded by retiring the next three hitters to seal the win, with the final out coming on a loud Danny Jansen lineout.

Tampa Bay Rays (64-44) 8, Houston Astros (59-47) 2

The Rays scored four first inning run, including three on a bases-loaded Josh Lowe double, and never looked back as they took a series in Houston despite the 17-4 loss on Saturday.

The Rays jumped out to a big early lead thanks to a first inning that saw two hits, two walks, and an error on the Astros’ part. That frame ensured that they would never trail. Zack Littell did a solid job for them on the mound, allowing just two runs in five innings, despite eight Houston hits.

Meanwhile, the other Lowe in Tampa Bay’s lineup — Brandon — drove home three runs of his own, as the Rays’ recorded 12 hits on the day. Their bullpen kept the Astros off the board, giving them a series win on the road.

San Diego Padres (52-54) 5, Texas Rangers (60-46) 3

On a day where they acquired a former Yankee in Jordan Montgomery to join Max Scherzer, the Rangers had their hopes of a win dashed by Monty’s former Bronx batterymate. Gary Sánchez hit two home runs as the Padres swept Texas.

Sánchez went deep in both the fourth and fifth innings as San Diego opened up a 4-1 lead. Blake Snell mostly held the Rangers in check, but he departed after five innings, after which Texas got back in the game a bit.

The Rangers scored two runs in the sixth, and then had a couple further chances to tie or take the lead. In the ninth, they loaded the bases before Josh Hader got Josh Jung to fly out to end the game.

Other Games

• San Francisco Giants (58-48) 4, Boston Red Sox (56-49) 3 (11 innings): Joc Pederson’s extra-inning, walk-off single gave the Giants the win. Justin Turner hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning that had the Red Sox on the verge of a win, but San Francisco rallied to tie the game before taking it in the 11th.
• Seattle Mariners (54-51) 4, Arizona Diamondbacks (56-50) 0: Luis Castillo allowed just two hits in six innings, as he struck out seven and helped the Mariners to a win. Seattle scored two runs in the first and mostly cruised from there, as the D-Backs recorded just three hits all game long.

AL Central Rock Fight

Kansas City Royals (32-75) 2, Minnesota Twins (54-53) 1
Cleveland Guardians (53-53) 5, Chicago White Sox (43-64) 0

The Twins lost ground in the Central race as they managed just one run in seven innings against Royals’ starter Ryan Yarbrough. They picked up seven hits in total on the day, but only two went for extra bases, as Minnesota left six runners on base.

Meanwhile, the Guardians got back to .500 thanks to a shutout performance from Aaron Civale. He held the White Sox to three hits in six innings as a two homer day from José Ramírez led the way for Cleveland on the offensive side of things.