Yankees Rivalry Roundup: Astros pull away from Orioles late

The Yankees’ struggles continued on Wednesday night, as they took another loss to the White Sox. Dropping a series to a team and organization that had seemingly been in chaos in the days leading up to the matchup was especially poor for the Bombers.

With the Yankees getting an addition to their loss column, let’s look at what some of the teams they’re chasing did last night.

Oakland Athletics (33-82) 2, Texas Rangers (68-47) 0

The A’s pitching has been notoriously poor this season, but they managed to shutout the Rangers on Wednesday. Five Oakland pitchers combined to allowed just four hits and three walks in their win over Texas.

It was a bullpen/opener game for the A’s, with Austin Pruitt starting the game with two no-hit innings, before Freddie Tarnok went 4.2. As that was going on, the Athletics got one run on a Jonah Bride sacrifice fly in the third inning, and one on a Zack Gelof homer in the sixth.

Things got a little iffy for Oakland in the ninth when Sam Huff and Robbie Grossman singled, bringing the potential go-ahead run to the plate. However, Trevor May eventually got Josh Smith to line out to end the game.

St. Louis Cardinals (50-65) 6, Tampa Bay Rays (69-47) 4

The Rays were another team opting for a bullpen game/opener day, but the Cardinals got to them to the tune of five runs in the first four innings as they beat Tampa Bay.

While St. Louis took a lead in the top of the second, the Rays answered right back, taking the lead on a two-run Jose Siri homer in the bottom half of the inning. However, the Cardinals struck back them selves after that. Nolan Arenado and Jordan Walker drove home runs to take the lead back in the third, and Paul Goldschmidt added two more in the fourth.

The Rays managed to keep the Cardinals in check after that, and were will within striking distance for the rest of the game. They had a chance when they brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth, but St. Louis’ bullpen managed to shut the door.

Houston Astros (66-49) 8, Baltimore Orioles (70-44) 2

The game seemed to be going right down to the wire until the Astros broke things open with a four-run eighth inning and took control.

Houston got the scoring started early, picked up two runs in the first on a Kyle Tucker homer and a third run in the second inning. After that, Orioles’ deadline acquisition Jack Flaherty settled down and got through five frames, keeping Baltimore in the game. The Orioles also got within a run thanks to a two-run Austin Hays homer.

However, then the eighth inning happened. Despite the first two Astros’ hitters going down in order, Baltimore’s Shintaro Fujinami walked the bases loaded. Unsurprisingly, that haunted the O’s in a big way. Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman would each record two-RBI hits, breaking the game open for Houston, and leaving Baltimore in their wake.

Toronto Blue Jays (65-51) 1, Cleveland Guardians (55-60) 0

Kevin Gausman put in a dominant outing for the Blue Jays, as they beat the Guardians. Gausman allowed just four hits and no walks in seven shutout innings.

The only run of the game came in just the second at-bat in in. With one out in the first, George Springer homered to give Toronto an early lead, and — as it turned out — all the offense they would need. They had other chances, but ended up stranding eight runners on base, leaving the game in the balance until the very end.

However after Gausman left, the Jays’ bullpen kept things going and competed the shutout.

Other Games

Boston Red Sox (59-55) 4, Kansas City Royals (37-79) 3: While the Royals held an early lead, the Red Sox struck with three runs in the fourth inning and never trailed after that. Nick Pivetta was solid over five innings, and the Boston bullpen sealed the win, although things got a little interesting as Kenley Jansen allowed a run in the ninth. Also, this happened:

Los Angeles Angels (58-58) 4, San Francisco Giants (62-53) 1: Shohei Ohtani went six innings, allowing one run on the mound, and also drew two walks at the plate as the Angels got back to .500. Mike Moustakas also had a good day at the plate for the Angels, going 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI.

Seattle Mariners (62-52) 6, San Diego Padres (55-60) 1: A five-run eighth inning gave the Mariners the edge they needed to beat the Padres. The game was a pitcher’s duel for a while, with Yu Darvish and Emerson Hancock both putting in solid outings. However, Seattle — led by a Cal Raleigh home run — pulled away late.

AL Central Rock Fight

Detroit Tigers (51-63) 9, Minnesota Twins (60-56) 5

We already touched on the Guardians’ half of the rock fight, and now let’s recap the Twins. With Cleveland losing, Minnesota had a chance to gain a full game on them, but they ended up losing to Detroit. The Tigers rocked Minnesota starter Bailey Ober to the tune of five runs on 11 hits in five innings. The Twins briefly held a 3-2 lead after the top of the second, but Ober gave up two runs in the bottom of the inning, and Detroit never trailed again.