Yankees Rivalry Roundup: Rangers cruise, Astros lose

Things continue to go extremely poorly for the Yankees. They opened up a series against the MLB-best Braves on Monday night, and Atlanta looked like said best team. They cracked double digits against the Yankees, as the Bombers’ swoon continued at 5.5 games behind idle Toronto.

With the Yankees continuing to go in the wrong direction in the winning percentage column, let’s check in on how some of the AL competition did last night.

Miami Marlins (63-57) 5, Houston Astros (68-52) 1

The manner it happened was certainly embarrassing, but the Yankees losing a series to the Marlins is not completely unthinkable. Miami proved that further by dispatching the Astros and Framber Valdez on Tuesday night. The Marlins hit back-to-back-to-back homers in the eighth inning, putting away the game after it had been mostly close.

After Miami took a 2-0 lead in the second, their pitching responded by shutting out the Astros through the first six innings. Starter Braxton Garrett led the way, going five innings, allowing four hits.

Houston eventually got on the board in the seventh when Jose Altuve doubled home a run. That appeared to set things up for a potential blockbuster last couple innings. The Astros then started the eighth inning by putting the first two runners on. However, Tanner Scott eventually got out of the inning. Their offense then got some insurance runs before David Robertson closed things out in the ninth.

Texas Rangers (71-48) 12, Los Angeles Angels (59-61) 0

The Angels have had their own struggles of late, and that came to a head on Monday, as the Rangers drove them into the ground. Texas’ offense cracked double digits, and Max Scherzer allowed just one hit in seven shutout innings.

All but one of the Rangers’ starters recorded a hit as they pounded the Angels’ pitching. Starter Patrick Sandoval was knocked out after just 2.2 innings, having given up five runs on four hits and six walks. Marcus Semien had a big day for Texas, as he drove home five runs, which included a three-run home run.

Meanwhile, Scherzer allowed just one walk in addition to the one hit, as he struck out 11 Angels in seven innings.

Out of Reach

Let’s face it, the Yankees aren’t going to catch the Orioles or the Rays for the AL East crown. We’re still going to keep an eye on their results, but just not as in depth as we would with the teams the Yankees are theoretically still battling with.

Baltimore Orioles (74-45) 4, San Diego Padres (56-63) 1: Three RBI from Gunnar Henderson and seven solid innings from Grayson Rodriguez helped the O’s to a win out west. Baltimore already had the lead when Henderson cleared the bases with a double in the fifth, but that ended up being enough for the Orioles to pick up the victory.

Tampa Bay Rays (72-49) 10, San Francisco Giants (63-56) 2: Harold Ramírez, Curtis Mead, and Christian Bethancourt all had three-hit games as the Rays blew out the Giants. The games was scoreless until the top of the fourth, when Tampa Bay put up three runs and pretty much never looked back from there.

Other Games

Kansas City Royals (39-81) 7, Seattle Mariners (63-55) 6: This was quite a game of twists and turns. Royals starter Brady Singer took a no-hitter into the seventh inning as his offense gave him a 5-0 lead. However, the Mariners came all the way back, scoring four runs in the eighth, and two in the ninth to improbably take a lead. However, Kansas City rallied themselves in the bottom of the ninth, winning the game on a Dairon Blanco squeeze bunt.