Yankees Rivalry Roundup: Barn burner in Beantown

Old-Timers’ Day was a smashing success, right up until the moment that David Wells opened his mouth. His comments cast a cloud over proceedings and seemed to usher in actual rainclouds whose downpour delayed the start of the Yankees’ eventual 9-2 loss by over two hours. The Bombers weren’t the only team to take the field so let’s jump right into the other action around the AL.

Wild Card Mix

Toronto Blue Jays (79-63) 5, Kansas City Royals (44-99) 1

Kevin Gausman continued to build his Cy Young case against Gerrit Cole, allowing a run on just two hits with ten strikeouts in eight innings to lower his season ERA to 3.28 and increase his lead atop the AL strikeout leaderboard to 217. That lone run came on an Edward Olivares solo shot in the fifth, but otherwise the real headline grabber was George Springer.

Toronto’s right fielder accounted for the lion’s share of his team’s offense, going 3-for-4 with a pair of home runs and four driven in. He led off the fourth with a homer, added a two-run single in the fifth, and wrapped his day up with his second solo shot in the seventh. Toronto’s other run came on an RBI double by Cavan Biggio in the sixth as they cruised to a 5-1 victory.

Division Contenders

Tampa Bay Rays (87-56) 7, Seattle Mariners (79-63) 5

This back-and-forth affair between Al Wild Card hopefuls came down to the wire, with the Rays ultimately defeating the Mariners on Yandy Díaz’s first career walk-off. Seattle jumped Aaron Civale for three runs in the first, and after the Rays clawed one back in the bottom-half, it was instantly nullified by a solo blast by Julio Rodríguez.

Unfortunately for Seattle, the opener strategy backfired, with bulk man Luke Weaver following Trent Thorton’s two innings by allowing four runs in 4.1 IP. Tampa scored two in each of the fifth and seventh via a two-run Brandon Lowe double and back-to-back run scoring hits by Taylor Walls and Díaz to grab their first lead, 5-4. The Mariners managed to tie it in the eighth but with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Wells walked and Díaz left the yard off Tayler Saucedo for the walk-off victory.

Baltimore Orioles (90-51) 13, Boston Red Sox (72-70) 12

This game was all about the offenses as neither Jack Flaherty nor Chris Sale made it beyond the fourth. All but two members of the Red Sox starting nine logged multi-hit days while the Orioles left the yard five times to tally their third-straight double-digit scoring effort. Aaron Hicks and Gunnar Henderson each launched three-run bombs while James McCann left the yard twice while also driving in three.

Down 13-9 and facing Orioles closer Yennier Cano, Boston made things interesting in the ninth. Rafael Devers doubled, Ceddanne Rafaela singled, and Triston Casas walked to load the bases with one out. Trevor Story lined a single to left to plate a pair followed by a Wilyer Abreu RBI single to cut the deficit to one, but Cano got Enmanuel Valdez to fly out as the Orioles hang on for a 13-12 victory, becoming the first 90-win team in the AL.

Texas Rangers (77-64) 3, Oakland Athletics (44-98) 2

Nathan Eovaldi was sharp in his second start back from injury, tossing 2.1 scoreless followed by an equally strong bulk relief appearance from Martín Pérez — 2.2 scoreless allowing just a hit and a walk. A’s starter Sean Newcombe matched his opponents practically stride for stride, logging four scoreless innings with just a hit and two walks against five strikeouts.

Texas struck first with two runs in the sixth on RBI singles from Nathaniel Lowe and Leody Taveras, but Oakland immediately responded in the top of the seventh on a two-run bomb by rookie Zack Gelof. With the game tied at two, A’s reliever Kyle Muller walked the bases loaded with two outs before uncorking a wild pitch to Jonathan Ornelas that allowed Robbie Grossman to score the winning run. The win snaps a four-game skid for the Rangers, but it’s still only their fifth win across the last 21 games.

Houston Astros (81-62) 7, San Diego Padres (67-76) 5

Both starters suffered a big inning which dictated the course of this game, Cristian Javier surrendering four runs in the fourth only for Seth Lugo to cough up five in the fifth. Yordan Alvarez kicked things off with a solo shot in the third but a Jurickson Profar three-run blast and Trent Grisham RBI double an inning later jumped San Diego out front. In the fifth, the Astros batted around, going single, single, double, groundout, double, and then five straight singles to plate their five runs, only Alex Bregman failing to notch a hit in the frame.

San Diego had a couple chances to respond late, loading the bases twice in the sixth but scoring only one run and putting a pair on in the ninth, only for Astros closer Ryan Pressly to strike out three in the frame to slam the door on any comeback attempt.

Minnesota Twins (75-67) 8, New York Mets (64-77) 4

Both starting pitchers were effective, with David Peterson going six innings allowing three runs on eight hits against eight strikeouts against Kenta Maeda’s 5.1 innings of two-run ball. Drew Smith had an absolute nightmare coming out of the Mets ‘pen, giving up four runs in the seventh while recording just two outs. Brandon Nimmo, Pete Alsonso, and DJ Stewart launched solo shots for New York. On Minnesota’s side, Kyle Farmer and Willi Castro each went 3-for-4, but the big blast was a Max Kepler pinch-hit three run triple in the seventh to put the game out of reach.