The Yankees dropped the third game of their series against the Blue Jays, losing a narrow pitchers’ duel between Cam Schlittler and Trey Yesavage. Schlittler matched Yesavage zero for zero on the scoreboard until the seventh inning, when the hits finally poured over and loaded the bases before he walked one in and was pulled. The Jays got one more out of that rally, but that was all they needed as the lineup couldn’t solve Yesavage in their first meeting since the postseason nor do much against the Jays’ bullpen. They’ll look to secure the series win in the finale today, but with the loss they gave their main competition a change to get further ahead before clashing over the weekend.
Tampa Bay Rays (33-15) 5, Baltimore Orioles (21-29) 3
The Rays took full advantage of the opportuntiy, though they waited until the game got late to take over. They scored first on a Hunter Feduccia solo shot in the second inning, but Baltimore responded as Pete Alonso brought a run in on a single in the third. The O’s then took the lead for themselves in the sixth thanks to a pair of homers from Alonso and Samuel Basallo, both solo shots that gave them a 3-1 advantage.
That score held until the eighth inning, when the Rays got a rally going with two outs. Junior Caminero singled to put runners on the corners, and then Jonathan Aranda doubled to bring them both home and tie the game. After a walk, Richie Palacios got Tampa the lead back with an RBI single, and a double steal manufactured an insurance run for the Rays. Suddenly up two instead of down two, Ian Seymour entered and got the save with a one-two-three ninth. Tampa now owns a four-game lead in the East, which if it holds serve means the Yankees cannot leapfrog them over the weekend as they meet for the first time since they got swept in the Trop back in the start of April.
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Other Games
Boston Red Sox (22-27) 4, Kansas City Royals (20-30) 3: Salvador Perez got Kansas City a first inning lead on a solo shot, but Boston responded with two in the second that could’ve been a lot more had they not hit into a double-play with the bases loaded and no one out. The Royals made them pay for the minimal damage, flipping the lead back in their favor with an Elias Díaz two-run shot in the fifth, but Jarren Duran got them it back in the seventh with a two-run blast of his own. Aroldis Chapman converted his 12th save of the year, pitching a clean ninth that brought his ERA down to a dominant 0.51 mark.
Cleveland Guardians (29-22) 3, Detroit Tigers (20-30) 2 (10 innings): The Guardians have climbed out of the AL Central Rockpile thanks to an 8-2 stretch of play, while it’s getting late early out there for the Tigers. Tanner Bibee kept them in check all night, tossing eight innings of one-run ball as the only damage against him came on a sacrifice fly. At the time though, it looked like that might be enough to doom him as the Guardians offense couldn’t solve Drew Anderson or the Tigers’ bullpen that took over in the fifth for him. Back-to-back singles to lead off the ninth culminated in a game-tying groundout, and when extras rolled around Cleveland ripped a leadoff triple and double to score two in the 10th. Detroit got one back as Zach McKinstry led off with a single, but no one else managed to get on or move the runner to force an 11th inning.
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Texas Rangers (24-25) 5, Colorado Rockies (19-31) 4: The Rangers got the job done against the lowly Rockies thanks to two big innings. In the fourth, home runs from Ezequiel Duran and Jake Burger put up a three-spot for the team, but a steady Rockies offense managed to take a 4-3 lead into the ninth. A catchers interference sparked a rally for Texas after going dormant for a while, ripping off three straight singles with a wild pitch thrown in the mix to score two and take the lead for good.
Seattle Mariners (24-27) 5, Chicago White Sox (25-24) 4: Despite getting out-hit in this game, a big seventh inning was enough to carry the Mariners to a series win. Tied at two, Jhonny Pereda led off with a homer to give the M’s an edge, and Randy Arozarena later hit a two-run bomb to give them some breathing room. They’d need it, as the White Sox chipped away with a run in the eighth and ninth inning each, but after the recent Yankee Randal Grichuk hit one out to lead off the final frame Chicago ran out of gas and went down in order.
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