The Yankees were rained out on Saturday, meaning they face a pivotal day-night doubleheader on Sunday against the Dodgers with a chance to win the series in one go. Severe storms in the eastern half of the country have led to a handful of rainouts and doubleheaders to open the second half, all of which had implications on divisional races around the AL. The Red Sox swept their two games against the Rays on Friday while the Pirates had an opportunity to do the same to the Guardians on Saturday to ratchet up the drama in the East and Central.
Boston Red Sox (49-48) 7, Tampa Bay Rays (56-41) 6
The Red Sox rode a seventh-inning comeback to take the first three games of this four game set from the first-place Rays, giving Boston a 12-game winning streak. Neither of the starting pitchers pulled their weight, Ian Seymour lasting just three innings for Tampa after allowing three runs on two hits and two walks while Patrick Sandoval allowed five runs (four earned) on nine hits and a walk in five innings.
The Rays opened the scoring in the second as Ryan Vilade led off with a double and scored on a Chandler Simpson single, the speedy left fielder then advancing to second on a throwing error and scoring on a Nick Fortes RBI single. Boston responded with a pair in the bottom-half, Andruw Monasterio drawing an ABS-assisted walk and scoring on a two-run homer from Jahmai Jones. They grabbed a lead the following inning on a solo shot from Wilyer Abreu, but Tampa answered with three in the fourth on a Simpson leadoff double, a Victor Mesa Jr. two-run blast, Richie Palacios double, and Yandy Díaz RBI single, though Díaz would be thrown out at the plate to end the inning on an ensuing double by Jonny DeLuca.
That out at home would prove the difference, as despite Tampa adding an insurance run on a solo shot from DeLuca in the seventh, Boston roared back with four runs in the bottom of that frame to grab the decisive lead. Monasterio led off with a double and advanced to third as Jarren Duran reached on a throwing error by Vilade to put runners on the corners with no outs. Masataka Yoshida brought Monasterio home with an RBI groundout and Ceddanne Rafaela plated Duran with an RBI double to draw within one. This brought Abreu to the plate to demolish his second home run of the game, this one a two-run shot to complete the comeback.
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With the win, the Red Sox move above .500 for the first time since Opening Day. In the span of two weeks, they have gone from 15.5 games back in last place to third place and only seven games back of first.
Other Games
Pittsburgh Pirates (51-47) 7, Cleveland Guardians (51-47) 1 (Game 1)
The rainout on Friday set up a Saturday day-night doubleheader between these two Rust Belt rivals. Jared Jones pitched six perfect innings last time out against the Braves and he followed that up with another dominant display in the first game of the doubleheader, tossing five innings of one-run ball on three hits and a walk against nine strikeouts. His offense did their scoring in bunches, plating two in the second on a two-run bomb by Jacob Gonzalez, three in the sixth on a two-run tank from Esmerlyn Valdez and a solo shot by Nick Gonzales, and two in the eighth on a wild pitch and a Ryan O’Hearn sac fly.
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Cleveland Guardians (52-47) 5, Pittsburgh Pirates (51-48) 3 (Game 2)
Guardians rookie Travis Bazzana had himself quite the day. After tripling in his team’s only run in the early game, Bazzana won the nightcap with his first career walk-off home run. Pittsburgh scored the first three runs of the contest, one in each of the second, third, and fourth on a Brandon Lowe sac fly, Esmerlyn Valdez RBI double, and Jake Mangum RBI single. That lead held until the eighth when the Pirates bullpen imploded. Cleveland scored three in the eighth on singles by Steven Kwan, Brayan Rocchio, Chase DeLauter, and Kahlil Watson, aided by a pair of wild pitches. That set up the defining moment for Bazzana in the ninth. Patrick Bailey led off with a single but was thrown out at home on a Kwan double. However, Bazzana picked up his teammate with a two-run walk-off home run to draw the Guardians level with the White Sox atop the AL Central, Chicago remaining nominally ahead on winning percentage.
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Toronto Blue Jays (46-52) 1, Chicago White Sox (51-46) 0
The Blue Jays suddenly find themselves in last place, so perhaps it is fitting that Shane Bieber pitched his best start of the year — six shutout innings allowing three hits and two walks against six strikeouts — just in time to be shopped at the Trade Deadline. The three relievers that followed kept the shutout intact, allowing just a hit and a walk in the final three frames. The lone run of the contest came in the fourth, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. reaching on a one-out double and scoring on a George Springer RBI single.
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Texas Rangers (50-48) 7, Atlanta Braves (56-41) 6
The Rangers became the first team in the AL West to reach 50 wins with a nail-biter against the Braves. After Joc Pederson led off the game with a homer Atlanta jumped out to an early 4-1 lead, Eli White hitting a two-run homer, Drake Baldwin an RBI single, and Ozzie Albies a sac fly in the second. Texas cut that deficit to one courtesy of RBI singles by Wyatt Langford and Brandon Nimmo in the third, but a Michael Harris II leadoff homer in the bottom of the frame restored Atlanta’s two-run cushion. In the sixth, it was the Rangers’ turn to score four runs, the first pair on an Evan Carter two-run blast to tie the game, 5-5, and the second pair on a two-run single from Nimmo with the bases loaded. Mauricio Dubón cut the deficit to one with an RBI double seventh, but Texas would hold on from there for the 7-6 win.
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Seattle Mariners (49-50) 4, San Francisco Giants (42-56) 3
The Guardians weren’t the only team to win it with the last swing of the game, the Mariners avenging last night’s shutout loss with an extra-innings walk-off win over the Giants. In a battle of staff aces having relatively down years neither pitcher came out on top, Logan Webb allowing three runs on two hits and a walk in 6.2 innings while Bryan Woo allowed three runs (two earned) on three hits and two walks in six innings. San Francisco scored the first three runs of the game, rookie Bryce Eldridge lining an RBI single in the third and Rafael Devers and Willy Adames crushing a pair of solo home runs in the sixth. Cole Young responded with a three-run homer in the seventh to send the game to extras. In the bottom of the tenth, a Colt Emerson sac bunt advanced the automatic runner to third, and after a J.P. Crawford walk, Julio Rodríguez hit a ball just deep enough to left to bring Victor Robles home as the game-winning run.
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