Well, that was a horrible way to lose a baseball game. You just can’t lose when your ace has a four-run lead late. You just can’t lose when you twice survive five-man infield plays with a runner on third in extras. You just can’t lose when you’re an out away from a win and your third baseman and catcher (or perhaps a coach) is too focused on getting cute with the runner at third than getting the actual batter out at the plate. But that’s what happened last night in Chicago. It was extremely stupid, and it cost the Yankees a game in the standings, too.
Here’s what else was going on around the American League’s best yesterday.
Tampa Bay Rays (63-44) 3, Texas Rangers (55-53) 0
The Rays hit two homers and scored three times in the bottom of the first, and that was pretty much the ballgame. That’s a testament to both how good Tampa Bay pitching was against Texas and how nicely MacKenzie Gore rebounded after that rocky beginning. The Rays now lead the AL East by 2.5 games thanks to the Yankees’ idiocy last night.
Three of the first four Rays batter reached base with a hit, with Yandy Díaz belting a leadoff homer, Jonathan Aranda doubling, and Ryan Vilade boosting the lead over Gore to 3-0 with an impressive 420-foot shot off the C-ring of the catwalk. Tampa Bay was then held hitless for the next 7.2 innings as Gore fanned nine on the night, walking none. But it was to no avail.
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I’m not going to act like what the Rays did was exciting or particularly compelling baseball. They were just quite efficient. Casey Legumina retired five of the six batters he faced as the opener, Ian Seymour did his Ian Seymour thing as the “bulk guy” and threw up zeroes until departing with one down in the sixth, allowing just two hits and a walk. Garrett Cleavinger, Kevin Kelly, and Bryan Baker were nearly perfect in recording the final eight outs, with Kelly striking out the side. Despite four doubles, the Rangers never seemed very close to making this a game.
Of note: The Rangers made a trade to bolster their roster after the game ended, trading a 19-year-old infielder in A-ball named Angel Arredondo to the Angels (duh) for bullpen righty Chase Silseth and disappointing catcher Logan O’Hoppe. For as “whatever” as Texas looks, they do lead the AL West over Houston and Seattle, so might as well supplement, right?
Other Games
Boston Red Sox (56-51) 4, The Athletics (45-63) 2: Boston gained a game on the Yankees as well, closing to within 4.5 games of the top Wild Card spot. This is the problem with giving away games when the biggest rivals rarely lose, especially on the same day. Solo shots by Jonah Heim and Lawrence Butler kept this one close, and the A’s had a golden chance to win it when Butler doubled off Aroldis Chapman in the bottom of the ninth with the score at 2-2. He was bunted to third, only to be stranded there when both Tyler Wilson and Jeff McNeil struck out. Boston’s Andruw Monasterio promptly hit a two-run homer against José Suarez to begin the 10th, and Greg Weissert pitched a perfect 10th for the save.
Imagine winning a road game in extras! Couldn’t possibly be the Yanks.
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Seattle Mariners (53-56) 2, Los Angeles Dodgers (68-40) 4: We may be nearing the end of our coverage of the defending AL West champs in the Rivalry Roundup, at least for now. The Astros beat the Angels handily and are a game and a half up on the third-place M’s, who got blanked over six innings of one-hit ball by … Eric Lauer. LA built a 4-0 lead on a homer by Andy Pages, a couple RBI infield hits, and a booming double from Shohei Ohtani in the sixth to plate Dalton Rushing. In his first game back after a long IL stay, Edwin Díaz allowed his old Mariner friends to score and bring the tying run to the plate with two down in the ninth, but he got pinch-hitter Luke Raley to line out to save it.
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Cleveland Guardians (56-54) 6, Cincinnati Reds (50-57) 1: The Ohio Cup goes to Cleveland this year, as they won their fourth of six games against Cincinnati this year. Joey Cantillo needed 89 pitches to get through four scoreless for the Guardians, so Stephen Vogt needed six of his relievers to combine for the final five. Fortunately, the shaky Reds defense and poor control from Brady Singer led to four Cleveland runs in the fifth, two on bases-loaded walks after an RBI single by Travis Bazzana. Kyle Manzardo at least went yard off Chase Petty in the seventh for another more conventional run.
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