Yankees Division Lead Shrinks as Rays Continue Pressure in AL East Race
Not the most delightful Sunday for Yankees fans, huh? Elmer Rodriguez made one big blunder in his spot start. That blunder unfortunately led to a three-run homer. It was enough to do in the Yanks on a weekend the Bronx Bombers couldn’t buy a hit with runners in scoring position, dropping the game and the series to Cincinnati. Next on the itinerary is a road trip to Detroit. It is Gerrit Cole Bump Day on Monday, though. And that’s always a blast.
Elsewhere, the rival Blue Jays had their game with the Cubs called off. At the very least the delay means they dodged Pete Crow-Armstrong, who’s been unstoppable lately. PCA is hitting .450/.494/.938 with 10 homers over his previous 19 games. Would have been awesome to see him go off on the Jays Sunday.
Tampa Bay Rays (43-31) 4, Washington Nationals (40-38) 3
Washington was up 3-1 on the Rays and in good condition to take the rubber match of this three-set and go to a season-high four games over.500 after a CJ Abrams home run in the top of the sixth that was his third straight day with a bomb at the Trop. Of course the Rays soldiered on as they always appear to when you aren’t paying close enough attention.
First, Ryan Vilade hammered a single home run in the bottom of the sixth to make it a one-run game for the Rays. Yandy Díaz, the leader in the Junior Circuit with an average of .326, singled in the next inning, putting the tying run on base and bringing the go-ahead run to the plate in the shape of Jonny DeLuca. The man the Dodgers obtained in the Tyler Glasnow deal didn’t pass up his shot. That made it 4-3 Rays with two left to play on a two-run homer.
The Nats got a single from Daylen Lile in the ninth but he was thrown out trying to steal second with one out. That was the only runner Washington could muster in the final two innings and the Rays held on. The victory puts Tampa Bay two games behind the Yankees, although the Rays have played two less games this season (74 to the Yanks’ 76).
Other Games
Cleveland Guardians (41-37) 1, Houston Astros (37-42) 2 Late June and the Astros, as crappy as they have been most of the season, are hanging around the garbage fire that is the American League West. Cleveland probably had a better opportunity if they had gotten more than four hits off of Kai-Wei Teng, who entered Sunday with a 4.31 ERA. Sadly, they didn’t. So Houston gave a 2-1 lead to its bullpen. That was followed by three scoreless innings, including a lockdown ninth from recently back closer Josh Hader. Houston’s top player, Yordan Alvarez, uncorked his 25th homer of the season to lead the offense again.
Seattle Mariners 3, Boston Red Sox 1: As for the AL West.On Sunday, Logan Gilbert performed yeoman’s work to make sure the first-place club in the division didn’t have a sub-.500 record. Gilbert allowed a run over 6 1/3 innings, striking out eight before handing the ball over to the Seattle bullpen. Meanwhile, Dominic Canzone did his share at the dish. Canzone began the scoring with a solo home run in the first and extended the lead with a groundout RBI in the sixth. That pair of runs would be plenty, as the Red Sox couldn’t do anything against the Seattle pen, although they did bring the tying run to the plate in the ninth. Unfortunately for Seattle, Canzone left the game in the sixth on his RBI groundball with what clearly appeared like a hamstring ailment.
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