Well that’s more like it from the Yankees offense! Despite Will Warren putting them in a hole early, the bats kept the pressure on all game long and produced some of the best slug we’ve seen all year. Trent Grisham and Spencer Jones led the charge, the former crushing a pair of home runs and driving in four and the latter a pair of doubles to plate three in an eventual 10-5 win over the Mariners.
As we get down to the nitty-gritty of the season, every result is consequential, so let’s recap the action among the Yankees’ AL rivals.
Tampa Bay Rays (74-46) 8, Athletics (47-74) 4
Despite expectations of an eventual crash back down to Earth, the Rays aren’t showing any signs of slowing down. They have now won their ninth game in a row, scoring 30 across their last three wins and at least eight runs in five of those nine. Tonight, it Liam Hicks with his second signature Rays moment after he hit a grand slam in his debut for Tampa after arriving from the Marlins at the trade deadline. The lefty backstop went 3-for-5 with a double and a three-run homer, though his was not the only hot bat in the lineup. The Rays tallied 15 hits on the day, 12 of those coming in five innings against the hapless A’s starter Jack Perkins.
Tampa scored the first three runs of the contest, a pair coming in the second as Jonny DeLuca led off with a double, advanced to third on a Cedric Mullins single, and scored on a Richie Palacios single, Mullins later scoring on a fielding error by Perkins on a soft Yandy Díaz grounder. Mullins would then double in a run in the third after Junior Caminero and Hicks opened the frame with a pair of singles.
The A’s would cut the deficit to one scoring a pair in the bottom of the frame off Drew Rasmussen, Donovan Walton reaching on a HBP and Zack Gelof on a single with Carlos Cortes doubling the pair home. However, Tampa responded with four runs in the fourth. Díaz, Jonathan Aranda, and Caminero smack three straight one-out singles before Hicks provided the big blow with his three-run tank.
The game was effectively over at this point, Tampa padding their lead with a Díaz RBI single in the eighth. Gelof and Lawrence Butler smacked a pair of solo home runs in the bottom-half for some late consolation, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Rays from tallying their 74th win — seven more than any other team in the AL as Tampa maintains their lead of six games atop the East following the Yankees’ comeback win against the Mariners.
Other Games
Houston Astros (62-60) 2, San Francisco Giants (50-71) 1
The Giants looked to have the clear upper hand on the pitching front, Adrian Houser twirling six shutout innings allowing just two hits and a walk against five strikeouts while the Astros struggled from the jump in their bullpen game, needing a pair of openers just to get through the first. Victor Bericoto smacked an RBI single to open the scoring with one out in the first and Drew Gilbert drew a walk to load the bases, but they couldn’t capitalize from there, and after bulk reliever Tatsuya Imai tossed three scoreless, the tide slowly turned in Houston’s favor. The turning point came the instant San Francisco turned to the bullpen in the seventh, Yordan Alvarez leading off with a single before a Bericoto error put runners on second and third and a Nelson Velázquez sac fly leveled the scores at one apiece. Taylor Trammel then led off the eighth with a triple and jogged home on a Nick Allen sac fly to allow the Astros to squeak out a win in the game and series.
Toronto Blue Jays (59-63) 6, Boston Red Sox (64-56) 4
The Rays may be impossible to beat but thankfully the Red Sox are heading in the opposite direction. After posting an absurd 27-3 record since the start of July, Boston has now lost five in a row to give the Yankees a little more breathing room in second place — four games to be exact. It started as a battle of starting pitchers acquired over the last year, Blue Jays trade deadline acquisition José Soriano tossing six innings of one-run ball while Ranger Suarez went five innings and allowed just one run as well.
Ernie Clement opened the scoring in the second with an RBI single after Kazuma Okamoto reached on a double, but Willson Contreras answered with a home run to lead off the fifth — Boston’s first hit of the game. There wouldn’t be another run scored until the eighth, when a hole bucketful arrived in a deluge. Toronto batted around in the eighth inning against Tyron Guerrero, eventually plating five in the frame. Okamoto singled and Clement walked with the bases loaded for the first two, George Springer added a sac fly, and Myles Straw rapped a two-run double. Boston mounted a comeback effort in the ninth, Caleb Durbin with an RBI single, Jarren Duran an RBI double, and Andruw Monasterio a sac fly, but three is all they would manage, coming up just short for their fifth win on the bounce.
Chicago White Sox (62-57) 5, Cincinnati Reds (57-62) 0
In his second start after joining the White Sox from the Mariners at the deadline, Luis Castillo turned in his best performance of the last three seasons — seven shutout innings allowing just one run and two walks while striking out ten. His offense did not waste that gem, Drew Romo getting things started with a solo home run in the third. Chase Meidroth just cleared the wall with a two-run homer in the sixth and Chicago scored their final two in the eighth on a Romo RBI single and wild pitch by Ron Marinaccio.
Los Angeles Angels (47-74) 5,Texas Rangers (60-61) 2
The Rangers jumped out to an early lead before being let down by their bullpen. Joc Pederson opened the scoring with a bases loaded walk in the second and Corey Seager double that lead with a home run to lead off the third. Mike Trout cut that lead in half with an RBI single in the third. That’s where the scored would stand until Robby Ahlstrom came on in relief in the sixth, the former Yankee farmhand giving up three runs while recording just one out. Jose Siri hit an RBI double, a Denzer Guzman sac bunt brought in another run, and Trout singled in his second run of the contest. Adam Frazier wrapped up the scoring with an RBI single in the seventh.