Yankees Rivalry Roundup: Orioles extend their lead, Astros pound Jays

The Yankees continue to play uninspired baseball, and it’s just giving the Orioles more time to open up a cushion in the AL east. It really wasn’t long ago that the Yankees themselves had a bit of a lead on Baltimore, with the Yankees holding a 3.5-game lead in the AL East less than three weeks ago. Those days seem long gone, with the Yankees’ latest frustrating loss providing Baltimore another opportunity out in Seattle.

Here’s what went down on Wednesday night outside of the Bronx:

Chicago White Sox (25-63) 8, Cleveland Guardians (53-30) 2

Even a broke clock is right twice a day. The moribund White Sox were able to crush young Gavin Williams, while Erick Fedde continued his strong return to the majors to help Chicago cruise past the AL Central-leading Guardians.

The teams were tied at one after three, when a four-run fourth inning doomed Williams and Cleveland. Lenyn Sosa and Nicky Lopez stroked back-to-back doubles to put the White Sox in front. Williams had a chance to limit the damage there, striking out Danny Mendick to bring the spectacularly light-hitting Martín Maldonado up with two down. But the catcher lined a clean single to left to extend the lead and the inning:

A batter later, Andrew Benintendi drove home two with a double, and suddenly Chicago was up 5-1. Williams exited the game after four innings having allowed five runs on seven hits and two walks. The most crushing part was who damaged Williams, with Maldonado’s OPS sitting at a horrifying .304 by the game’s end, and Benintendi’s at .538.

Meanwhile, Fedde had little trouble with a typically robust Cleveland offense, cruising through six innings of three-hit, one-run ball. He exited with a 6-1 lead, and though Brayan Rocchio chipped into the advantage with a solo shot in the bottom of the seventh, Maldonado added insult to injury with a two-run shot in the eighth, just his second homer of the year:

Cleveland has largely been excellent this year, but it just has to feel bad to get beaten by a catcher who hits like a pitcher. Still, the Guardians lead the division by six games.

Houston Astros (44-42) 9, Toronto Blue Jays (39-47) 2

The Blue Jays are just about out of time to rescue their season. After pulling out a win against the Astros on Tuesday, Toronto hung in what was a close game for a while yesterday, but let go of the rope as the Astros ultimately ran away with it.

Toronto took the lead in the first on a sac fly from Bo Bichette, with the Astros tying it on Yordan Álvarez’s RBI double in the third. Álvarez continued to crush in the sixth, hitting his 19th homer of the year to nudge Houston in front 2-1:

The Jays evened things up in the bottom half of the inning, Daulton Varsho singling home Bichette. The score was tied at two, with the two starters compiling almost identical lines: Ronel Blanco at 5.2 innings, four hits, two runs, two walks, and four strikeouts, versus Yusei Kikuchi at 5.2 innings, five hits, two runs, two walks, and five strikeouts.

Houston removed any tension from the proceedings with an outburst after Kikuchi departed. An error and double off Zach Pop put two on and none out for José Altuve in the seventh, with the second baseman singling home a run to break the tie. Jose Cuas came on and intentionally walked Álvarez to pitch to Yainer Diaz with the bases loaded, with Diaz making Cuas pay by driving in two with a single. Cuas then lost the plot, hitting consecutive batters to force in a run and make it 6-2.

Bowden Francis came on for Toronto and matters only worsened, Francis walking two batters to put two on for Álvarez. The fearsome DH hit another double, his third extra-base hit of the night, to put Houston up 7-2. Diaz and Jake Meyers each drove in a run to fully blow things open and give the Astros a seven-run lead.

The Astros look pretty much back, and the Blue Jays look pretty much dead. Houston remains a serious threat to catch the Mariners in the AL West.

Baltimore Orioles (55-31) 4, Seattle Mariners (47-41) 1

With the Mariners sending Logan Gilbert to the mound, and the Orioles countering with Dean Kremer, last night seemed like a night where the Yankees at least wouldn’t lose ground to Baltimore. But the persistent young Orioles marched right ahead, getting to Gilbert to secure their sixth win in seven tries.

Gilbert was fine through the first couple frames but faltered in the third. Walks to Ramón Urías and Adley Rutschman put two on with two out, and Ryan O’Hearn made Gilbert pay for his largesse with a two-run double. Mountcastle brought O’Hearn home with a single, and the Orioles led 3-0.

O’Hearn continued to take it to Gilbert a couple innings later, extending the Baltimore lead with a solo homer in the fifth inning:

Though the Yankees have the best 1-2 punch in the game in Juan Soto and Aaron Judge, it’s depth hitters like O’Hearn that are propelling Baltimore to the front right now. The Orioles can reliably pencil in seven players with a .770 OPS or better at the moment.

Gilbert would exit after 5.1 innings, having allowed four runs on six hits and three walks. Kremer only lasted five but was almost spotless, allowing just two singles and two walks while striking out eight.

Cal Raleigh got the Mariners on the board, hitting a solo homer off Keegan Akin in the sixth. But the Mariners were otherwise listless, going down quietly against Jacob Webb, Cionel Pérez, and Craig Kimbrel. Seattle entered the game with the 23rd-ranked offense by wRC+, and look in desperate need of some lineup reinforcements ahead of this month’s trade deadline.

Seattle’s lead in the AL West is down to two, while Baltimore’s lead in the AL East is up to two. The Orioles will go for the sweep tomorrow with their ace Corbin Burnes on the mound.

Other Games

Boston Red Sox (46-39) 7, Miami Marlins (30-56) 2: Brayan Bello had a much-needed strong start in the midst of an awful season, firing 6.2 innings of one-run ball, striking out seven and walking one. Ceddanne Rafaela led the way on offense with a double, triple, and three RBI. Rafael Devers also added a triple and two RBI.

Detroit Tigers (39-47) 9, Minnesota Twins (48-38) 2: Riley Greene and Carson Kelly starred as the Tigers trounced the Twins. Greene went 3-for-4 and finished a double short of the cycle. His infield single in the third inning loaded the bases for Kelly, who connected on a grand slam to put the Twins in a deep hole. Wenceel Pérez added a solo shot later that inning, and Greene hit a two-run dinger of his own in the fifth. Keider Montero, a 23-year-old right-hander making just his second career start, earned the win, holding Minnesota to two runs over 6.1 innings.

San Diego Padres (47-43) 6, Texas Rangers (39-47) 4: At this point, the defending champs can’t be blowing games they have multi-run leads in if they want to defend their title much longer. Texas led 4-2 after four, but Jackson Merrill singled home a run in the fifth, and Luis Arráez tied the game with an RBI single in the fifth. David Peralta struck the decisive blow, his two-run homer in the seventh off Dane Dunning providing the winning margin. Manny Machado also hit a two-run homer for the Padres, whose bullpen fired five shutout innings while allowing just two hits and striking out nine Rangers.

Kansas City Royals (48-40) 4, Tampa Bay Rays (43-43) 1: The Rays’ love affair with .500 continues, with Tampa Bay dropping back to even on the season after a loss in Kansas City. Isaac Paredes got things started well for the Rays, with his 14th homer of the year putting the Rays up 1-0 in the first. But Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino drove in a run each in the third to give the Royals a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Those are the only two runs Ryan Pepiot would surrender for Tampa, but KC added two more in the seventh on Salvador Pérez’s two-run single off Shawn Armstrong. Michael Wacha turned in a strong start for the Royals, holding the Rays to one run over six innings while striking out eight.