The Dodgers scored two touchdowns and a pair of two-point conversions at Globe Life Field.
It took them three weeks, but the Yankees finally have their first series win in the month of July. It may have been against the second-worst team in the AL, but every win counts and the Bombers need to start stacking them up. Their’s was the first game on a day when every team played so let’s jump right into the action.
Los Angeles Dodgers (57-40) 16, Texas Rangers (58-41) 3
The Rangers opened the scoring on a Marcus Semien home run to lead off the first but it was all Dodgers from there, and boy did they pour it on. They scored three in the second on a string of alternating hits and walks with no outs, two in the third on a pair of solo shots from Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy and five in the fourth on a two-run shot by Freeman and three-run shot by J.D. Martinez.
By this point the game was over, but all the Dodgers wanted to get in on the act. They scored three each in the eighth and ninth, a string of base hits doing the job in the former inning and a pinch-hit, three-run blast by Jonny Deluca in the latter. Freeman finished 4-for-5 with the two long balls and three driven in, Martinez 2-for-3 with four RBI, David Peralta 4-for-5 with a pair driven in and Muncy 3-for-5 also with a pair driven in. Texas scored their other two runs on a two-run triple by Nathaniel Lowe in the fifth, but it did little to soften the blow of the eventual 16-3 rout.
Baltimore Orioles (60-38) 6, Tampa Bay Rays (61-41) 5
Grayson Rodriguez had one of the better starts of his beleaguered rookie campaign, giving up two runs in 5.2 innings with a career-high 17 swings and misses to match the whiff total of his opponent Shane McClanahan. The Orioles jumped the two-time All-Star for five runs in the fourth on back-to-back two-run doubles by James McCann and Jorge Mateo and a final double from Austin Hays to drive Mateo home.
From there it was a battle of two of the best bullpens in baseball and a rare misstep from Baltimore’s bunch. Danny Couloumbe gave up a run in the seventh on three straight singles and Shintaro Fujinami — acquired three days ago from the A’s — gave up a pair in the eighth on two walks and a single to erase the Orioles’ lead. Ryan O’Hearn picked up his new teammate in the top-half of the ninth, his pinch-hit RBI single off Rays closer Pete Fairbanks the difference in Baltimore’s 6-5 victory to retake a one-game lead over their opponents atop the AL East leaderboard.
Seattle Mariners (50-48) 9, Toronto Blue Jays (54-45) 8
This back and forth affair with seven home runs and crooked numbers in multiple innings went to the Mariners, giving them one-run victories in the first two games against the Blue Jays. Seattle kicked things off with solo shots from Cal Raleigh, Dylan Moore, and Julio Rodríguez in the third. However, the Blue Jays answered right back scoring one in the fourth before dropping four in the fifth with a three home run inning of their own — solo shots by Kevin Kiermaier and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. sandwiched around a two-run shot by Brandon Belt.
Seattle pulled back a run in the bottom-half on Raleigh’s second dinger of the contest, but two runs in the seventh from the Blue Jays widened the gap to 7-4. That was all the motivation the Mariners required to kick it into top gear, hanging a five-spot in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single by Kolten Wong and a pair of two-run doubles by J.P. Crawford and Teoscar Hernández. Toronto pulled to within one in the ninth but Seattle held on for the 9-8 victory.
Oakland Athletics (28-73) 4, Houston Astros (55-44) 1
Cristian Javier and Paul Blackburn battled into the sixth, the former surrendering two runs against the latter’s one. Alex Bregman accounted for the Astros’ only run with a solo shot in the sixth and before the A’s offense took over. Jace Peterson grabbed his team a lead with a two-run single with the bases loaded in the sixth and then Zack Gelof and Seth Brown launched solo shots in the seventh and eighth, respectively, to seal the 4-1 victory.
Other Matchups
New York Mets (46-51) 5, Boston Red Sox (51-47) 4 (Game 1)
In a game that started yesterday, Boston jumped out to an early 3-0 lead that included a two-run double by Yu Chang in the second. The Mets responded with two-run bombs by Brandon Nimmo and Daniel Vogelbach in the third and fourth, respectively, sandwiched around a roughly 18-hour rain delay that postponed the completion of the game to today. The two teams traded a run in the sixth and seventh to bring us to our final score, 5-4.
New York Mets (46-51) 6, Boston Red Sox (52-47) 8 (Game 2)
Triston Casas went 2-for-3 with a pair of home runs and three driven in while Jarren Duran, Justin Turner, and Yu Chang also left the yard for the Red Sox. The Mets scored three in the fourth and three in the ninth to make this one close, but Boston held on to split the “doubleheader” and move into a tie with the Yankees for last in the division, two games out of the final Wild Card spot.
Pittsburgh Pirates (43-55) 3, Los Angeles Angels (50-49) 0
The Pirates turned a bullpen game into a five-hit shutout of the Angels, who seemed to have no problem scoring against the Yankees. Pittsburgh scored two in the fifth on a Bryan Reynolds RBI single and Carlos Santana RBI double and one in the sixth on Endy Rodríguez’s first homer in the bigs to nail down the 3-0 victory.
AL Central Rock Fight
Cleveland Guardians (49-49) 1, Philadelphia Phillies (52-46) 0
Minnesota Twins (52-48) 5, Chicago White Sox (41-59) 4
Zack Wheeler and Tanner Bibee battled for seven innings, the latter’s scoreless outing giving up two hits and a walk against eight strikeout outdoing the former’s one run on five hits with eight strikeouts. José Ramírez was the difference maker with his RBI single in the sixth. Another pitchers’ duel played out across the division, with Dylan Cease tallying six innings of one-run ball on three hits against nine strikeouts to better Sonny Gray and his six innings giving up two runs on seven hits. The Pale Hose scored both their runs in the third while the Twins scored one in the third and two in the seventh to remain the only team in the AL Central with a winning record.
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