The Yankee offense is going through it, getting shutout for the second straight night to complete their fourth straight loss, this time to the so-so Angels. Clarke Schmidt gave them everything they could ask for, hurling 7.2 shutout innings, but the offense’s complete lack of energy — even with Giancarlo Stanton returning and going 2-for-4 — meant that the game went to extra innings, where they eventually lost in the 11th.
The deflating loss only was half the story, because their rivals were on the hunt looking to gain ground on them. It being a Monday meant only half of the usual crowd was in action, but some notable ones still took advantage of the Yankees’ downfall.
Athletics (30-44) 3, Houston Astros (41-31) 1
The Athletics may be in last place, but they’ve given Houston fits throughout the years and that trend continued last night. The Astros grabbed an early 1-0 lead on a Jose Altuve home run, but that was all that their offense generated despite plenty of opportunities.
Mitch Spence had a tall task keeping Houston’s offense in line, but he kept a level head after the Altuve bomb. A leadoff single in the second got erased on a double play, and that ended up being significant after back-to-back hits put runners in scoring position right afterwards. A strikeout instead ended the frame, and another double play mitigated a rally in the fourth inning as well.
In the fifth, JJ Bleday launched a bomb to tie the game, and from there the scales tipped in the Athletics’ favor. Their bullpen took over for Spence starting in the sixth and allowed a single baserunner the rest of the way, striking out seven batters in four innings. Then in the ninth, Brent Rooker led off with a walk to bring Nick Kurtz to the plate, and he called game.
Other Games
Tampa Bay Rays (40-32) 7, Baltimore Orioles (30-41) 1: The Rays have been on a tear just as the Yankees have faltered, winning 10 of their last 13 games now after throttling the Orioles. They did their damage entirely in the first half of the game, thanks to RBI hits from Josh Lowe, Christopher Morel, Brandon Lowe, and two from Jake Magnum. Ryan Pepiot made sure Baltimore couldn’t get anywhere close to a comeback, tossing eight innings of one-run ball and striking out 11, with his lone mistake coming in the form of an Adley Rutschman solo shot in the fourth.
Boston Red Sox (38-36) 2, Seattle Mariners (36-35) 0: Fresh off of ending the Rafael Devers era, the Red Sox went out West and shut out the Mariners. Lucas Giolito struck out 10 batters in six innings, and Roman Anthony got them on the board with his first career home run in the first inning. Abraham Toro contributed an insurance run in the third on an RBI single, but the Sox bullpen was up to the task of preserving the shutout.