I have already begrudgingly talked about the Yankees’ frustrations from last night in this morning’s Today on Pinstripe Alley feature. I would like to spare myself from thinking about it again since I’m also on Rivalry Roundup duty! And so we press on, unfortunately all too aware of the six-game losing streak.

What else went on in American League action last night? We’ll run through the main games, though take note that the Junior Circuit’s leading club, the Tigers, were rained out against the Pirates. They’ll play two today in the Motor City.

Houston Astros (43-31) 11, Athletics (30-46) 4

The general rules of the Rivalry Roundup format implore me to make this the most-discussed American League game from yesterday. But guess who makes those rules? That’s right: the managing editor, yours truly. And do you really want to read a lot about those annoying Astros beating up the free-falling A’s with a seven-run sixth in a Triple-A park after Luis Severino already left the game? Of course not.

Framber Valdez wasn’t his best, but he didn’t need to be because by the end of his outing, it was pretty clear that his team would wind up on top. Each of Jose Altuve, Cam Smith, and Victor Caratini registered 3-for-4 days, and both Altuve and Smith included three-run bombs among their knocks. Mauricio Dubón went deep as well, and Houston collectively recorded 20 hits on Wednesday. They lead the AL West by 5.5 over Seattle after trailing at the beginning of June. Damn cockroaches.

Other Games

Tampa Bay Rays (41-33) 12, Baltimore Orioles (31-42) 8: This was the most relevant game of the day for the Yankees. and it didn’t go in their favor. Everything looked sunny early on, as Baltimore zoomed to an 8-0 lead by beating up Taj Bradley with three-run homers from both Colton Cowser and Ramón Laureano. Any game at Steinbrenner Field has the potential to turn into a slugfest though, and O’s pitching is notoriously shaky.
Three Rays runs in the third and three more between the fourth and fifth chipped it away to 8-6, however, and before the fifth had ended, Brandon Lowe delivered a game-tying shot off Yennier Cano. Free-agent addition Andrew Kittredge (a former Ray) fared worse for Baltimore in a go-ahead, four-run seventh that saw RBI knocks from Josh Lowe and Jonathan Aranda. Tampa Bay now sits 1.5 games behind the Yanks in the AL East. Uh-oh.

Toronto Blue Jays (40-33) 8, Arizona Diamondbacks (36-37) 1: The Jays kept the heat on the Yankees as well and are only two games back of New York themselves. Bo Bichette’s leadoff homer set the tone as Toronto won its second straight over Arizona. The game didn’t get out of hand until Tayler Scott and Kevin Ginkel (sadly the Gink was there) entered the mix for the D-backs and combined to allow six runs in the sixth and seventh. Addison Barger and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. chipped in key RBI doubles.

Boston Red Sox (39-37) 3, Seattle Mariners (37-36) 1: When it rains, it pours in terms of AL East teams gaining ground, I guess. This outcome was the least surprising for whatever that’s worth, as the M’s fell to Garrett Crochet and his six innings of one-run ball with eight K’s. Marcelo Mayer and Trevor Story both went yard off Luis Castillo, and that was all the scoring that Boston needed. They’ve won two of three since trading their best hitter since this is a goofy sport.

Cleveland Guardians (37-35) 4, San Francisco Giants (41-33) 2: On the other side of that trade, the Giants are 0-2 since trading for Rafael Devers. Lame! The bigger issue for them yesterday was that Justin Verlander continues to be cooked. The 42-year-old couldn’t complete the fifth and departed with seven hits, four runs, and one walk allowed in 4.2 innings, with a three-run shot by Daniel Schneemann really causing damage. The Cleveland bullpen allowed just two hits and no runs across the final 3.2 innings.

Cincinnati Reds (39-35) 4, Minnesota Twins (36-37) 2 (6 innings): Unlike Bichette, Byron Buxton’s leadoff homer didn’t lead his team to a win. Cincy’s Spencer Steer countered with a two-run bomb off Bailey Ober in the Reds’ half of the first and they had a 4-2 lead with two outs in the sixth. That’s when the rains really came and this game never got resumed. So mark it final.