The Yankees blew it in extra innings again, losing to the Reds after 11 innings when they were leading 3-0 after the first six. If the game goes past nine on the road, it honestly feels like they’re bound to lose it right about now, and the stats support the fact that their offense has been downright putrid once the zombie runner gets involved in another team’s ballpark. Brutal.

As is typical these days, the Yankees’ misfortune set the stage for their rivals to step up and gain on them. In particular, the race in the AL East has been getting dangerously narrow, with the Rays having the opportunity to get within a single game in the standings if they won last night. Let’s see if they (and several others) managed to take advantage:

Detroit Tigers (50-30) 11, Athletics (32-49) 4

The Tigers became the first team in the majors to the half-century mark, claiming their 50th victory in convincing fashion over the A’s in the Motor City. Luis Severino had delivered two solid outings before this one, but the Tigers took him to task from the get-go, beginning with a Kerry Carpenter two-run home run in the first inning. The main damage came in the third, when Wenceel Pérez doubled home two and Dillon Dingler smacked a three-run shot to jump out in front.

Tarik Skubal looked vulnerable out of the gate for once, allowing two runs in the first on a Brent Rooker blast and two more in the second thanks to Denzel Clarke surprisingly going yard as well. Skubal settled down from there though, scattering a few more hits and striking out eight as he persevered through six innings. The Tigers gave him some insurance with a pair of runs in the seventh and eighth innings each, but the A’s had nothing left in the tank after Skubal started keeping the ball in the park.

Houston Astros (46-33) 1, Philadelphia Phillies (47-32) 0

Framber Valdez and Ranger Suárez locked in and held a good ol’ fashioned pitchers’ duel on Tuesday, with each starter going seven strong without allowing any runs. The Phillies tried to stretch Suárez out into the eighth, however, and they faced the consequences of their decision. Cooper Hummel, who was briefly with the Yanks in Triple-A earlier this year, launched a solo shot with one out to break the scoreless tie.

Suárez got one more out before getting pulled, but that single mistake was enough to stick him with the loss. Bryan Abreu and Josh Hader pitched clean innings in the eighth and ninth for Houston to lock down the win. The Astros lead the AL West by 4.5 games over Seattle.

Other Games

Tampa Bay Rays (44-35) 5, Kansas City Royals (38-41) 1: The Rays were gifted a chance to pull within a single game of the Yankees and they took it, cruising past the Royals with just a garbage-time run allowed in the ninth. Danny Jansen started the scoring with a two-run shot in the second inning, and added another on a sac fly in the fourth inning. Jonathan Aranda singled home one more in the fifth, and in the eighth Jake Mangum slapped a ball in the right place within the infield to score another run. Kansas City had two hits all day against Taj Bradley and company until the ninth, when Vinnie Pasquantino managed to single in a run to prevent a shutout at least, but Kevin Kelly closed it out without further incident.

Toronto Blue Jays (42-36) 10, Cleveland Guardians (39-38) 6: Toronto had a huge lead built up by the seventh inning stretch, scoring two in the first and chipping in until it was 6-1 Blue Jays. Lane Thomas interrupted the runaway by launching a three-run blast in the bottom of the inning, but George Springer flipped the script right back by hitting a grand slam in the eighth inning to put it out of reach for good. For as close as the Rays are to the Yankees, the Jays aren’t much further behind in third, at 2.5 games back.

Los Angeles Angels (39-40) 3, Boston Red Sox (40-41) 2 (10 innings): Garrett Crochet absolutely dealt for Boston, striking out 10 batters in seven shutout innings. However, the Sox offense couldn’t manage more than a single sac fly way back in the third inning, so when Greg Weissert offered Los Angeles a different angle in the eighth they pounced and tied the game with a solo shot from rookie Christian Moore. Extra innings were needed, and while the Sox converted their ghost runner on a Marcelo Mayer single, Moore was back at the plate and followed up his first bomb with another one off a former Yankee (this time, Justin Wilson). The shot barely evaded Ceddanne Rafaela’s outstretched glove and landed just above the yellow line to count as a walk-off blast.

Seattle Mariners (41-37) 6, Minnesota Twins (37-42) 5: The Mariners jumped out to a big 5-0 lead in the third inning as they batted around, but blew it almost immediately. First Minnesota got on the board in the bottom half with a Kody Clemens solo shot, and then in the fourth a series of base knocks capped off with Ryan Jeffers’ two-run double to tie the game. The pitching staff locked in from there to post zeroes on both sides until the ninth, when Jhoan Duran sandwiched a Cole Young single with two hit by pitches to load the bases for Julio Rodríguez, who lifted a sac fly to give Seattle the winning run.