A brutal sixth inning led the Yankees to a loss on Monday, a particularly tough one considering it came against the surging Blue Jays. They are now within two games of the Yankees in first place, and will have three more games coming up to make even more noise. They weren’t the only competitor to take the field on Monday, as both the Rays and Red Sox played to open the week.

Let’s take a look around what was a fairly eventful short slate of games around the American League.

Athletics (35-52) 6, Tampa Bay Rays (47-38) 4

Drew Rasmussen and the Rays ran into trouble almost immediately against the A’s, as the right-hander served up a three-run homer to Shea Langeliers in the top of the first. The backstop’s 11th of the season gave not-Oakland a strong early advantage.

They added on once again in the third when Brent Rooker did his part with an RBI single through the middle to put the A’s up 4-0. With their backs against the wall early in the ballgame, the Rays answered back in the bottom half of the fourth.

It started with Junior Caminero’s 21st home run of the season, a two-run blast that cut their deficit in half. Following the homer, four consecutive singles tied the ballgame up at four a piece, with the RBI coming off the bats of Jonathan Aranda and José Caballero.

From that point, both bullpens in this game were able to steady the ship and keep things relatively quiet until the ninth. Though there were plenty of chances — the A’s loaded the bases in the fifth, to no avail, and the bottom of the eighth ended with Brandon Lowe being thrown out at home plate trying to give the Rays the lead on Josh Lowe’s two-out single.

The A’s took that defensive momentum and turned it into offense in the ninth, as a two-run triple from Lawrence Butler became the decisive swing in this game. It put them up by the final of 6-4, and did the Yankees a real solid with them taking a loss earlier. The Rays remain 1.5 games back in the East headed into Tuesday.

Other Games

Boston Red Sox (42-44) 13, Cincinnati Reds (44-41) 6: The Red Sox took control of the game from the get go in this color-sharing interleague matchup. They batted around and scored seven runs in the first inning, with the big blow being a three-run homer from Trevor Story.

Wilyer Abreu was the story of the game, however, as he contributed with an inside-the-park home run in the fifth and a grand slam in the eighth. This was just the sixth instance ever of a player accomplishing both in the same game, and the first since Roger Maris in 1958. The win puts Boston within two games of .500, and well within striking distance in the Wild Card race.

Seattle Mariners (44-40) 6, Kansas City Royals (39-46) 2: The Mariners rode the long ball to a win late Monday night. Randy Arozarena pitched in with a solo shot the fourth and then a three-run blast in the fifth. Cal Raleigh also continued his torrid pace, belting homer No. 33 on the season, tied for the third most in baseball history prior to the end of June. The M’s are six back in the West, and hold on to the final Wild Card spot as things stand.