The Yankees picked a good day for a double-digit output with the bats. Ten runs, including Aaron Judge’s 34th homer of the season, fueled a win against the Mariners, and helped them keep pace with the red hot Blue Jays in the East. There was plenty of other important action around the American League on Tuesday, so let’s take a look at what went down.

Detroit Tigers (59-34) 4, Tampa Bay Rays (49-43) 2

Although the Rays doubled the hit tally of the Tigers, it was one big one that gave Detroit the win on Tuesday. Both Jack Flaherty and Ryan Pepiot pitched quite well in this one, but it was the leading team in baseball that came away on top.

The Rays hit the board first, in their very first chance, when Jonathan Aranda belted a solo home run with one out, his 11th on the season gave Tampa Bay the early advantage. They built on their lead in the third, when Josh Lowe singled into right field to plate a run to put the Rays up 2-0.

Still trailing by two, the Tigers cut the deficit in half in the fourth when Spencer Torkelson swatted a solo shot, his 21st on the season. An inning later Colt Keith managed an RBI single to square this game up at two. All the while, Flaherty bounced back to turn in a more-than-solid start. The veteran righty finished going 6.1 innings, allowing just the two runs and striking out eight.

The aforementioned big hit came in the seventh, with the game still tied, when Keith belted a two-run blast off of Edwin Uceta.

The homer put Detroit up by the final of 4-2, with Keith shining as the hero of the ballgame. The loss for the Rays was timely for the Yankees, as they remain more than a game removed from third place Tampa Bay.

Toronto Blue Jays (54-38) 6, Chicago White Sox (30-62) 1 (7 innings)

One big inning was all it took for the Jays to grab yet another win, blowing by the White Sox in an abbreviated affair.

Aaron Civale and Chris Bassitt kept the ballgame scoreless through two innings, but the Jays made their big move in the top of the second. The fun started with a solo homer from Davis Schneider, his fourth on the year. Later in the inning, doubles from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Addison Barger each plated a run. Alejandro Kirk pitched in with an RBI single in the inning, and a run-scoring groundout capped off the big frame featuring five runs for Toronto.

The Jays added on to their total when Vladdy knocked in another run (after review) on a single in the sixth. While the bats were humming, Bassitt was cruising for the Jays. He was ultimately the only pitcher to appear for Toronto, as he got through six innings of one-run ball before the game was cut short after six innings and change.

Despite not being a full nine innings, it counts the same, as the Blue Jays remain hot and build upon one of the better records in baseball at the moment. They are currently 3.5 games ahead of the Yankees in the East.

Cleveland Guardians (42-48) 10, Houston Astros (55-37) 6 (10 innings)

The Guardians took down Houston in 10 innings on Tuesday, as they try to crawl back to the .500 mark and into the Wild Card conversation.

They took an early lead when José Ramírez belted a two-run homer in the top of the first, his 16th. They added four more runs over the next three innings, between a couple of timely hits and a homer from Brayan Rocchio, which put them up 6-1 after four innings.

The Astros began to chip away in the next inning, as they plated three runs in the fifth, and then two more in their half of the eighth, which eventually sent this game into extra innings. The decisive blow in this game came in the tenth, when a pair of walks loaded the bases for Angel Martínez, who promptly teed off on a go-ahead grand slam to put Cleveland up by the final of 10-6.

Other Games

Boston Red Sox (48-45) 10, Colorado Rockies (21-71) 2: The Red Sox joined in on the fun Tuesday by plating double-digit runs as well. They scored all ten in the sixth and seventh innings, highlighted by a three-run blast by Trevor Story. Brayan Bello also twirled a complete game, going the distance allowing just two runs and striking out ten Rockies in the process. The Rockies are now 50 (!) games below .500.