You’re never going to believe this, but the Yankees lost on Friday night in a stupid way. After they had battled back to send the game versus the Astros to extra innings, Aaron Boone once again insisted on Devin Williams. The embattled reliever again was far from sharp, and allowed three runs to leave the Yankees behind the eight ball for the bottom of the 10th, and they couldn’t overcome that.
As the Yankees stumbled again, were they able to get any help elsewhere in their various playoff chases? Let’s look back on Friday in today’s Rivalry Roundup.
Advertisement
Detroit Tigers (67-50) 6, Los Angeles Angels (55-61) 5
Matt Vierling’s three-run homer in the eighth inning allowed the Tigers to rally past the Angels.
While the Angels took a 1-0 lead thanks to a Logan O’Hoppe double, the Tigers did have an early edge after a three-run bottom of the first, which included a Javier Báez two-run double. However, back-to-back homers from Gustavo Campero and Zach Neto gave LA the lead back in the fifth, and the Angels held control for a while after that.
From the third through seventh inning, Angels’ pitching combined to allow just two singles to the Tigers, getting within a couple outs of a win. However, Reid Detmers started the bottom of the eighth with a couple walks, and Vierling made him pay for those with a three-run shot to flip fortunes in Detroit’s favor.
Advertisement
Boston Red Sox (65-52) 10, San Diego Padres (64-52) 2
A four-run fourth inning capped off by a Wilyer Abreu homer gave the Red Sox the lead, and they only poured it on from there in a blowout win over the Padres.
Nick Pivetta took the mound for San Diego against a former team of his. While he’s had a good season on the whole, today was not his day, as Pivetta was hit around for five runs on five hits and three walks. However, things didn’t get truly out of hand until after he left the game.
Charged with eating some innings at the end of the game, the Padres’ Sean Reynolds ended up giving up another five runs. A couple of those came on a Masataka Yoshida homer, which accounted for two of his three RBI for the game. Connor Wong also drove home three runs, as seven of the nine Boston starters each recorded at least one hit.
Advertisement
On the mound, Walker Buehler had one of his better starts for Boston, going six shutout innings, allowing four hits and two walks.
Los Angeles Dodgers (67-49) 5, Toronto Blue Jays (68-49) 1
In a battle of future Hall of Famers, Max Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw put in one last pitchers’ duel against each other, but Mookie Betts and the Dodgers’ offense did enough to win it.
Toronto struck first when an Addison Barger single gave the Blue Jays a lead against Kershaw in the second inning. However, that ended up being the only run allowed by Kershaw, who ended up going six frames, working around seven hits and a walk.
Advertisement
Meanwhile, after he needed to strand the bases loaded in the first, Scherzer then proceeded to cruise through the next couple innings. The Shohei Ohtani/Betts combo got to him in the fifth, and LA ended up picking up a couple more runs late on, winning the battle of the first place teams.
Other Games
Philadelphia Phillies (66-49) 9, Texas Rangers (60-57) 1: After the teams traded runs in the first inning, the Phillies put up crooked numbers in the fourth and ninth, while the Rangers had no answer. On the mound, Cristopher Sánchez held the Rangers to just the one run on six hits in six innings, while a five RBI game from Trea Turner led the Phillies at the plate.
Seattle Mariners (64-53) 3, Tampa Bay Rays (57-60) 2: Having been shut out for seventh innings, the Mariners finally figured out something in the bottom of the eighth, scoring three runs to overtake the Rays. Having managed just four hits in the first seven innings, the M’s managed three in the eighth, the last of which was another Cal Raleigh homer to put Seattle in front for the first time and for good.