The Yankees were inactive on Monday, taking the day off after a solid win over the Mets. The rest of the league took the field though, so there was room for some incremental movement. The exception to our list is the Twins, whose 13-game win streak was ended on Sunday and their attempt to get right back in the win column against the Guardians was held up by rain.

St. Louis Cardinals (27-21) 11, Detroit Tigers (31-17) 4

The score was lopsided by the end, but it was a one-sided affair from the very beginning. The Cardinals punished the Tigers’ opener strategy, getting three hits off of Sean Guenther to start the game. The only out he recorded came on a caught stealing attempt, but St. Louis still managed to push one across. Keider Montero came in as the bulk pitcher and escaped without any more damage in the first, but he’d get his fair share later on.

In the fourth inning, the Cardinals got one more run in on a wild pitch, but it was a precursor to their first big inning. In the fifth, three straight singles set them up for a crooked number, and they delivered in an unorthodox way. Three straight groundouts and fielder’s choices that didn’t leave the infield resulted in three runs, thanks to Gleyber Torres going home with one of them only to get beat to the bag.

The biggest blow, however, came in the seventh inning. A leadoff double set the stage, but a rain delay forced the Tigers to make a pitching change and send John Brebbia out once the game resumed. A pair of singles and a one-out double pushed across three runs, and then Pedro Pagés delivered the death blow with a two-run shot to left field. For good measure, the Cardinals got one more run on a single, an error that moved the runner all the way to third, and a sacrifice fly, but the game was well out of reach at 11-0 by this point.

The Tigers got some garbage time scoring started in the eighth with an Akil Baddoo RBI double, and three more runs in the ninth, but they were mostly flummoxed by Sonny Gray and company all night. Gray picked up 10 strikeouts over six shutout innings, allowing three hits and just one walk in the process.

Houston Astros (25-22) 4, Tampa Bay Rays (21-26) 3

The Astros took control of this game in the second inning, scoring three to put themselves in the driver’s seat early. Victor Caratini started the scoring with a solo shot, and after a walk Cam Smith drove in another run with an RBI double to left. Chas McCormick rounded the inning out with a single up the middle to score Smith, and in the blink of an eye Houston had given their rookie starter Colton Gordon a comfortable lead.

Gordon started the game off well, working around a leadoff single to retire the next 12 Rays batters, but he got into trouble in the fifth inning. Brandon Lowe led off with a single, and the next batter Danny Jansen got a sinker that caught too much of the plate. He drove it out to right field for a two-run blast, and suddenly the lead was just one run. That cushion evaporated the next inning, when back-to-back doubles tied the game and gave Tampa Bay a great shot at their first lead of the night. Gordon got one more out before handing the ball off to Bryan King, who got two quick outs to evade further trouble.

While most teams might’ve been shell-shocked after blowing a lead like that, the Astros got theirs right back. Jake Meyers led off the seventh with a bomb to right field to re-take the lead, and they managed to survive the Rays getting a man in scoring position in each of the last three frames to hold on. King gave way to Bryan Abreu in the seventh, who ended that inning before working past a two-out single to get the ball into Josh Hader’s hands for the ninth. Hader had to deal with a catcher interference call that put the leadoff man aboard, and he did so with ease.

Other Games

Boston Red Sox (24-25) 3, New York Mets (29-19) 1: Kodai Senga had his first struggle start since Opening Weekend, allowing three runs in the first two innings to put the Mets in a hole. He still battled to last six strong, keeping his ERA at a crisp 1.43 mark, but his offense never got going against Hunter Dobbins and a littany of Red Sox relievers.

Seattle Mariners (27-19) 5, Chicago White Sox (14-34) 1: A four-run eighth inning turned this from a nail-biter to a no-doubter for Seattle. Davis Martin had battled Luis Castillo step for step through seven innings, but after getting a leadoff strikeout gave up a single to Ben Williamson and got pulled. Cam Booser immediately walked the first batter he faced, allowed a single to load the bases, and then served up a slam for Julio Rodríguez. Chicago finally broke the shutout in the ninth inning, but with their dam bursting an inning prior it was all for naught.