The Yankees did just about the most frustrating thing you can do in 2025, which is lose to the Colorado Rockies. They’ll have to get back into the win column today with Max Fried on the mound. How did the rest of the AL circuit do, with the AL East gifted a chance to gain a bit of ground on the Yankees? Let’s go through what went down in the American League on Friday night.

Cleveland Guardians (27-22) 3, Detroit Tigers (33-19) 1

A day after pounding the Tigers, Cleveland snuck out a tight win in Detroit. They struck early against the talented Jackson Jobe, and did enough to hold on for a 3-1 victory.

Steven Kwan got things started right for the Guardians, lacing a leadoff double on a 97 mph off of Jobe. José Ramírez followed with a very impressive piece of hitting, reaching out for a 96 mph heater on the outside corner and pulling it for an RBI triple:

That remarkable piece of hitting was followed by some poor fortune for Jobe, who sawed off Carlos Santana, but saw Santana’s grounder find enough of a hole to score Ramirez with an infield single:

Jobe settled in nicely from there, allowing just one hit for the rest of his five-inning, two-run outing. But Slade Cecconi, starting for Cleveland, outdid his counterpart. He had shut down the Tigers through five as the Guardians held their 2-0 lead.

The Tigers finally struck in the sixth, Spencer Torkelson continuing his outstanding campaign:

Torkelson ripped a cement-mixer slider from Cecconi for his 13th homer of the year. But that was Cecconi’s only big mistake, earning the win with six innings of one-run ball. Hunter Gaddis came on for a strong two-inning outing in relief, delivering a 3-1 lead to Emmanuel Clase after Kwan padded Cleveland’s lead with an RBI single in the ninth. Clase cruised through a perfect ninth for his 13th save, as Cleveland shaved their deficit in the AL Central to four games.

Seattle Mariners (29-21) 5, Houston Astros (26-25) 3

The Mariners came into this series leading the AL West, with a big early-season opportunity to open up a gap on the Astros over four games in Houston. The Astros took the first game of the series handily, but the Mariners rallied late in the second match to even things up.

Ryan Gusto turned in an abbreviated start for Houston, his first mistake coming in the third, when Leody Taveras opened the scoring with a solo shot. But the Astros came right back, Isaac Paredes stroking a classic Isaac Paredes homer, a two-run job into the Crawford Boxes:

The M’s tied it up with Miles Mastrobuoni’s solo homer in the fifth, but the Astros regained the lead with Christian Walker’s sac fly in the home half, and they would take a 3-2 lead into the seventh. Gusto lasted four innings allowing two runs, while Mariners’ starter Emerson Hancock lasted six innings, allowing nine hits and three runs.

With two down in the seventh though, the Mariners launched an impressive rally. Julio Rodríguez lined a bullet double down the right-field line with a runner on to tie the score at three:

That brought up Cal Raleigh, who got a slider on the inner third from Bryan Abreu. Raleigh unloaded, launching a majestic home run to right that gave the M’s a 5-3 lead:

The Astros had one chance to get back into the game, with Carlos Vargas yielding a pair of two-out singles in the eighth to put the tying run on base. But Vargas got a groundout to escape the inning, and that would be that for Houston. Ace closer Andres Munoz entered for the ninth and retired the Astros 1-2-3 for his 17th save. The sensational Munoz has still not allowed an earned run this season.

Other Games

Boston Red Sox (26-26) 19, Baltimore Orioles (16-33) 3: The nightmare continues in Baltimore. What was a nominally close game, 6-3 headed into the bottom of the eighth, turned into another humiliating loss for the Orioles. Boston hung a 13-spot on the O’s, though eight of them were off infielder Emmanuel Rivera. Rafael Devers hit two homers, while Rob Refsnyder added another. Refsnyder, Nick Sogard, and Carlos Narvaez tallied three hits, while Devers went 4-for-6 with an eye-popping eight RBI. Say what you will about his refusal to play first base, Devers has been dynamite with the bat while insisting on solely being a bat.

Minnesota Twins (28-22) 3, Kansas City Royals (28-24) 1: A pitchers’ duel gave way to walk-off finish and another Minnesota win. Pablo Lopez continued his strong bounce-back campaign, firing 5.2 innings while allowing one run on seven hits and no walks, striking out five. But Royals prospect Noah Cameron was phenomenal, holding the Twins to one run over 6.2 innings while striking out eight. The game was tied at one headed to the ninth, and typically dynamite KC closer retired the first batter he faced. Carlos Correa then reached on an infield single, bringing Ty France to the plate. Cameron started France with a slider but hung it, and France sent it high into the night. The Twins won 3-1 in walk-off fashion as they keep playing great baseball.