I have fond memories of 1-0 ballgames. One random affair from 2004 in particular I’ll always remember when Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez made his first good start since returning to pinstripes, fanning 10 Blue Jays and pitching deep into the ballgame. Former teammate Ted Lilly was just as tough for Toronto, and it took a walk-off solo shot by Ruben Sierra off Vinnie Chulk over the center-field wall at old Yankee Stadium to win it in the bottom of the ninth.

I’m probably not going to remember anything of last night’s 1-0 ballgame 21 years from now, let alone 21 minutes from now. The lone offense came on a first-inning sacrifice fly, there were plenty of stranded baserunners, and the second tier of the Yankees’ bullpen had to make it stick. Thankfully, they did! So that’s a sweep of the Angels. They don’t have to be pretty, they just have to be wins.

Here’s what else was afoot among the Junior Circuit’s best yesterday.

Detroit Tigers (37-20) 4, San Francisco Giants (31-25) 3

The Cats are just rolling. With the Phillies rained out against Atlanta, the Tigers’ sweep-clinching victory over the Giants gave them a percentage-point lead over the Phils for the best record in baseball.

Detroit did have to overcome a deficit in this one though because the only bad news of the day came from talented rookie starter Jackson Jobe. The acclaimed pitching prospect got roughed up in 4.2 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits and three walks, with Heliot Ramos swatting a two-run homer in the fifth. More concerningly, Jobe’s velocity was down, and the Tigers were dodgy in the postgame and had him avoid the media. Omionus!

So the Tigers were down 3-0, but Landen Roupp is not exactly Tim Lincecum or Matt Cain out there. He wilted after four scoreless frames, as Colt Keith drove him from the game with a bases-loaded double.

Randy Rodríguez entered and fanned the next two hitters, nearly preserving a 3-2 lead. But Justyn Henry-Malloy slashed a two-run single to put the Tigers in front.

The Tigers’ bullpen held the fort from there, with erstwhile Yankees changeup specialist Tommy Kahnle continuing his brilliant 1.52 ERA season by bailing teammate John Brebbia out of a jam in the eighth and retiring all six hitters he faced for the save.

Houston Astros (30-25) 5, Athletics (23-33) 3

Like the Tigers, Houston had a bit of good news/bad news going on yesterday, though the bad was something they likely already knew internally. Starter Ronel Blanco was lost for the season with Tommy John surgery. The April 2024 no-hit artist led qualified AL starters in lowest H/9 last year with a 6.1 mark in 167.1 innings (29 starts). Although he wasn’t as sharp thus far this year, he had been roughly league-average and did fan 11 Reds over eight shutout frames as recently as May 11th.

Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr. knows the frustration of a long injury recovery, too. Tommy John cut out his 2019, and various other ailments forced him to miss two full others years until coming back this month. Perhaps in sympathy for Blanco, he put in a nice outing, tying a career-high with a dozen strikeouts while holding the Athletics to five hits in six innings. Four of those knocks went for extra bases, however, with rookie Jacob Wilson delivering an RBI double and later a solo shot to make it 3-2, A’s.

Old friend Luis Severino was in line for the win on the night when he reached 1,000 career strikeouts, but a bad night from righty reliever Justin Sterner put that up in smoke. Zach Dezenzo drove his fourth pitch over the center-field wall for a game-tying solo shot. After two singles and a walk, Victor Caratini put Houston ahead with a two-run single.

The A’s had five different chances with the tying run at the plate in the eighth and ninth. Bryan Abreu and Josh Hader held firm, and the Astros won their 30th game. They’re now even with the AL West-leading Mariners in that regard, separated only by one loss.

Other Games

Milwaukee Brewers (29-28) 6, Boston Red Sox (27-31) 5 (10 innings): The Red Sox have lost 11 of their last 16 games following a decent start to the season, and that now includes a sweep at the hands of the Brewers. A Wilyer Abreu solo shot did knot this game up late at four runs apiece, but they squandered scoring opportunities in the eighth and ninth to send it to extras. They cashed in their automatic runner in the 10th, left the go-ahead run in scoring position when Tyler Alexander caught both Carlos Narváez and Ceddanne Rafaela looking, saw their season-long sloppy defense bite them again upon Kristian Campbell unleashing a horrible throw home in a failed attempt to preserve the lead, and finally paid the price in the end on old pal Caleb Durbin’s walk-off sacrifice fly. What a shame.

Cleveland Guardians (30-25) 7, Los Angeles Dodgers (34-22) 4: In the eighth inning, it looked like the Guardians were about to limp to a deflating home sweep at the hands of the mighty Dodgers. Clayton Kershaw had thrown five innings of one-run ball to best spot starter Kolby Allard, Steven Kwan left early with wrist inflammation, and LA had even scored off the reliable Cade Smith while building a 4-2 lead. However, the Guards got to strike at one of the Dodgers’ weaknesses: disappointing offseason signing Tanner Scott. Skipper Dave Roberts tried to use the closer in the eighth rather than the ninth, and Cleveland got to him anyway. It wasn’t a slammin’ rally, as Jhonkensy Noel and Will Wilson reached on consecutive sub-.200 xBA singles while Daniel Schneemann walked to load the bases. But Nolan Jones singled through the left side to tie the game, and Angel Martínez greeted replacement Alex Vesia with a game-breaking three-run bomb. Sweep averted.

Tampa Bay Rays (28-27) 5, Minnesota Twins (30-25) 0: The Rays polished off a series victory over the Twins with a shutout at the Boss. Drew Rasmussen allowed just one hit over six pristine innings, and while Minnesota put traffic on the bases over the final frames, they never dented home plate. Brandon Lowe and Junior Caminero both took Pablo López deep in a three-run fourth. That was all the Rays really needed. Off the field, they also signed Kyle Gibson for some reason. Neat?

Washington Nationals (25-30) 9, Seattle Mariners (30-24) 0: George Kirby has been taking his lumps for Seattle since returning from the IL, and he suffered his second consecutive ugly start. The Nats torched him for a trio of homers with the most jaw-dropping a 435-foot blast by the dangerous James Wood (get that man in a Home Run Derby). The recently-debuted Robert Hassell III, who was also acquired in the 2022 Juan Soto trade with San Diego, launched his first career homer late in the ballgame.