The baseball gods are rarely kind enough that all the Yankees’ rivals lose on the same day. Yesterday, the exact opposite almost happened. But Boston lost, and that’s always nice. They’re also about to play the Astros and guarantee that at least one of our collective nemeses will lose each of the next few days. Unfortunately, Toronto continued their undefeated start against the contact-averse Athletics, keeping the Yanks company at the top of the standings, while Seattle won the first Sunday Night Baseball game on Peacock (which will often simulcast on NBC).

Here’s the skinny on Sunday’s action.

Boston Red Sox (1-2) 2, Cincinnati Reds (2-1) 3

Connelly Early took the mound for the BoSox Sunday and he continued to look like a problem for everyone outside of New England. In only his fifth career major league start (excluding postseason), Early tossed 5.1 innings of one-run ball for Boston, striking out six. He did allow a decent amount of traffic, surrendering five hits and handing out two free passes. Doubtless, that had something to do with his high pitch count (96 pitches) ending his day early. Regardless, Early still looks good for Boston.

Once Early left the game, however, one swing of the bat changed everything. Former Yankee Greg Weissert entered in relief of the Boston starter, with a runner on first and one out. Weissert promptly walked Sal Stewart to bring the go-ahead run to the plate in the form of Eugenio Suárez, who clubbed 49 home runs last season, and when his market never really materialized due to the limited other aspects of his game, he elected to return to Cincinnati on a one-year, $15 million deal after leaving in 2021. What followed should not really come as much of a surprise. Suárez turned on a 93-mph fastball middle-in and drove it out to left field. His three-run bomb—the 326th of his career, 190th in a Reds uniform, and first of 2026—put Cincy on top.

Meanwhile, the Reds’ bullpen did yeoman’s work. After starter Rhett Lowder gave them five frames of two-run ball, four relievers combined to keep Boston from crossing home plate again. It wasn’t always pretty, as the parade of relievers combined to allow eight baserunners. But they got the job done, handing Beantown a season-opening series loss. You hate to see it.

Houston Astros (2-2) 9, Los Angeles Angels (2-2) 7

This Sunday tilt was especially notable, as it was the big-league debut of Tatsuya Imai after he signed with Houston this offseason. Sadly for the Astros, his first start was uglier than a pair of used bowling shoes. Imai consistently struggled to throw strikes, reaching a three-ball count on eight of the first 11 Angels hitters he faced. In the third, they also started squaring him up. After his offense dropped a four-spot in the home second, Imai gave all those runs back before being pulled after only 2.2 innings.

The Angels took a 6-4 lead in the fourth on a two-run Zach Neto home run before Houston tied it in the fifth on a Christan Walker two-RBI double. From there, the bullpens held the offenses down until the Astros broke through in the bottom of the eighth. With one on and two out, the Angels opted to intentionally walk Yordan Alvarez and put the tying run on board, preferring to face Isaac Paredes. Honestly, I don’t hate the logic. Don’t let the other guy’s best player beat you. It did not work, however, as Paredes is no slouch at the plate either. He came through in the clutch with a two-run knock, and then Jose Altuve drove in a third run to make it 9-6, Astros.

The Angels did their best in the bottom of the ninth, scoring a seventh run and bringing the winning run to the plate. Alas, it wasn’t quite enough. But I don’t like Houston’s long-term chances if they keep walking half a dozen or more hitters every game.

Toronto Blue Jays (3-0) 5, Athletics (0-3) 2

No walk-off today for the Blue Jays, who scored early and often on their way to sweeping the Athletics to begin their defense of their 2025 American League pennant. Southpaw Eric Lauer went 5.1 for Toronto and he had the strikeout pitch working, as he whiffed nine Athletics hitters while allowing only two runs.

The Toronto offense scored in four of the game’s first five frames. A “Springer Dinger” to start the game, the 64th leadoff home run of George Springer’s career, immediately staked the Jays to a lead. They kept hitting long balls, with a Jesús Sánchez two-run shot in the third and a Kazuma Okamoto solo shot in the fourth. The latter was the first of Okamoto’s career after coming over from Japan this offseason.

The Athletics managed to dent the ledger in the fifth with a Max Muncy two-run homer. But the Jays immediately got one run back in the bottom of the fifth when Addison Barger walked with the bases loaded. From there, the Jays bullpen took over. Four relievers combined to allow a mere two hits while walking none. The Athletics never really came close today and the Jays joined the Yankees atop the AL East with a 3-0 record. Toronto also set a record, striking out 50 A’s hitters in the series, the most in a team’s first three games since 1900.

Seattle Mariners (2-2) 8, Cleveland Guardians (2-2) 0

Cleveland entered this one guaranteed a series split, while a victory would have meant outright winning a four-game road seriesoth — nothing to sneeze at on the road against a team that fell a couple innings shy of a pennant last year. Alas, Guards starter Slade Cecconi did not have much going for him. The righty allowed six runs over four innings, led by a three-run home run off the bat of Brendan Donovan.

Seattle starter Emerson Hancock, coming off a 2025 season that ended wih a 4.90 ERA, was probably not on many no-hitter watch lists. But he hurled six innings of no-hit ball before the pitch count monster (97 pitches) ended his night. The very next inning, the Guards got into the hit column against the Seattle bullpen, so the first no-hitter of the season will have to wait.

Regardless, the M’s bullpen held Cleveland out of the run column and Seattle tacked on a couple more runs to make this one 8-0 final. Of note, AL MVP runner-up Cal Raleigh recorded his first RBI of the season with a sixth inning double. Next up, the M’s welcome the Yankees to town for a three-game set beginning tonight with Ryan Weathers facing Luis Castillo.