For the first time since June 9th, the Yankees got to relax a bit as they enjoyed an offday at home. The work begins again tonight with the A’s in town (fresh off a series against the American League-leading Tigers), but I think we can all appreciate long-awaited days off. Hopefully they’re feeling refreshed and ready to go as the first half nears its conclusion.

Here’s the report from the AL teams that were in action yesterday — all in Thursday matinees.

Detroit Tigers (51-31) 8, Athletics (33-50) 0

If you’re a real Baby Bomber head whose minor-league knowledge goes back to when I first started writing at this particular site back in 2012, you might remember the name Dietrich Enns—if not only because Dietrichs are hard to find in baseball. He was a 19th-round pick by the Yankees back then and was about as modest a pitching prospect as you’ll find in a system. He never debuted in New York though, as when he was on the cusp of the majors in July 2017, the rotation insurance-seeking Yanks traded him and Zack Littell (yes, the same one now with the Rays) in a small deal for Jaime García (who had just gone from Atlanta to Minnesota the week before). Enns briefly debuted, but appeared in just two games. He didn’t return to The Show again until nine games in the Rays’ bullpen in 2021. Then, he disappeared from MLB, spending three years overseas in the NPB and KBO.

Why the long preamble? Well, the Central Michigan University product recently resurfaced with the Tigers’ Triple-A team and suddenly found himself as a rotation option for the AL’s best team with multiple starters down. Detroit called Enns up yesterday and the 34-year-old made his first MLB appearance in four years. Call it perseverance or call it “the A’s have been 20 games under since early May for a reason,” but the man rolled with five scoreless inning of one-hit ball.

Good for that dude. I can’t lie. What a guy to remember! (I say that sincerely.) If he continues his “skip every three years” pattern, then after this season, we’ll see him again in 2029. For his sake, I hope he figures out a way to stick around though.

The Tigers didn’t have to do much on offense since Enns and the bullpen only allowed three hits. But following their shutout loss on Wednesday, they were back in fine form. Spencer Torkelson got the scoring started with a solo shot off Jeffrey Springs, who allowed two more in the third when 2024 Yankees legend Jahmai Jones plated a pair on a double. The former Yankee showcase continued as soon-to-be-All-Star-again Gleyber Torres launched a two-run homer off J.T. Ginn in the seventh, breaking it open enough for Detroit to truly pull away and secure the series victory.

Houston Astros (48-33) 2, Philadelphia Phillies (47-34) 1

For the third game in a row, the Phillies were stymied by Astros pitching. In fact, they had a scoreless streak that run up to 26 innings before finally pushing a run across in the eighth on Brandon Marsh sacrifice fly. But that was all they could muster, so yeah, you’re probably going to get swept if you only score one run in an entire series.

It won’t be any true comfort for Phillies fans, but yesterday’s outcome could at least partially be blamed on a true AL Cy Young contender. Hunter Brown lowered his ERA to 1.74 through his first 16 starts, which is right up there with a helluva trio in Astros history.

Lowest ERA after the first 16 starts of a season in Astros history:

Nolan Ryan 1.29 (1981)
Roger Clemens 1.50 (2005)
Justin Verlander 1.60 (2018)
Hunter Brown 1.74 (2025)

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) June 26, 2025

Brown fanned nine in seven shutout innings, allowing just three hits. The Phils couldn’t scratch out their one run until Bryan King entered in the eighth, and Bryan Abreu ended that rally by fanning Trea Turner.

Poor Cristopher Sánchez actually out-K’d Brown by striking out 11. But in six innings, he also allowed a run on five hits, Yainer Diaz singling home Jake Meyers in the second. Although the Phils got Sánchez off the hook for a hard-luck loss thanks to that late run, the Astros wasted no time in breaking the 1-1 tie. With one out in the home half of the eighth, Orion Kerkering plunked Isaac Paredes and gave up a single to Jose Altuve. He retired Meyers on a fly to center and jumped ahead 9-2 on Cam Smith. However, the rookie hung tough, worked the count to even, and scored Paredes with a knock to left that Max Kepler juggled a bit, rendering him unable to even make a throw home on Paredes.

Wanting to avoid using Josh Hader for a third day in a row, Houston skipped Joe Espada called on Abreu to return for the ninth. All he did was continue his K frenzy by striking out the side. Kyle Schwarber, Alec Bohm, and Nick Castellanos all went down in order as Abreu completed his four-out, four-K win.

Other Games

Tampa Bay Rays (46-35) 4, Kansas City Royals (38-43) 0: Back in late-April/early-May, the Royals went down to Tampa and won three in a row from the Rays. Now, the Rays have fully avenged that road sweep with one of their own in KC. Shane Baz dazzled with eight shutout innings of three-hit ball, and both Brandon Lowe and Junior Caminero went deep off Michael Lorenzen. For my writers’ sake, I am attempting to hold fast on excluding the Rays from the top section unless they actually pass the Yankees for first or get some distance between them and third. But my hand might be forced this weekend if the Yankees aren’t careful because suddenly, the Rays are just half a game back of the Yanks and playing the last-place Orioles this weekend.

Toronto Blue Jays (43-37) 6, Cleveland Guardians (40-39) 0: You’re going to have a rough time if you have twice as many errors as hits in a game. Kevin Gausman flashed his surprisingly-distant 2023 AL Cy Young finalist form in shutting Cleveland out over eight, allowing two hits (so one hit better than Baz’s day, I suppose). Since there weren’t any additional hits in the ninth, the sophisticated mathematicians out there can calculate that the Guardians made a staggering four errors — three by first baseman Kyle Manzardo, all in the three-run third that put Toronto on the board. Yeesh. Steven Kwan also made an uncharacteristic error in the ninth, and while not charged, catcher Bo Naylor contributed to Manzardo’s nightmare with … whatever happened here.

So yeah, real showcase for Cleveland at home yesterday! More meaningfully for the Yankees, Toronto now sits three games behind in the AL East, albeit in third.

Minnesota Twins (39-42) 10, Seattle Mariners (41-39) 1: After a very long rain delay, the Twins made it worthwhile for the fans who stayed. Trevor Larnach broke a scoreless tie in the fifth with a two-run homer off Emerson Hancock, and then it got downright silly an inning later. Minnesota dropped eight runs on Zach Pop, who stayed in and wore it for the M’s across 39 pitches. Brooks Lee and Matt Wallner bookended the rally with long balls, Byron Buxton and Willi Castro delivered RBI doubles, and Carlos Correa drove in two with a single.