The Yankees couldn’t carry over the momentum of their 11-0 romp of the Cubs on Friday into the second game of the series. Meanwhile, the Red Sox won their ninth game in a row to draw within one game of the Bombers in the win column. With one game to go before the All-Star break, the top four teams in the AL East are separated by just 5.5 games, setting up what will surely be a thrilling divisional race in the second half.

Those weren’t the only results with weighty implications in the Junior Circuit, so let’s recap how the games featuring the Yankees’ AL rivals shook out.

Advertisement

Seattle Mariners (50-45) 15, Detroit Tigers (59-37) 7

The Mariners certainly have not looked fazed by their failed no-hit bid implosion and sweep at the hands of the Yankees, scoring double digit runs in back-to-back games against the AL-best Tigers. This time the star pitcher on the receiving end of a Mariners bludgeoning was Casey Mize, who gave up six runs on six hits in three innings as Seattle tallied a whopping 19 hits on the day.

It looked like the Tigers would come charging out of the gates. They opened the scoring in the first on a Colt Keith walk, Gleyber Torres double — one of three hits on the day for the former Bomber — and Riley Greene sac fly and loaded the bases on a Spencer Torkelson hit-by-pitch and Zack McKinstry walk. However, George Kirby navigated out of the jam with just the one run surrendered and that provided all the spark for the offense to take off. Seattle tied the game in the next half inning before pouring it on for five runs in the third on a J.P Crawford RBI single, Cal Raleigh sac fly, and Luke Raley three-run blast.

Seattle kept their foot on the accelerator, scoring one each in the fourth, sixth, and seventh before finishing the game in style with six runs in the final two innings. Randy Arozarena crushed a two-run homer in the eighth and Crawford a bases-clearing double in the ninth to truly put this game to bed. Greene hit a three-run homer in the fifth and McKinstry a two-run shot in the eighth to make it respectable, but at no point did Detroit seriously threaten the Mariners’ healthy lead.

Advertisement

Boston Red Sox (51-45) 1, Tampa Bay Rays (50-45) 0

The Red Sox have been at the heart of the two biggest trades of the 2025 season, and the one to bring Garrett Crochet to Boston has been easily the most impactful swap in MLB. The ace lefty pitched the best game of his career — a three-hit complete game shutout of the Rays with nine strikeouts, the first time he has gone the distance in his five-plus year big league career. It was a situation eerily reminiscent of the June 13th tilt against the Yankees, when Crochet was trusted to finish the game, only to give up the game-tying home run to Aaron Judge to send the game to extras where his team would eventually walk it off. This time, he finished the job setting the Rays down in order in the ninth to finish the game with an even 100 pitches.

The game was a good old fashioned pitchers’ duel, Rays starter Shane Baz mostly keeping up with Crochet by allowing just one run in 6.1 innings. However, that lone run in the fourth on a Carlos Narváez RBI single after rookie Roman Anthony reached on a one-out double was all Boston would need with their ace shoving on the mound. Boston continues to roll, winning 11 of their last 12 with a chance to sweep Tampa Bay in four games to head into the break with quite a head of steam.

Houston Astros (56-39) 5, Texas Rangers (47-49) 4

Two of the best pitchers in the division duked it out for six innings Jacob deGrom allowing two runs on four hits and a walk with eight strikeouts while Framber Valdez allowed just one unearned run on four hits and no walks with ten strikeouts. Both teams traded a run in the first, Sam Haggerty reaching on an error, advancing to third on a Marcus Semien single, and scampering home on a wild pitch from Valdez before Jose Altuve responded with a solo shot. Houston cracked another pair of solo home runs from Yainer Diaz in the fourth and Mauricio Dubón in the seventh. But the Rangers responded with their own pair late, first Semien in the eighth and then Kyle Higashioka in the ninth to undo Valdez’s gem and send the game to extras.

Advertisement

After both sides went down in order in the tenth, Adolis García brought home the automatic runner with a leadoff single in the eleventh, but they couldn’t manage more as Texas struck out a whopping 21 times on the contest. Cam Smith and Kenedy Corona drew a pair of leadoff walks to load the bases with no one out in the bottom of the eleventh, and a Christian Walker sac fly and Zack Short walk-off single secured the victory for Houston in the battle of Texas.

Athletics (40-57) 4, Toronto Blue Jays (55-40) 3

On a day when the Yankees offense got shut out by Matthew Boyd for the first eight innings, the Blue Jays couldn’t take advantage meaning their lead in the division remains at two games. Toronto scored the first two runs of the game, Leo Jiménez opening the scoring with a solo shot in the second and Bo Bichette doubling their advantage with an RBI double in the third.

But then the Athletics scored four unanswered, plating a pair each in the third and fifth. Denzel Clarke led off the third with a single and advanced to second on a throwing error by catcher Tyler Heineman, allowing him to score on a Lawrence Butler single. Nick Kurtz reached on a catcher’s interference to put a pair on for Brent Rooker, whose double brought home Butler. Rooker wasn’t finished and showed he was more than deserving of his second All-Star nod, the DH crushing a two-run homer in the fifth to account for three of his team’s four runs.

Advertisement

Toronto cut the lead to one on an Alejandro Kirk sac fly in the eighth after Vladimir Guerrero Jr. drew a leadoff walk and advanced to third on a Bichette double, but Mason Miller slammed the door in the ninth to strand a runner in scoring position.

More from pinstripealley.com: