The Yankees took a disappointing loss on Wednesday, with Gerrit Cole allowing a trio of homers to the Guardians in the 5-4 defeat in the Bronx. Although the Bombers had their moments on offense, including bringing the deficit to one in the ninth, it was not enough to match Cleveland.
Despite the loss, there was plenty of other baseball going on around the American League with implications, including some good developments for the Yanks, as the Rays continue to struggle over the last few days. Let’s take a look at the Junior Circuit’s action on Wednesday.
Detroit Tigers (25-38) 7, Tampa Bay Rays (36-23) 2
Both offenses came out blazing in Wednesday’s duel between the Tigers and Rays, a welcome sight for the latter, who were coming off of a shutout. Despite this, Tampa Bay was still unable to do enough to get by, as they suffer a sweep at home at the hands of the Tigers.
RBI singles from Dillon Dingler and Yandy Díaz had both squads on the board in the first. An inning later, both clubs matched each other with solo homers, one from Jake Rogers and one from Cedric Mullins, which tied the game at two. It was not the desired start for either Nick Martinez or Troy Melton on the mound.
From that point forward, the Tigers took control of this game. Spencer Torkelson gave them the lead with a sacrifice fly in the third, but the big blow came an inning later. After Matt Vierling and Gleyber Torres reached on a pair of singles, Dillon Dingler broke the game open with his 14th home run of the season, a three-run blast to put Detroit up by a score of 6-2.
From there, the Tigers remained in the driver’s seat the rest of the way. They needed just two different pitchers to get through the game on Wednesday, with Melton leading the way. The young righty was excellent for much of his eight innings of work, during which he struck out five and allowed just two runs.
After a lengthy effort from their starter, Detroit needed just one inning from the ‘pen, which they gave to Drew Anderson. The righty worked a seamless final inning, as the Tigers secured the sweep over Tampa Bay. The Yankees have been unable to take much advantage of it, having dropped two in a raw to the Guardians.
Other Games
Atlanta Braves (42-20) 7, Toronto Blue Jays (29-33) 3:
The Braves answered the age-old question of “what’s better than a three-run homer?” on Wednesday, as a pair of ’em pushed Atlanta past the Blue Jays. The first came in the third inning when Mauricio Dubón jumped on a 2-0 pitch and turned their deficit into a lead. Later on, in the seventh with a pair of runners on, Ozzie Albies got in on the fun when he belted one of his own off the facing of the second deck in left field. With plenty of run support, Braves starter Grant Holmes turned in a solid start, working six innings of two-run ball in the win.
New York Mets (27-35) 7, Seattle Mariners (33-30) 1:
Although a J.P. Crawford solo homer in the first inning had the M’s right in the middle of this game, that swing was just about the end of the offense in this one for Seattle. The Mets had a big rally in the fourth inning with hits from Bo Bichette and Jared Young and a well-executed double steal that saw them plate four runs in the frame. While the bats continued to do their job for the Mets, Freddy Peralta turned in a very solid start, allowing just one run across six innings of work, striking out half a dozen batters. With the loss, Seattle’s eight-game winning streak comes to an end.
