Welp, just when it seemed like the Yankees bats were waking up with their 11-10 walk-off win in the series opener against the Angels, they immediately went back to sleep scoring just one run in a listless middle-game loss. It never helps when your starting pitcher gives up back-to-back-to-back home runs in the first inning, but the offense has yet to score a run for Ryan Weathers in any of his four starts.
It was a full day of action around the league, so let’s see how the games involving the Yankees’ AL rivals shook out.
Minnesota Twins (11-7) 6, Boston Red Sox (6-11) 0
A day after Garrett Crochet got rocked in his worst start with the Red Sox, the Twins again thoroughly outclassed their opponents to continue their surprisingly hot start to the season. This time it was Mick Abel — headliner in the trade that netted the Phillies closer Jhoan Duran at last year’s Deadline — and Byron Buxton who stole the headlines. Abel authored the best start of his major league career, twirling seven scoreless innings allowing four hits and no walks to go along with ten strikeouts.
Buxton meanwhile was a one-man wrecking crew, going 4-for-5 with a pair of solo home runs. The first was to lead off the third — a 401-foot moonshot to left — followed by a mammoth 438-foot missile to left-center in the sixth.
The Twins tagged Sonny Gray for five runs on nine hits in four innings. Brooks Lee also left the yard to lead off the fourth, and three batters later Trevor Larnach drove in a pair with a single.
Toronto Blue Jays (7-9) 9, Milwaukee Brewers (8-8) 7
What looked like a pitchers’ duel pitting Kevin Gausman against the flame-throwing Jacob Misiorowski didn’t quite deliver on that billing, Gausman allowing three runs on six hits and three walks in five innings while Misiorowski allowed two runs on five hits and no walks across 5.1 innings, both striking out five. Instead, this contest was all about late-game chaos that continued into extra-innings, the Blue Jays riding clutch hitting to tie and then win the game.
Jake Bauers opened the scoring in the fourth with a three-run blast after Brice Turang led off with a single followed by a Gary Sánchez walk. Andrés Giménez responded with a two-out solo shot an inning later, and Daulton Varsho cut the deficit to one with a solo homer of his own in the sixth. The two sides traded runs in the seventh and eighth, Sánchez crushing his fifth home run of the year only to see it canceled out by an RBI groundout from Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
That brought Toronto to the ninth trailing by a run, only for Trevor Megill to blow the save. Eloy Jiménez drew a leadoff walk, advanced to third on a Davis Schneider double, and scored the game-tying run on a single by offseason signing Kazuma Okamoto. Giménez followed with an RBI groundout and Ernie Clement extended their new-found lead to two with a single.
To their credit, the Brewers immediately fought back, leveling the score on a two-out, two-run double by ex-Yankees farmhand Brandon Lockridge. Garrett Mitchell drew a walk to load the bases, but Louis Varland entered the game and put out the fire by striking out Joey Ortiz to send the game to extras.
In the tenth, Vladito slugged a one-out double to drive home the automatic runner, Jesús Sánchez then being issued an intentional walk to set up the killer two-run double by Myles Straw. Varland remained in the game, and though he allowed a pair of two-out singles to William Contreras and Turang to draw Milwaukee within two, he struck out Sánchez to end the game, single-handedly stranding five runners in 1.1 innings.
Houston Astros (7-11) 7, Colorado Rockies (6-11) 6
The Astros’ nine-day nightmare is over, Houston snapping their eight-game losing streak with the narrowest of victories over the Rockies, who had just swept them last week. Colorado actually scored the first three runs of the game, Hunter Goodman smashing a two-out solo shot in the first and Jake McCarthy a two-out, two-run triple in the second after Jordan Beck and Kyle Karros reached on consecutive two-out singles. Christian Walker crushed a solo shot in the second to get the Astros on the board, but it was the third inning that decided the outcome of this contest.
Michael Lorenzen gave up six runs in the frame, but only one of them was earned as Willi Castro committed a pair of back-breaking errors at second on a Jose Altuve pop up and Joey Loperfido soft liner. It wasn’t the only bit of shoddy defending that prolonged the frame and allowed runs to score, Karros failing to make a throw on a fielder’s choice and Ezequiel Tovar failing to make a play on a grounder that was generously scored a single. Yordan Alvarez drove in a pair with a double and Cam Smith another on a single as the only truly clean hits of the frame.
The Rockies didn’t go down quietly, Jordan Beck adding a solo shot in the fourth and Goodman his second of the night to lead off the fifth, while a Troy Johnston RBI single in the eighth made it a one-run game. They had other opportunities to score, but Mickey Moniak popped out to strand the bases loaded in the fourth and Beck struck out with a pair on to end the game.
San Diego Padres (11-6) 4, Seattle Mariners (8-10) 1
Michael King turned in six sharp innings of one-run ball, allowing four hits and two walks against five strikeouts to gain the upper hand over Bryan Woo and his seven innings of three-run ball on eight hits and a walk. Seattle struck first, Randy Arozarena and Luke Raley reaching on a pair of one-out singles followed by a J.P. Crawford hit-by-pitch to set up a sac fly from Dominic Canzone.
San Diego responded with three runs in the third. Ramón Laureano reached on a one-out triple and scored on a Fernando Tatis Jr. single. Jackson Merrill then singled and stole second to put a pair in scoring position, Xander Bogaerts cashing them both in with a bloop single to center.
Bogaerts drove in his third run of the contest in the eighth with a single after Merrill led off with a double. Mason Miller extended his scoreless streak to eight games to open the season, locking down what is already his fifth save.
Other Games
Detroit Tigers (8-9) 2, Kansas City Royals (7-10) 1
Cole Ragans an Framber Valdez put on a show, the former tossing six scoreless innings allowing one hit and four walks while the latter went seven innings, allowing a run on three hits and two walks. Kansas City held a 1-0 lead for most of the game, singles by Salvador Perez and Starling Marte and a Jonathan India walk loading the bases in the second to set up a Carter Jensen RBI ground out. But then Detroit finally broke through in the eighth, scoring two off reliever Nick Mears as Zach McKinstry led off with a double, rookie phenom Kevin McGonigle drew a walk, and Dillon Dingler drove them both home with a double.
St. Louis Cardinals (9-8) 6, Cleveland Guardians (10-8) 5
The start of this game was all about the solo home run, José Ramírez and Daniel Schneemann leaving the yard in the first and second only to have them canceled out by Iván Herrera in the first and JJ Wetherholt in the third. The rookie Wetherholt looks like the real deal, adding a two-run blast in the eighth after Cleveland scored three in the top-half of the frame on an RBI double by George Valera and two-run double by Angel Martínez. Cleveland closer Cade Smith was the most valuable reliever in each of the last two seasons, but he has struggled to start 2026. He came within one out of locking down the save, but a fielding error by second baseman Juan Brito on a Masyn Wynn grounder kept the inning alive for Yohel Pozo to send the game to extras with an RBI double. After the Guardians went down in order in the top of the tenth, Tim Herrin uncorked a first-pitch wild pitch to allow the automatic runner to advance to third, and on the next pitch Nathan Church walked it off with a sac fly.
Pete Alonso
Ryan O'Hearn
Yordan Alvarez
COVERS INTEL: Cardinals starter 
