BRONX, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 21: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees speaks to the media during a press conference at Yankee Stadium on December 21, 2022 in Bronx, New York. (Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)
Worst nightmare: The Yankees has finally been named the green snake under the green grass” after latest Havoc..
The Yankees’ 16-5 victory yesterday felt like one of their biggest wins of the year after a horrendous stretch of play. The bats came alive and, more importantly, maintained their lead in the AL East, as Baltimore overcame its own slump to reclaim first place in the division. Let’s see how the Orioles and the other AL teams that the Yankees compete with performed yesterday.
Albert Suárez’s astonishing tale goes on. Defying a future Hall of Famer, the 34-year-old kept the Orioles in first place in the AL East by outlasting Max Scherzer. The Rangers were unable to generate any momentum against Suárez. Only once did Texas get a runner to second base while Suárez was in the game, and all three of the hits he gave up were singles. Although Suárez only managed two strikeouts in six shutout innings, he did not walk any batter and dismissed 11 of the last 12 batters he faced.
Scherzer, for his part, pitched 5.1 strong innings and gave up just two runs. Colten Cowser, who has hit 12 home runs this year, started the scoring in the fourth inning off Scherzer by himself. In the fifth, Gunnar Henderson singled an RBI to increase the lead to 2-0. The Orioles would only get that much out of Scherzer, who moved up to number four on the all-time strikeout chart, passing Greg Maddux. After replacing Suárez, Yennier Cano walked two and let up a single to load the bases with one out, endangering Baltimore’s advantage. After Cano was removed, Jacob Webb scored a run but also forced a groundout from the lethal Marcus Semien to retain the O’s lead at 2-1.
In the eighth, Texas would make another threat but was unable to take advantage of two walks by Cionel Pérez. In order to preserve the Orioles’ third consecutive victory and get his 18th save, Craig Kimbrel pitched a flawless ninth inning.
New York Mets (40-39) 7, Houston Astros (40-41) 2
Two .500 teams enter, one .500 team leaves. Both of these clubs had some major struggles earlier in the year, and both have been excellent in June, riding hot streaks to get back to .500. One of them will exit this series in positive territory, and it just might be the Grimace Mets after they pulled away from the Astros last night.
José Altuve led off the game with a solo homer off of Jose Quintana, his 13th of the season. But the Mets came right back, the red-hot Francisco Alvarez tying the game with a sac fly off Ronel Blanco in the home half.
Houston nudged in front in the third, Jeremy Peña singling after Yordan Álvarez doubled, but again the Mets quickly responded. In the bottom of the fourth, it was Tyrone Taylor, hitting a solo shot to tie the game:
With the game tied at two in the bottom of the sixth, the Astros unraveled. Pete Alonso roped one out 419 feet to left-center for his 17th of the season and a 3-2 lead:
Blanco remained in the game, and after an Alvarez double, he faced Mark Vientos with two down. Vientos grounded a routine ball to third, but Alex Bregman booted it, keeping the inning alive. Blanco wasn’t able to pick up his fielder, allowing the light-hitting Jeff McNeil to just sneak one inside the right-field foul pole for a back-breaking three-run homer:
That four-run outburst sealed the deal for the Mets, who added an insurance run on a Francisco Lindor RBI double in the eighth. Reed Garrett closed out the game in the ninth, and gave way to a live performance from José Iglesias:
The Mets are only a game above .500 now, but the vibes are so unspeakably high in Queens that they might as well be 100 games over. It’s just another example of the long, winding nature of a baseball season that a team that seemed totally moribund a month or so ago is now one of the most fun teams in the game.
Kansas City Royals (46-38) 10, Cleveland Guardians (51-29) 3
This was a mashfest from Kansas City, which jumped all over Triston McKenzie and poured it on late to secure a second consecutive win over the AL Central-leading Guardians.
José Ramírez continued to crush, obliterating an Alec Marsh curveball for his 22nd homer of the year, a solo shot in the top of the first. But that was all Cleveland would manage against Marsh, and the only lead they’d see all day.
Salvador Perez and Hunter Renfroe opened up the home half of the second with back-to-back jacks, quickly putting the Royals in the lead. Vinnie Pasquantino added an RBI single later in the inning and the Royals led 3-1.
KC pushed across two more in the third, ending an ugly night for McKenzie. The right-hander managed just 2.1 innings of five-run ball, and now owns a 5.11 ERA on the season.
The Royals didn’t let up against the Guardians’ bullpen. Kyle Isbel hit his sixth homer of the year, a solo shot in the fourth. Freddy Fermin tacked on a sac fly in the fifth to push the lead to 7-1.
Marsh departed after six strong innings, and though Cleveland put across a couple against KC’s bullpen, Pasquantino made sure that they wouldn’t get close. Leading 7-3, Pasquantino stepped to the plate with two on and sent a high fly to right:
That made it four homers on the night for the Royals, who pulled to within seven games in the AL Central. Cleveland remains big favorites in the division, but Kansas City has at least fought to keep their surprising campaign going.
