​My offense felt unusually muted last night in DC after the two-hour rain delay, as the Yankees could manage only two solo homers off the Nationals’ Carson Palmquist and Zack Littell through seven innings. They weren’t outright dominant; it just didn’t feel like they were landing that clutch hit. When Tim Hill surrendered back-to-back homers to Keibert Ruiz and James Wood to put Washington up 3-2, there was a real fear that Ryan Weathers’ strong start might go to waste.
Thankfully, Washington’s weaker relief corps finally showed up in the ninth. A few minutes later, the save slipped away behind the bats of Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Austin Wells, two players who needed a decisive swing. Final score: 5-3, Yankees. Phew.
Here’s a look at the rest of yesterday’s notable American League action, with a fresh focus on the teams currently in playoff position for this final series before the break. As always, things remain fluid, and these are merely the teams earning the spotlight today.
A quick note on the standings: all of the Blue Jays, Red Sox, Tigers, and Orioles won, nudging the middle tier of the Wild Card race up by one game. Minnesota sits one back of Seattle for the last Wild Card spot; Houston, Toronto, and the surging Red Sox are 1.5 games back; Detroit is within 2.5; Baltimore sits three back. And none of these squads are over .500, which makes the picture even messier.
Friday was a strong day for Rays lefty Nick Martinez, who was called up to replace Boston’s Ranger Suárez on the All-Star roster and then delivered a win over the Mariners. Named an All-Star for the first time at age 35, Martinez worked 5.1 innings, allowing two runs on four hits and a walk, giving up a homer to Cole Young, and otherwise handling his business. It wasn’t as dazzling as some of his early-season starts, but wins count the same.
Martinez clearly outpitched his opponent, Seattle’s Luis Castillo, a veteran who has been the weak link in a six-man-ish rotation. It showed again Friday night. Castillo yielded homers to Richie Palacios, Cedric Mullins, and Victor Mesa Jr. between the fourth and fifth innings; they combined with an RBI single by Chandler Simpson in the third to give Tampa Bay a 4-1 lead.
After J.P. Crawford and Randy Arozarena followed with singles for Seattle, Martinez left the game with the tying run at the plate in the sixth. The Mariners managed only one run off him in that frame, as Cole Sulser induced a fielder’s-choice grounder from Dominic Canzone and fanned Cal Raleigh to keep it 4-2. Garrett Cleavinger delivered a strong relief outing to prevent the tying run from scoring in the seventh, so Josh Naylor could not escape the threat after his leadoff single. In the home half, Junior Caminero pounced on José A. Fe, delivering a decisive blow to seal the win.