​ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA – AUGUST 28: Yandy Díaz #2 of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrates after hitting a home run in the third inning against the San Diego Padres at Tropicana Field on August 28, 2026 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) | Getty Images The Yankees’ offense was up to its old tricks on Friday, mustering a mere solo shot by Paul Goldschmidt and three hits in total against the middling Patrick Sandoval and the Red Sox bullpen. They even had extra chances granted due to four walks, but still never came up with the big hit when runners were on. Thankfully, the superior part of the New York operation stood up, with Cam Schlittler firing 5.2 scoreless while Brent Headrick, Paul Blackburn, and David Bednar handled the rest. Cody Bellinger’s pivotal outfield assist to throw Ceddanne Rafaela out at the plate as the potential tying was the play of the game, and the Yankees won, 1-0. Now they must play two and ideally come up with more support for Carlos Rodón and Max Fried.There was plenty of notable Junior Circuit activity on Friday night, so let’s get into it!Tampa Bay Rays (80-54) 9, San Diego Padres (72-63) 4Casey Mize has not had the best time since joining the Padres at the Trade Deadline, though tonight five of the seven runs scored against him were unearned in a sloppy fourth inning. After Yandy Díaz opened the scoring with a solo shot in the third, the Dads committed a pair of errors after Junior Caminero was hit by a pitch and Jonny DeLuca drew a walk, resulting in a run scoring and the bases loaded with one out. A wild pitch plated another, followed by a Jorge Mateo sac fly, and consecutive RBI singles by Taylor Walls and Díaz. View LinkSan Diego scored two each in the fifth and sixth to cut into that lead, Jackson Merrill crushing a two-run bomb in the sixth. However, the Rays kept the pressure on scoring one each in the fifth, sixth, and seventh. DeLuca added an RBI single in the fifth, Caminero an RBI single in the sixth, and Mullins a solo shot in the seventh to make sure the Padres always remained at arm’s length. The Rays become the first team in the AL to reach 80 wins (the Brewers, Dodgers, and Braves already got there in the NL), and maintain their four-game lead over the Yankees in the East. Other GamesChicago White Sox (71-63) 7, Minnesota Twins (64-71) 4The promotion of top prospect Walker Jenkins wasn’t enough to lift the Twins over their AL Central rivals. There was a flurry of scoring early, Chicago plating four with two outs in the first on three straight singles by Miguel Vargas, Andrew Benintendi, and Braden Montgomery, capped off by a Colson Montgomery three-run bomb. The Twins responded with three of their own in the bottom half on a two-run homer by Brooks Lee and a solo shot by Kody Clemens before tying the game in the second on an RBI single from Lee after Trevor Larnach led off with a double. View LinkOnly the White Sox kept their foot on the accelerator. Benintendi added