Game 1: Shane McClanahan was in control, and the bats finally got to Gerrit Cole in the 6th inning in a 6-0 win over the Yankees. Mac, coming off a bad 3-start run, gave the Yankees next to nothing going 7 3 0 0 2 10 in one of his best efforts of the season to improve to 11-4, 3.94. However it looked like he might not get a win as Cole had a no-hitter through 5. But Lewin Diaz led off the 6th with a double, Brandon Marsh doubled him home, and Marsh came around to score on a Keibert Ruiz single. Ben Bowden took over in the 8th and got the Yanks 1-2-3 and then they broke the game open in the bottom of the inning. After Yankee reliever Antoine Kelly walked the bases loaded, Judson Fabian delivered a grand slam into the LF stands for #22 on the season. Bowden got the first out of the 9th and then Nick Anderson finished for the final two. Speaking of the pen, I mulled a deal or two to improve it but I decided to ride or die with the group we have after realizing a good deal of their apparent problems are the juiced ball/higher offensive environment of this season. Baltimore lost in Toronto so the lead is now 8 1/2.
From the league office:
Game 2: Tyler Glasnow pitched like he was looking to be AL Pitcher of the Month for August as well as July and Spencer Torkelson continued his HR binge in a 4-1 win over the Yankees. Glasnow went the distance in 124 pitches with a complete-game 3-hitter that saw him walk 3 and whiff 10. He's now 13-2, 2.49 and the runaway favorite for the Cy Young. He fell behind 1-0 early but a Nick Gonzales double in the 3rd tied it up. Then Tork took over. In the 4th he drilled a Jimmy Nelson pitch into the LF stands for HR #32, and followed it up with #33 in the 6th with Keibert Ruiz on board to make it 4-1. The 2 dingers give Torkelson 5 in his last 3 games after his 3-HR performance in LA three days ago. And the Orioles fell to Griffin Canning and the Blue Jays 1-0 so the lead is 9 1/2 games, meaning only a catastrophic collapse will cost them the division at this point.
August 2: Sent P Christian Little to AAA Durham on a rehab assignment.
No rush to bring Little back, given the division lead, how well Asa Lacy has pitched in his stead, and the fact I've got to open a 40-man roster spot for him (and a spot on the staff) since he was on the 60-day IL so I'll kick that can as far down the road as I can.
Game 3: The Rays completed the series sweep of the Yankees with a 6-3 win and the big blow came from the guy who just keeps hitting when we plug him into the lineup. That would be Nick Loftin, whose 3-run HR off Pablo Lopez in the 4th inning capped a 4-run rally that propelled the Rays from down 3-2. It was Loftin's first MLB homer and he's now hitting a cool .625 with 10 hits in 16 MLB at-bats. He started at SS, his weaker position, with Wander Franco getting a day off and of course he made another error there but who cares if he keeps hitting like this? Keston Hiura got the Rays on the board with a 2-run HR (#16) in the first but the Yankees scored 3 two-out runs off Asa Lacy in the 2nd. Bramdon Perez, another of the fill-ins getting to play on a Sunday, singled in the tying run ahead of Loftin's blast in the 4th. Lacy settled down nicely after that rough 2nd and gave the Yankees nothing the rest of the way, going 7 5 3 3 2 6 to go to 8-1, 3.17. Steven Casey pitched a scoreless 8th and Jasseel De La Cruz had a 1-2-3 9th with a pair of whiffs for save #20. Baltimore won to stay 9 1/2 back, I may stop updating their status unless they get significantly closer.
Team record: 72-31. Next up: 4 games at home vs Kansas City.
By the way this came as no surprise:
