The Yankees kicked off their series against the Brewers on a sour note Friday, getting blanked by Jacob Misiorowski over six innings while ace Max Fried turned in his worst start of the season. To make matters worse, Spencer Jones' highly anticipated MLB debut was overshadowed by the team's overall struggles—New York managed just three hits all night. But as they say, one team's misfortune is another's opportunity, so let's check in on how the Yankees' top AL rivals fared on May 8th.
The Tampa Bay Rays had their sights set on capitalizing and reclaiming first place in the division, but the Boston Red Sox had other plans. Rookie left-hander Connelly Early delivered a gem, tossing seven scoreless innings while striking out eight, walking just one, and allowing only four hits. The Rays' best chance came in the third inning when they loaded the bases with no outs on a pair of singles and a walk. But Early showed poise beyond his years, getting Ryan Vilade to strike out for the first out before coaxing a 5-4-3 double play from Junior Caminero to escape the jam unscathed.
Boston made Tampa Bay pay for that missed opportunity in the bottom half, as Wilyer Abreu launched a solo home run to right field to put the Red Sox on the board. Ceddanne Rafaela followed suit in the fourth, sending one out to left to make it 2-0. No other Boston batter made it past second base, but they hardly needed to with Early dealing. Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman combined to close out the eighth and ninth innings without incident, sealing the win and keeping the Red Sox within striking distance in the AL East.
Up north, the Toronto Blue Jays got an ace performance of their own on Friday, riding Dylan Cease to seven scoreless frames. Cease actually one-upped Early, striking out 10 batters without issuing a single walk—though he did allow one more hit. The same couldn't be said for Angels starter Reid Detmers, who lasted just 3.2 innings and coughed up the lead in the third. A leadoff single and a one-out walk came back to bite him as Kazuma Okamoto singled home one run, and Ernie Clement followed with a sacrifice fly to bring home the second. The Angels' bullpen did yeoman's work covering 4.1 innings without incident, allowing just one hit over that span, but there was no hope of cracking the Jays' pitching staff on this night.
Meanwhile, the Cleveland Guardians sit at 21-19, quietly lurking in the AL Central race as the season heats up.