Carlos Correa’s ninth inning grand slam wasn’t quite enough to complete the comeback.

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Just when it seemed like the Yankees would kick off their series against the Red Sox with a pitching-fueled win, the bullpen snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, Clay Holmes blowing his second straight save opportunity and Tommy Kahnle gifting Boston their first lead of the day. Rather than dwell on the disappointment, let’s recap the rest of the games involving the Yankees’ AL rivals, which included some exciting late drama.

San Francisco Giants (44-45) 4, Cleveland Guardians (54-32) 2

The Giants ambushed Cleveland starter Tanner Bibee for three runs in the first inning and that lead would hold for the rest of the contest. Jorge Soler singled, LaMonte Wade Jr. walked, and Heliot Ramos singled to load the bases with no outs. Patrick Bailey lifted a sac fly to open the scoring, and after a Matt Chapman walk to reload the bases, a Michael Conforto double brought another pair home. A Nick Ahmed single plated the Giants fourth and final run after Conforto led off the fourth with his second double.

On the other side of the ball, it was a bend but not break performance in a bullpen game for San Francisco as they required seven pitchers to get through nine innings. Cleveland had their opportunities throughout but couldn’t come through at any point with the big hit, tallying eleven total hits but also stranding eleven runners. A pair reached in the first but were erased by an inning-ending double play. Another pair reached an inning later but again failed to score.

The Guardians got on the board in the fourth, Josh Naylor leading off with a home run, and a pair of singles put a pair on to once again get nullified via double play. It was the same story in the sixth, Cleveland scoring one on a sac fly but failing to cash in runners on the corners thereafter. The trend would continue in the eighth and ninth, two runners reaching in each but failing to score.

Houston Astros (46-42) 13, Minnesota Twins (49-39) 12

The Astros and Twins entered this series as two of the hottest teams in the AL — Houston winners of 12 of their last 14 and Minnesota eight of their last eleven — and the series opener certainly did not disappoint. The first half of the game was close before Houston appeared to make it a laugher, only for the Twins to come roaring back in the ninth. Yainer Diaz drew a leadoff walk and Jon Singleton, Jeremy Peña, César Salazar, and Jose Altuve all struck with singles, the latter three of the RBI variety. Minnesota responded in the bottom-half, Jose Miranda leading off with a single followed by a Carlos Santana RBI double and Brooks Lee RBI single to immediately cut the deficit back to a run.

Miranda tied it a three apiece with a solo shot in the third before giving his team their first and only lead with an RBI double in the fifth — his 4-for-4 day giving him ten consecutive at-bats with a hit — but from there the Astros offense poured it on. They scored three in the sixth on a Jose Loperfido three-run bases-clearing double, one in the seventh on a Jake Meyers RBI double, three in the eighth on a Yordan Alvarez RBI single and sac flies from Peña and Meyers, and three in the ninth on an Alex Bregman three-run bomb to put the Twins in a seemingly insurmountable 13-4 hole.

However, Minnesota had no intention of quitting. Singles by Austin Martin and Max Kepler put a pair on with two outs. Byron Buxton and Lee came through with RBI singles followed by a Christian Vázquez RBI double to reduce the arrears to 13-8. Willi Castro walked to load the bases and force Houston to bring in closer Josh Hader, who served up a grand slam on the third pitch he threw to former Astro Carlos Correa, and all of a sudden it was a 13-12 ballgame, though Hader would strike out Manuel Margot to hold it there.

Baltimore Orioles (56-32) 3, Oakland Athletics (33-57) 2

Albert Suárez continued his strong run of form while deputizing in the injury-riddled Baltimore rotation, holding the A’s to two runs on four hits and a walk with six strikeouts in six innings. The Orioles continue to receive contributions from up and down their lineup — tonight it was Austin Hays’ turn, the left fielder going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, the second driving in a run in the second. Baltimore scored their other two runs in more unorthodox fashion, Gunnar Henderson leading off the game with a single before stealing second and third, an errant throw to third allowing him to score. They then drew three walks in the second following Hays’ double, the final one with the bases loaded to plate their final run of the contest.

They wouldn’t need anymore than that, Oakland’s only offense coming via a pair of solo home runs, first by Miguel Andujar in the first and then from Shea Langeliers to lead off the seventh. With the win and the Yankees’ loss, the Bombers now fall to three games back of first in the division.

Other Games

Michael Lorenzen was nails for Texas, pitching five scoreless innings allowing just one hit (though he did walk five) against four strikeouts. In fact, Tampa Bay would manage just three hits all day as the relievers to follow Lorenzen were just as stout. The Rangers did all of their scoring off Shane Baz — making his season debut after missing all of last year to Tommy John surgery — in the third, Jonathan Ornelas and Marcus Semien reaching on a pair of one-out singles before Corey Seager clubbed a double to drive the pair home and Nathaniel Lowe a single to drive Seager home.

Royals standout rookie Cole Ragans battled Kyle Freeland for seven innings, the former giving up two runs on five hits and three walks with eight strikeouts while the latter allowed two runs (one earned) on seven hits and a walk with five strikeouts. The game was tied by the time both starters departed, only for KC reliever John Schreiber to cough up a two-run double to Brenton Doyle in the eighth. The Colorado center fielder went 3-for-4 on the night and Michael Toglia hit a solo shot to get the Rockies over the line.

This pitchers’ duel went the way of the Mariners, as Luis Castillo held the Blue Jays to a run on two hits and two walks with eight strikeouts in 6.2 innings to just edge by Kevin Gausman and his six innings of two-run, ten-strikeout ball. Luke Raley proved the difference maker with his two-run double in the third while Kevin Kiermaier averted the shutout for his team with a solo shot in the sixth.