Recapping how action around the league closed out the first half.

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The Yankees sure did play a baseball game on Sunday, and you can read about that elsewhere. There were plenty else to see around the league on the last day of the “first half” as well, so let’s take a look at how everything shaped up outside of Baltimore.

Texas Rangers (46-50) 4, Houston Astros (50-46) 2

After taking a tight victory in extra innings on Saturday, the Rangers closed out the first half with another win against their fellow Texans in the Astros. A pair of two-run innings got the job done for the defending champs, and left the ‘Stros headed to the break with a bad taste in their mouths.

Josh Smith got things rolling for the Rangers early on against Houston and Ronel Blanco, launching a two-run blast to give Texas an early lead. Max Scherzer, in his fifth start back this season, held the lead early on, working spotless frames in the first two innings. Things would change, however, when Jake Meyers cut the deficit with a solo homer off of Mad Max in the bottom of the third.

Scherzer settled back down with another 1-2-3 in the fourth, but ran into trouble in the next inning, as a pair of singles from Jeremy Peña and Meyers, and a walk, loaded the bases for the Astros. With no outs and the bases jammed, Texas turned to the ‘pen and Josh Sborz, who successfully worked the Houdini act, inducing a K and a pair of weak outs to escape the jam.

The Rangers, and Smith for that matter, doubled up in the top of the eighth inning when the lefty-swinging third baseman swatted his second two-run homer of the ballgame. The blast, which scored Corey Seager for a second time and put Texas up 4-1, was ultimately the deciding blow in this one.

Houston scratched across a second run in the ninth inning, but it wasn’t enough to match Smith’s pair of homers. Kirby Yates and the Rangers closed out their second straight win against their in-state rivals, riding the bat of Smith and an excellent performance from the bullpen.

The Rays will head into the All-Star break with a .500 record, thanks to a couple of blasts and an excellent start from Ryan Pepiot.

After a quiet first two innings from Ben Lively and Pepiot, the Rays fired up the scoreboard when Jose Siri led off the inning with a solo shot into left center.

Pepiot remained in his groove from that point on, working through the heart of the Guardians order in the fourth, worked around a single in the fifth, and was once again untouched in the sixth. He finished his night there, tossing six scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and striking out four Guards.

Brandon Lowe added some insurance for the Rays in the bottom of the sixth, after his solo homer was upheld by review. From there, a combination of Colin Poche, Jason Adam, and Pete Fairbanks continued to keep Cleveland out of the run column, and got Tampa Bay back even as we head toward the second half.

Other Games

Boston Red Sox (53-42) 5, Kansas City Royals (52-45) 4: An early offensive output helped the Red Sox continue their excellent run to close out the first half. Rafael Devers and Dominic Smith both contributed two-run homers in the first and second innings, supporting Brayan Bello through his 6.1 innings of solid work against the Royals, who eventually came within a run in the ninth.

Los Angeles Angels (41-55) 3, Seattle Mariners (52-46) 2: A three-run homer from Jo Adell was the big moment in this AL West matchup. Trailing 2-0 in the eighth inning, Adell blasted his 15th homer of the season to flip that deficit into a lead, which held against the first place Mariners.

San Francisco Giants (47-50) 3, Minnesota Twins (54-42) 2: 3-2 was a popular score on Sunday, as the Giants took this one by a score much the same. It was a back-and-forth affair as the Twins ties things up in the ninth after being down 2-0 thanks to a double from Manuel Margot. The Giants quickly righted the ship in the ninth, however, on as crazy a play as you’ll see a game end on. Mike Yastrzemski slashed a ball into triples alley, going into third standing up, and an errant throw into the dugout allowed him to waltz home and sent the Giants into the break with a thrilling win.