Yankees Rivalry Roundup: Red Sox crush Orioles, then fire manager Alex Cora

Boston Red Sox (10-17) 17, Baltimore Orioles (13-14) 1

The biggest news around them came postgame when they fired Alex Cora, but the Red Sox did well on the field on Saturday, obliterating the Orioles. View Link Even with that final score, the game didn’t actually get too out of hand until late, although Boston was in control for most it. Caleb Durbin opened things up with an RBI double, as the Red Sox scored three runs in the first. They added one in the fourth and three more in the fifth, with Connor Wong hitting a bases-loaded, bases-clearing double. Meanwhile on the mound, Garrett Crochet was way better than some of his other recent starts. He lowered his ERA to 6.30, having thrown six scoreless innings, giving up just three hits and two walks. Baltimore then did get on the board in the seventh, giving them a brief glimmer of hope, but that door would soon be slammed shut. In the top of the ninth inning, the Red Sox scored 10 runs on 10 hits, sending 14 batters to the plate over the course of the frame. O’s reliever Keegan Akin was making his 2026 debut, and will leave the game with a 54.00 ERA after allowing six of the 10 runs in the inning. Despite that dominance, Boston still pulled the trigger on Cora — and several coaches, including franchise legend Jason Varitek (who got away with reassignment) and former Yankees hitting coach Dillon Lawson — a few hours later. It’s been a less-than-stellar start for them, but that was still an unexpected move.

Toronto Blue Jays (11-15) 5, Cleveland Guardians (15-13) 3

A two-RBI double from Andrés Giménez capped off a three-run sixth inning for the Blue Jays that ended up holding up for a Toronto win. View Link The Guardians took an initial lead in the third, but the Jays answered on Kazuma Okamoto’s fourth inning homer to tie things up. Two innings later, Toronto broke things open. It was a Daulton Varsho RBI single that gave the Blue Jays the lead, before Giménez plated another two runs. Cleveland did score two further runs and they did certainly have their chances, putting up nine hits on the day. However, Toronto also scored once more and their bullpen was solid enough to close things down.

Other Games

• **Seattle Mariners (13-15) 11, St. Louis Cardinals (14-12) 9:** Despite getting only three innings out of Bryan Woo, who left after allowing seven runs, the Mariners used a late surge to overtake the Cardinals. Leo Rivas hit a two-run single in the top of ninth to give Seattle the lead after they trailed 9-7 going into the eighth. View Link
• **Tampa Bay Rays (15-11) 6, Minnesota Twins (12-15) 1:** Shane McClanahan and the Rays’ bullpen kept the Twins off the board until the game was basically decided as Tampa Bay came away with the win. Jake Fraley and Ben Williamson had two-RBI games each as the Rays mostly cruised. View Link
• **Texas Rangers (14-13) 4, Athletics (14-13) 3:** Josh Jung’s go-ahead homer gave the Rangers the lead for good as they overcame a 3-0 deficit against the A’s. The artists formerly known as Oakland struck a couple times early, but managed just one hit over the final five innings against Texas’ bullpen, allowing the Rangers to overtake them. View Link
• **Cincinnati Reds (18-9) 9, Detroit Tigers (14-14) 2:** Despite Kevin McGonigle homering in the game’s very first at-bat, the Reds immediately scored four runs in the bottom of the first and never looked back from there. Sal Stewart had a homer for Cincinnati and drove in five runs on the day. View Link