The Yankees took care of business Sunday with an offensive explosion. Their win meant a series win over division rival Toronto, and it let them sit back and scoreboard watch to see how events would unfold across the American League. Alas, the two games that matter most to the Yankees had the worst possible outcomes.

Behind stellar pitching and a timely offensive outburst, Tampa knocked off Baltimore to remain three games up on the Bronx Bombers for the lead in the AL East. Meanwhile, Boston climbed out of an early hole to take down San Francisco (thanks for nothing, Giants). That game leaves the BoSox three games back of the Yanks for the first Wild Card slot.

Tampa Bay Rays (77-53) 3, Baltimore Orioles (63-68) 1

The “race” for the third Wild Card spot in the American Leagues is such a mess. The Orioles’ loss Sunday moves them to five games below .500, yet somehow the O’s sit only two games out of a playoff spot. I’m resigned at this point to hoping the team that ends up in that slot is at least over .500.

Nick Martinez was the story Sunday for Tampa. He spun six innings of one-hit ball, keeping Baltimore off the scoreboard until his offense could come through. In the top of the sixth, it finally did. A wild pitch from Shane Baz (who earned his 14th loss of the year Sunday… the 20-loss milestone just might be within reach) opened the scoring then a pair of RBI singles extended the lead to 3-0. Colton Cowser got Baltimore off the schneid in the ninth with a solo home run. But it’s really hard to win baseball games with only two hits.

Boston Red Sox (71-59) 5, San Francisco Giants (52-78) 4: When Jonah Cox hit a solo home run in the top of the second to give the Giants the lead, their Win Probability sat at 77.8 percent. Alas, that’s why you have to play all nine innings. Boston responded with five unanswered runs, including three in the fourth to take a lead they never surrendered. The win keeps them three games back of the Yankees for the first Wild Card spot.

Chicago White Sox (68-62) 2, New York Mets (59-72) 1: Oh, the Mets. The worst team $400 million can buy. After falling behind 1-0 in the home eighth, the Metropolitans showed some intestinal fortitude and knotted the game at one in the top of the ninth. Inexplicably perhaps (I haven’t been tracking their bullpen usage), New York turned to Kodai Senga for the ninth inning. Senga entered Sunday with a 7.66 ERA and -1.5 bWAR in 51.2 innings this season. You can imagine where this is going… Senga managed to get one out. Then, Tristan Peters came to the dish. A.J. Ewing gave it a valiant effort but the White Sox’ resurgent season continues.

Houston Astros (65-66) 6, Athletics (51-80) 7: Does anyone actually want to win the AL West? Because it doesn’t feel like it. Houston jumped out to a 6-0 lead in this one, against a team 30 games under .500. And they lost. Wild. The A’s put up a six-spot in the fifth to tie the game then scored the winning run two innings later. In other news, Triple Crown Watch continues: Yordan Alvarez leads the Junior Circuit in BA ( by.010), HR (by one), and RBI (by five).

Texas Rangers (65-66) 5, Los Angeles Angels (52-79) 3: Houston’s loss was just what the doctor ordered for the Rangers. Texas jumped out to a 5-0 lead on the moribund Angels and withstood an eighth inning charge that saw Los Angeles bring the tying run to the plate. Their victory moves them into a tie with their intra-state rival Astros atop the AL West.

Minnesota Twins (63-68) 1, San Diego Padres (71-60) 8: The Padres, 11 games above .500, sit in the third and final NL Wild Card spot — just so we’re all tracking the discrepancy between the two leagues this season. Maybe they took it personally that Minnesota is even in contention, because they throttled the Twinkies. Fernando Tatis, Jr. basically beat Minnesota himself: four hits, with two of them leaving the yard, and he ended the day with four RBI. His slash line the last 30 games? .319/.407/.664, with 10 HR and 26 ribbies. That seems good.

Cleveland Guardians (65-66) 7, Colorado Rockies (50-80) 2: The Guardians scored five runs in the first two innings at Coors Field Sunday (spectacular ballpark, by the way). With the win Cleveland kept pace with the Rangers for the final Wild Card spot. A random quirk that jumps out at the eye… Tomoyuko Sugano has 12 wins for the Rockies, who have 50 as a team. Maybe they need to pitch him more often. Baseball is a weird sport: Sugano and his 4.96 ERA outpace Cam Schlittler and his 2.16 ERA in the win column.