Johnston out of lineup for second game in a row

What a start. Tolle retired the first 16 batters he faced in order and there was that little twinge in the back of your neck that this could’ve been a really special outing. Then, a Spencer Jones flare turned into a single and this just wound up as a run-of-the-mill gem. Oftentimes leaning on his fantastic four-seamer, Tolle let that pitch take a back seat here as he featured his cutter more than usual. He also pulled out his curveball sparingly, but it forced some ugly swings when he spotted it. Aggression, precision, bravado, he had it all going in this start. Through 71 1/3 innings this season, he has 69 strikeouts, 20 walks, and a 2.78 ERA. Next up, he’s scheduled to face the Nationals at home.

Contreras more or less took over this game early with a run-scoring single in the first inning against Yankees’ starter Will Warren followed by a towering, 418 foot, 112 mph moon shot against him in the third. Then, next time out, he walked on a pitch that brushed against his front elbow. As usual, Contreras didn’t take too kindly to being pitched inside, flipped his bat on the walk, and began barking towards the visiting dugout. A brouhaha ensued with both benches clearing, which is all in a day’s work for Contreras. Apart from his usual antics, Contreras has been the Red Sox’s most reliable hitter this season with 17 home runs, a .281 batting average, and .901 OPS so far.

The Yankees struggled to muster any offense against Payton Tolle and the Red Sox’s bullpen in this one. They wound up with just three total hits and the only two that went for extra-bases – Domínguez’s double and another from Anthony Volpe – came after Tolle left the game. Regardless, Domínguez has hit safely in four straight games and is not only an everyday player for the Yankees right now, but consistently in prominent spots in their lineup.

This was a rough day at the park for Warren. The Red Sox jumped on him quickly for four runs over the first three innings and it easily could have been more given the quality of contact they were making. When it was all said and done, Warren allowed 10 hard-hit balls and half of those turned into outs. Also, the Red Sox hit four balls at least 400 feet, but only one was a home run due to Fenway Park’s wonky dimensions. Nevertheless, this was the first time all season where Warren failed to strike a batter out and he rarely even got into two-strike counts as the Red Sox swung early and often. It’s worth noting that he has a 4.44 ERA since the beginning of May after an excellent start to the season. He’s scheduled to face the Tigers at home next time out.

It took Eovaldi five innings to even feel a moment of stress in this one. He faced just two batters over the minimum over that stretch and was still able to grit his teeth over the final two frames to turn in this seven inning gem. This is now consecutive starts where Eovaldi has struck out exactly nine batters and walked just one. Plus, this was his third straight quality start. He now has a 3.95 ERA, 101 strikeouts, and 23 walks through 100 1/3 innings so far this season. Next up, he’s scheduled to face the Guardians at home.

Latz made this one more interesting than he needed to by walking Brandon Valenzuela to lead-off the inning in a one-run game, but still managed to get the job down in under 15 total pitches. Oddly enough, in one of the strangest single inning anomalies you’ll ever see, all three of the following outs he recorded were caught in foul territory. That’s baseball, Suzyn. As for Latz, he’s in the midst of an All-Star caliber season with a 1.85 ERA and 0.67 WHIP through 39 innings.

Langford is a man on a mission right now. He singled to lead-off the game and then came around to score two batters later. Then, he reached on an infield single in his next at-bat and was thrown out trying to stretch it to second when the ball squeaked away. He smoked a double his next time up and already had three hits by the fourth inning. Out of 20 games since returning from the injured list, he’s hit safely in 15 of them and is trying his best to put his slow start to the season behind him.

After falling behind 5-0 by the third inning, the Blue Jays made this a one run game late. Okamoto’s eighth inning blast is what made it so close, but they fell short there. Not meant to come to the big leagues with huge power, his 19 home runs trail only Junior Caminero for most among all third basemen and he’s on pace for over 100 RBI as well.

Corbin didn’t have it from the get-go. The Rangers jumped on him for three runs in the first inning and he had to dance out of trouble or else it would’ve been worse. It took him 34 pitches just to get through that frame and then Justin Foscue took him deep for a two-run shot in the third. He held on until the fifth, but was pulled before facing some of the Rangers’ righties for a third time. On the season, he has a 5.09 ERA and is scheduled to face the Mets at home next time out.

Kurtz also had a 370-foot flyout to left that would have been a homer in 16 ballparks, according to Statcast. He’s hitting .261/.393/.602 with nine homers this month, and though he’s not a finalist in the AL All-Star balloting in first base, it would be quite the shocker if he doesn’t represent the A’s next month.