Yankees Twin-Bill Sweep of Guardians

After hitting a speed bump in Houston, the Yankees reverted to their winning ways again, sweeping a doubleheader against the Guardians, with a 13-4 win in the opener and a 6-1 victory in the nightcap at Progressive Field.

The Yankees, who have won six of their past seven games, hit four homers in the opener and then got a strong bounce-back start from Nestor Cortes in the nightcap.

With the Game 1 win, the Yankees also improved to 16-5 after losses on the season — which isn’t too surprising considering they are an MLB-best 58-21 overall.

But there is something to their success in games after rare defeats.

“I feel like we handle wins and losses well, but I also think they get ticked off when they lose,’’ manager Aaron Boone said. “They take it a little bit personal.”

On Saturday, that resulted in a pair of four-run innings in the opener, leading to their biggest offensive output since they scored 18 runs against the White Sox on June 12. 

UFC 276: Adesanya Defeats Cannonier

Israel Adesanya retained his middleweight belt with a tepid unanimous-decision victory over Jared Cannonier in the UFC 276 main  event on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena on the Vegas Strip. 

In the co-main event, Alexander Volkanovski defeated Max Holloway for the third time, defending his featherweight title by unanimous decision with a dominant striking performance.

Adesanya (23-1, 15 finishes) won his belt three years ago as one of the UFC’s most entertaining fighters and personalities, but his elaborate ring walk might have been the most thrilling part of his dry, technical victory over the cautious Cannonier (15-6, 12 finishes).

After copying famed professional wrestler The Undertaker on a walk that included the wrestler’s signature hat and a large urn, Adesanya patiently picked at Cannonier with kicks and occasional punches for five rounds. Cannonier, getting his first UFC title shot at 38 years old, struggled to find a consistent striking range, and he didn’t show enough desperation to figure it out.

Adesanya won on all three judges’ scorecards, 50-45, 49-46 and 49-46. He has never lost a UFC middleweight fight, but he has just one stoppage victory in his five 185-pound fights since 2019.

Astros Beat Yankees, 2-1

The Yankees have played 14 teams and have a winning record against all but one.

It shouldn’t be hard to come up with the exception, as the Yankees lost to the Astros, 2-1, — and have lost three of the team’s five meetings so far this year.

They’ve also been held to one runs or fewer in three of those games, including last week’s no-hitter in The Bronx.

“They’re good,’’ Aaron Boone said of why Houston’s pitchers have been so effective against his team. “They’re one of the best teams at keeping you from scoring as there is.”

This one snapped the Yankees’ four-game winning streak, as the visitors opened a 10-game, four-city trip in front of a sellout crowd of 40,674 at Minute Maid Park.

Luis Severino gave the Yankees a good outing, but they couldn’t take advantage and dropped the first game of their road trip.