Yankees Weekend Sweep of the Rays (Recap)
The
Yankees came into the weekend playing sub-par baseball with a record sitting at
3-6. The team had yet to win a series as they had dropped 2 of 3 to every team they had faced. However, the Yankees came out of a weekend series with the Rays
victorious in all three games as they collected the sweep.
.jpg)
GAME 1: NYY 5 TB 4---
Game
one can essentially be summed up into three words: the A-Rod show. Rodriguez
collected three base hits including two home runs and 4 RBIs in route to a 5-4
win. The Yankees as a team collected just 5 hits (with A-Rod getting three of
them in a 3-4 game, of course). Stephen Drew also continued his power surge
hitting his 3rd homer of the season. Ironically, 3 of Drew’s first 5
hits of the season had been home runs. Adam Warren got the start and he was
less than stellar lasting just 4 innings giving up 4 ER. However, the bullpen
came in to finish the game going 5 innings allowing just 2 hits and 1 walk
during that span. Esmil Rogers went 2.1 innings allowing a single baserunner
(walk) with Justin Wilson getting 1 out before Joe Girardi handed the ball off to Dellin Betances. Betances went 1 inning giving up 1 hit and 1 strikeout.
Girardi then went to Andrew Miller for the 4 out save where Miller struck out
three of five batters he faced.
GAME 2: NYY 9 TB 0---
Game
2 should be considered the Brian McCann/Masahiro Tanaka show with much more
contributions from other players as well. The game was deadlocked at 0-0 going
into the top of the 6 with McCann being the only Yankee hitter to have success
off the Rays starter Jake Odorizzi. McCann ended up going 3-4 with 2 RBIs that
came off a triple – yes, a Brian McCann triple. McCann was able to chug around
the bases to third because the ball he hit ricocheted off the yellow part of
the wall only to roll back roughly 40 feet before Rays RF Steven Sousa Jr.
could get to it. Point being: McCann missed a home run by 2-3 inches. The
Yankees offense then exploded for 7 (SEVEN) runs in the top of the seventh
coming off a struggling Rays bullpen (Riefenhauser and Balfour). During the course
of the 7th inning, Chris Young was able to work a full count to slug
a grand slam, his third home run of the season, on a hanging slider. The ball
was a no-doubter that put the nail in the coffin in game 2 of the series. The main
storyline of this game was the success Masahiro Tanaka had against the Rays
lineup. Tanaka looked like his old self going 7 innings striking out 8 allowing
just two hits and no walks. Tanaka threw just 85 pitches before handing the
ball of to David Carpenter and Brandon Pinder to finish the game.
GAME 3: NYY 5 TB 3---
The
rubber match of the series featured Michael Pineda vs. Matt Andriese. The Yankees
collected a series high 11 hits in game 3 as they had 10 in game two, but 9
runs in the game as mentioned earlier. The Yankees offense got rolling early as
they were able to get to the Rays young starting pitcher as he lasted just 3.1
innings. Jacoby Ellsbury had two hits, A-Rod doubled, Chase Headley added two
more (and 2 RBIs), Mark Teixeira had 2 RBIs, Garrett Jones had 3 hits including
a triple (he beat the shift twice) and Didi Gregorius pitched in with 2 hits of
his own. Pineda went 5.2 innings – not his best outing – but he kept the team
in the game and ended up getting the win. Chris Martin and Justin Wilson both
came in to record one out on the hill before turning it over to the lethal
Betances/Miller combination. Betances dominated in his 1.2 innings of work
allowing just one base runner via walk. Andrew Miller came in to close it out
in the 9th as he struck out the side despite allowing a hit.
MY TAKES---
This
was clearly the best series the Yankees have played this season. Now you may be
saying, “No way!” sarcastically as you read this article but the Yankees were
finally able to put the main three aspects of the game together as they
collected the sweep: hitting, fielding and pitching. The team hit the ball is
every game with good situational hitting to drive in runners that got into
scoring position. Each and every hitter came to the plate with a good approach
and it seemed like each hitter had at least one game this series where they
were locked in. Rodriguez and Young in particular both showed that they need to
stay in the lineup as they are both scorching hot right now.
An
incredibly encouraging sign this weekend is that the Yankees committed ZERO
errors all series. The fielding had been heavily scrutinized as the team was
advertised as being one of the best fielding teams in baseball but they had not
shown that through the first two weeks of the season as they led the league in
errors. However, the team made the plays they had to make this weekend and it
saved quite a few runs.
The
starting pitching was good, but not great (but Tanaka was magnificent in game
2). The Yankees need to get their pitchers deeper into games but Warren and
Pineda did their jobs in keeping the team in the game. The bullpen was also a
major storyline as they were simply dominant this weekend. The bullpen did not
allow a single run in the series as they were lights out. Betances appeared to
have his best stuff of the season in the series finale but he and Miller were
extremely effective all series long. If they can continue their success it
should bode well for the Yankees. Additionally, if the team can consistently
hit the baseball, commit little to no errors and have effective pitching, they
will win many games and contend this season.
LOOKING AHEAD---
The
Yankees will begin a 4-game set in Detroit on April 20 through April 23 as they
face a hot Detroit Tigers team that is 10-2 on the season. Game 1 will feature
CC Sabathia vs. Alfredo Simon (first pitch 7:05 PM ET). Game 2 will feature
Nathan Eovaldi vs. Kyle Lobstein (first pitch 7:05 PM ET). Game 3 will feature
Adam Warren vs. Tigers ace David Price (first pitch 7:05 PM ET). Game 4 will
begin at 1:08 PM ET and it is undecided whether Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka
will pitch or if they will give him an extra day of rest. The Tigers have also
yet to announce their starting pitcher for that game. With rain in the
forecast, look for a potential day-night double header Thursday April 23.
Article
by: Chad Raines
Follow
my personal twitter @Chad_Rain
Follow
the BBB twitter feed @BronxBomberBlog
for Yankees news, updates, analysis, satire, and in-game tweets.
Comments
Post a Comment