Yankees Take Two of Three From Rays

Game 1 (Friday, September 4) - Tampa Bay Rays 2 @ New York Yankees 5

The Yankees returned home following a series in Boston, where they won two games out of three. The Yankees sent Luis Severino (2-2, 2.17 ERA) to the hill to face Jake Odorizzi (6-7, 3.18 ERA). Severino has won his last two games and pitched a combined 12.0 IP; he allowed seven hits, only one earned run, and struck out eleven batters. Odorizzi struggled in his last time out, giving up four earned runs and seven hits in 4.2 IP against the Royals.

1st Inning

Daniel Nava doubled with one out but the Rays couldn’t bring home. The Yankees went down in order.

2nd Inning

Luis Severino walked Kevin Kiermaier to put runners on first and second with two outs but Arencibia struck out and the threat was eliminated. Alex Rodriguez’s 2-run home run to left put the Yankees ahead 2-0.

3rd Inning

Both teams went down in order.

4th Inning

Kevin Kiermaier came up with men on first and second but grounded out to end the inning. Brian McCann’s home run to right put the Yankees up to 3-0.

5th Inning

Both teams went down in order.

6th Inning

Evan Longoria homered to cut the deficit to 3-1. There were men on first and second again for Kiermaier with two outs but he struck out on a fastball to end the inning. The Yankees went down in order.

7th Inning

Justin Wilson came in for Severino with one out in the sixth and finished the inning without issue. Greg Bird’s two-run home run to deeeep right stopped his slump and put the Yankees up 5-1.

8th Inning

Adam Warren relieved Wilson and worked a 1-2-3 inning. The Yankees didn’t threaten in this inning.

9th Inning

Arencibia doubled down the left field line to score Kiermaier from first and the Rays cut the deficit to 5-2 with one out. Andrew Miller relieved Warren and retired the last two batters without an issue to give the Yankees the victory!

Player of the Game: Alex Rodriguez (1-3, HR, 2 RBI)

Game 2 (Saturday, September 5) - Tampa Bay Rays 3 @ New York Yankees 2

The Yankees won Game 1 by a score of 5-1, thanks to Luis Severino’s excellent outing and three home runs by the Yankees. In Game 2, the Yankee sent Nathan Eovaldi (14-2, 4.17 ERA) to the hill to face Tampa Bay’s Matt Moore (1-3, 8.78 ERA). In five appearances in August, Eovaldi went 3-0 with a 3.69 ERA, striking out 29 in 31.2 innings and doing an excellent job of giving the Yankees the chance to win every time he starts. Matt Moore has been hit hard, especially in his recent start, giving up six earned runs in 3.0 IP in a loss at Boston.

1st Inning

John Jaso led off the game with a single but Evan Longoria’s 6-4-3 double play ended the inning. The Yankees went down in the first against Matt Moore.

2nd Inning

Kevin Kiermaier singled home Logan Forsythe from second and the Rays kicked off the scoring. Didi Gregorius struck out with John Ryan Murphy and Carlos Beltran on first and second. The Rays led 1-0 after two innings.

3rd Inning

Asdrubal Cabrera extended the Rays lead to 3-0 with a 2-out, 2-RBI single to right field. The Yankees continued to struggle and went down in order.

4th Inning

John Jaso’s lone single was all the Rays could do in the fourth. The Yankees couldn’t get anything going despite a Chase Headley single with two outs.

5th Inning

Nathan Eovaldi worked around a Longoria walk to retire the side after that. In the bottom half, the Yankees finally got on the board. After John Ryan Murphy walked, Didi Gregorius hit a deep fly ball to left that one-hopped the left center wall that scored Murphy all the way from first! With Didi on third, Brett Gardner’s RBI groundout made it 3-2 after five innings. The Yankees put Chris Young and A-Rod on with two outs but Carlos Beltran lined out to end the inning. Brandon Gomes relieved Matt Moore after the walk to Young.

6th Inning

Chasen Shreve relieved Eovaldi after 102 pitches and 5.1 IP and finished the inning without issue. Xavier Cedeno took over for the Rays to start the sixth. He walked Murphy but recorded all three outs by strikeout.

7th Inning

After Richie Shaffer walked with Daniel Nava on first, Adam Warren came in for Shreve with men on first and second and one out. Warren negotiated the scenario successfully, as Brandon Guyer popped out to second and Warren struck out Forsythe on a 2-2 high fastball to end the threat. Alex Colome and Cedeno combined to pitch the seventh inning without issue.

8th Inning

Nick Rumbelow relieved Warren to start the eighth and did not allow a run. In the bottom of the eighth, Headley singled with two outs and Bird followed it with a single to left to put runners on the corners with two out. Brian McCann pinch hit for Murphy and this was the biggest moment of the game so far. However, McCann walked and Didi came up. Didi, however, could not deliver as he lined out to second.

9th Inning

James Pazos and Andrew Bailey pitched the ninth inning without issue. Brad Boxberger came in for the Rays and pitched a 1-2-3 inning and the Rays won 3-2.

Players of the Game: Tampa Bay bullpen (4.1 IP, 2 H, 5 K, 0 ER)

Game 3 (Sunday, September 6) - Tampa Bay Rays 3 @ New York Yankees 4

With summer nearly over, the Yankees finished off a 3-game set against the Tampa Bay Rays in the Bronx on Sunday. The Yankees won 5-2 Friday but the Rays won 3-2 on Saturday. Ivan Nova (5-7, 4.50 ERA) took the hill to face Tampa Bay’s Chris Archer (12-10, 2.78 ERA). Nova has been struggling as of late; he has lost his last three outings and in August, he went 2-4 with a 5.76 ERA. He is the most inconsistent of Yankee pitchers currently and really needs to right the ship. Tampa’s Chris Archer went 3-2 with a 3.66 ERA and is coming off of a scoreless 6-inning start at Baltimore where he got the win.

1st Inning

Both teams didn’t threaten in the first inning.

2nd Inning

Kevin Kiermaier’s 2-run home run with two outs put the Rays in front 2-0. The Yankees went down in order for the second straight inning.

3rd Inning

Logan Forsythe’s RBI single extended the Rays lead to 3-0 as Daniel Nava scored from third. he Yankees, despite having runners on the corners with two out, failed to score. Brett Gardner struck out swinging with two outs.

4th Inning

Both teams went down in order. The Yankees trailed 3-0 after four innings.

5th Inning

Stephen Drew allowed Nava to reach on an error but otherwise the Rays didn’t threaten; likewise, the Yankees went down in order and did not threaten.

6th Inning

The Rays went down without issue against Nova. Chris Archer was cruising along until he walked Carlos Beltran with two outs and Ellsbury on first. Then, Brian McCann took Archer deeeep on a 3-1 pitch into the right field stands to tie the game at 3! The Yankees weren’t done. On the very next pitch to the next batter, Alex Rodriguez, he took Archer deeeeep as well to right! THE YANKEES CAME BACK and took the lead 4-3!

7th Inning

Justin Wilson relieved Nova to start the seventh. After striking out the first two batters, Daniel Nava doubled into the gap in left center. Joe Girardi had seen enough, so in came Dellin Betances with two out and Mikie Mahtook (who pinch ran for Nava) on second. After Longoria forced a full count, he walked. This put Longoria on first and Mahtook on second with Grady Sizemore at the plate. Betances got Sizemore to ground out to Headley and the threat was averted. In the bottom half, Eddy Romero came in for Archer after Archer walked Ellsbury to put runners on first and second with one out. The next batter, Brett Gardner, hit a grounder to second that Logan Forsythe, the second baseman, threw away on the attempt to get Gardner into a double play! The ball bounced past first baseman James Loney and the Yankees took a 5-3 lead after seven innings!

8th Inning

Asdrubal Cabrera drilled a Betances pitch into the second deck in right field to make it a 5-4 game! Had it not been for Forsythe’s error, the game would be tied! After drilling James Loney on a knuckle curve, Kevin Kiermaier grounded into a 4-6-3 double play and the lead was preserved. Steven Geltz came in for the Rays to start the bottom of the eighth. Geltz walked McCann, allowed a single to A-Rod, and then walked Bird. Without retiring one batter, CJ Riefenhauser came in to face Chase Headley. Headley grounded to short, Cabrera threw home, McCann out at home, but Headley reached first. Bases remained loaded with one out. And finally Didi came through! His single right back up the middle barely escaped Riefenhauser’s glove to score Rico Noel, pinch running for A-Rod. The Yankees added another run to make it 6-4 after eight innings.

9th Inning

Andrew Miller came in to start the ninth. Although he allowed two singles with two outs, he held on and the Yankees won 6-4.

MY TAKES

Players of the Game: Brian McCann & Alex Rodriguez (3-run game tying HR & go-ahead HR in 6th)

1. The Yankees offense had a batting average of .185 (17/95) this series and went 2-13 with runners in scoring position. Not ideal as going 0-5 in the game against Matt Moore definitely cost them a sweep in this series.

2. The Yankees pitching had a 3.00 ERA, allowing nine earned runs in 27 innings. They struck out 24 batters, walked 12, and gave up 25 hits. They have had better series but this wasn’t too bad.

3. In his last 8 games, Didi Gregorius has gone 12 for 28 (.429) and driven in five runs.

4. Alex Rodriguez continued to deliver in the clutch; hitting another home run today that put the Yankees ahead. This was his 28th home run of the year. I may not have statistics to back this up but his contributions may have singlehandedly gave the Yankees at least half a dozen more wins.

5. This was Brian McCann’s second notable three-run HR this year against the Rays. He hit a walk-off, 3-run home run in the game on July 3rd to give the Yankees a come-from-behind, 7-5 win.

LOOKING FORWARD

The Yankees stay home and face the Baltimore Orioles in a 3-game set. In a 1:00 PM ET Labor Day start, Baltimore will send Wei-Yin Chen (8-7, 3.36 ERA) to face New York’s Michael Pineda (10-8, 4.07 ERA). In Game 2 with a 7:05 PM ET start, Kevin Gausman (2-6, 4.59 ERA) faces Masahiro Tanaka (11-6, 3.73 ERA) and in Game 3 with a 7:05 PM ET start, Ubaldo Jimenez (10-9, 4.24 ERA) will face CC Sabathia (4-9, 5.27 ERA), who will make his return after a stint on the disabled list.

Article by: Bryan Peng

Twitter: @bpeng7

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