Rays 1, Yankees 7
Record: 24-15
Attendance: 25,025 Another tainted sell out.
This afternoon's game was a scoreless match-up of aces Blake Snell and Masahiro Tanaka for four innings. Tanaka (3-3) lasted seven innings, striking out seven, Snell (3-4) was pulled after five and two-thirds, striking out twelve. It was in the fifth inning that Snell fell apart, taking 30 pitches to get two outs and allowing two runs. Going into the ninth inning the score was still a manageable 3-1 Yankees, but in the top of the ninth, the lights went out. Literally. For 43 minutes. And when play was resumed Austin Pruitt (who had just entered the game) gave up four runs on four hits, one walk and a home run from rookie SS Thairo Estrada. This one wasn't the blowout the score might suggest. And if it weren't for the power outage, there may not have been the Yankee power surge, and the Rays may have made a better showing in the ninth than they did.
The Rays got a 2 for 4 from Austin Meadows in his third game back from the IL, including a solo home run.
They started someone called Anthony Bemboom behind the plate, making his major league debut at age 29. This is a feel-good story about a kid who was drafted in the 22nd round and kicked around the minor leagues for eight years before getting his first major league chance with the Rays right now. We're happy for the kid of course, but the team is off to a great start in the middle of May and there is a sudden crisis at the catcher position right now; the signing of Travis d'Arnaud was a good move, but did they have to reach that far down to find a catcher to spell him?
Another problem today is that the Rays struck out 12 times, a prescription for disaster.
Bottom line: The Rays lost only their second series of the year. And they are still in first place, by half a game over the Yankees, with the Red Sox beginning to close the gap. Day off tomorrow, then the Marlins on Tuesday in Miami and the Yankees again up in the Bronx next weekend.
Eduardo A. Encina in the Tampa Bay Times makes a good point. Too many of the Rays runs are the result of home runs. "Nine of their 11 runs in the Yankee series came off homers, and after going 0 for 3 Sunday, they're hitting just .237 with runners in scoring position." Not a good sign, and what you'd expect from a team that is 1-7 in one-run games. They miss too many opportunities.
Crystal ball: From here on out, expect frequent changes in the standings, many heart-breaking losses, and a dog-fight right to the end. There's a lot of pride involved in this thing. Strap yourselves in.
No comments:
Post a Comment