After dropping three of four against the Marlins in a home and home series, the Rays welcomed in the New York Yankees to Tropicana Field in the “battle for the basement” in the AL East. The Yanks have been playing much better baseball as of late going 14-7 since May 6. Could the Rays head back on the road with a series win over New York?
Read on, sports fans.
Read on.
GAME 1
Yankees 4 Rays 1
For the second game in a row the Rays offense could only scratch across a run off opposing pitching. Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka pitched seven shut out innings and Alex Rodriguez would provide the power, hitting a two-run home run as part of the three-run sixth inning off Rays starter, Chris Archer. The eight innings were a season-high for Archer who fell to a frustrating 3-6 on the season. The lone run for Tampa Bay came in the ninth inning when Steve Pearce hit his eighth home run of the season off former Ray reliever, Kirby Yates.
W: Tanaka (3-0) L: Archer (3-6)
GAME 2
Rays 9 Yankees 5
It was the Hank Conger Show Saturday afternoon as the Rays catcher was the first AL backstop since the Orioles Matt Wieters back in 2012 to have three extra base hits and a caught stealing in the same game. Conger hit his first two doubles and home run of the season for the Rays in the victory. The home run, a three-run shot in the fifth inning off Yankees reliever Luis Cessa, gave the Rays a 9-1 lead. Tampa Bay would tee off on Yankees pitching for nine total extra base hits including Evan Longoria’s ninth home run of the season and Brad Miller’s third triple. Matt Moore would go 6.2 innings and give way to a bullpen that’s been very shaky of late. Enny Romero would give up two runs on four hits in just two thirds innings of work to make the game interesting before Xavier Cedeno and Alex Colome would slam the door on the Yanks in the eighth and ninth innings.
W: Moore (2-3) L: Pineda (2-6)
GAME 3
Yankees 2 Rays 1
The rubber match would be a tightly-contested pitchers duel between Jake Odorizzi and Nathan Eovaldi. The Rays would strike first in the bottom of the third inning when Evan Longoria dropped an RBI single into right field with two outs to give Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead. Odorizzi would have a perfect game going into the sixth inning before an error by Brad Miller would negate that bid. One inning later, Starlin Castro would break the no-no and shutout with his seventh home run of the year, a two-run shot over the center field wall. The Rays had a prime chance to add to their lead just an inning earlier but left the bases loaded after back to back singles by Pearce and Morrison led off the inning. That would be the last real scoring threat they would have as the three-headed monster of Betances, Miller, and Chapman would slam the door on the Rays and the series.
W: Eovaldi (6-2) L: Odorizzi (2-3) S: Chapman (7)
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NEXT UP:
The Rays begin a 10-game road trip starting Monday in Kansas City before heading to Minnesota and wrapping the trip up in Arizona.
PROBABLES:
5/30 – Matt Andriese (3-0, 2.63) v Ian Kennedy (4-3, 3.38)
5/31 – Drew Smyly (2-6, 3.92) v Dillon Gee (1-2, 3.86)
6/1 – Chris Archer (3-6, 4.62) v Danny Duffy (0-0, 3.23)
