The Yankees avoid the sweep at Tropicana Field, beat the Rays 3-2.
A pitching-duel between Chris Archer and CC Sabathia broke out on Sunday afternoon. Archer had a season-high 12 strikeouts on the day but it was Sabathia who came away victorious. The Rays managed just four hits off of the Yankees starter.
Archer Hits His Mark
Chris Archer entered today’s game with 65 strikeouts, good for second place (Chris Sale; 95) in the American League. He cut his deficit to 18 with his performance on Sunday.
Through four innings Archer retired 10-of-12 outs via the strikeout.
Much of his success came against two of the Yankees’ biggest threats, Matt Holliday and Aaron Judge. He fanned both of them three times. Judge’s impact was felt in a different way.
Dickerson Slides In
Tampa Bay got on the board in the first inning when Corey Dickerson avoided the tag from catcher Gary Sanchez. After Sanchez threw the ball away trying to pick off Evan Longoria at first, Dickerson came around to score from second base.
Can’t touch this. pic.twitter.com/8vKZM7qiWg
— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) May 21, 2017
Yankees Three Spot
After the Rays took the early 1-0 lead, the Yankees jumped ahead in the second inning. Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a double to right field. He scored two batters later when Didi Gregorius roped a single to right.
After Archer picked up his fifth strikeout of the afternoon, courtesy of Chris Carter, Brett Gardner launched a two-run homer that got over the out-stretched glove of Steven Souza Jr.
But Can He Play Defense?
Sure he can hit – he leads the majors (15) in home runs. What you may not know is that Aaron Judge can play a little defense as well. This catch proved to be the difference in today’s contest. With Dickerson on first, Longoria drove this ball to deep right-center.
Sure @TheJudge44 crushes homers. But let’s talk about his DEFENSE! pic.twitter.com/zWhXw7XeoA
— MLB (@MLB) May 21, 2017
Tip Your Cap
After the game Archer and Souza Jr praised the efforts of the Yankees rookie.
“He’s 6’7” and he used every single inch of his body to catch that,” Archer said of the play.
Souza recognized the magnitude and that it was “momentum shifting”.
Up Next:
The Anaheim Angels come to town for a four-games series starting Monday. Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, and the rest of the Angels will be up against Jake Odorizzi (3-2; 3.16) on Monday. Anaheim counters with JC Ramirez (3-3; 3.97).
