The Scrum Sports traveled to the Bronx and witnessed the Yankees defeat the Rays 6-3 after long delay.
BRONX, NY — A two hour flight to Philadelphia. A two and a half hour car ride and $25 dollars in tolls to get to Yankee Stadium. The Scrum Sports get the approval to cover a game in New York. How freaking awesome!
But then the rain came back — and it came back harder and harder as each minute passed.
I was fully expecting this game to get postponed. In fact, I wrote 450 words on how upset I was that I did all of this traveling just to watch the rain fall. Luckily for me, and the fans that were in attendance, we only suffered an hour and fifteen minute rain delay.
Something Tropicana has never experienced.
The Rays rallied in the second and third innings to take a 2-1 lead after allowing a run in the first inning. Ryan Yarbrough was cruising into the fifth inning, tossing three shutout innings in relief of opener Ryne Stanek.
Rays manager Kevin Cash came out to the mound after Yarbrough got Didi Gregorius to ground out. With four righties due up for the Yankees, Cash called upon RHP Chaz Roe, who came into tonight with a 3.98 ERA, to get out of the fifth.
Unfortunately, that is where the game was lost.
“Just where the matchups were,” Cash said when asked about his decision pulling Yarbrough. “Look it’s a difficult decision. It’s a fair question. Just basically where Yarbs [Yarbrough] had gotten us one time through the lineup. They’re heavy right handed. I thought that was a good spot for Chaz to come in. Obviously, no, it didn’t work out the way that we would like.”
Roe gave up four singles in a row that led to three runs, giving the Yankees a lead that they would not give back. In Roe’s defense, three of the five hits he allowed were less than 83 mph off the bat, so it isn’t like he was getting crushed out there, which Cash alluded to.
Roe mentioned after the game the he “felt good” during his outing. He threw 21 sliders out of his 28 pitches. “That’s been my bread and butter since day one. I’m going to get beat with my best stuff.”
Roster Moves
The Rays have called up Andrew Kittredge from Triple-A Durham and sent down Jake Faria. Kittredge held a 2-1 record in Triple-A with a 1.93 ERA. He threw 37.1 innings accumulating 55 strikeouts with the Bulls.
Injury Updates
Cash said that Yandy Diaz (hamstring), who was held out of the lineup for the second straight game, would be available off of the bench tonight if needed — which he was not. He went onto say he doesn’t believe the injury is too serious and that they’re just being cautious and don’t “want to lose him for an extended period of time.”
Cash was also asked about Tyler Glasnow (forearm), who threw a bullpen session before tonight’s game. “Very encouraged by his progress,” Cash said. “He’s got a ways to go. But you’ll take any positive coming from his effort. He’s throwing the ball with no issue, which is a good sign.”
Up Next
The Rays look to avoid a sweep in New York tomorrow. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 EST at Yankee Stadium. The pitching matchup features Blake Snell (4-5; 3.70) taking on CC Sabathia (3-4; 4.42).
