Entering Saturday at 22-22 the Rays had two things on their minds: another series win, and going above .500 for the first time since mid-April.
In his last start, Matt Andriese held the Red Sox to two runs on only four hits. He entered the game against the Yankees while holding a 2.08 ERA over his three starts in May.
Rays Putting Up Runs
Corey Dickerson got things started for the Rays in the first, hitting his fourth career lead-off home run on just the third pitch he saw, 388 feet to the bleachers.
Corey Dickerson opens the scoring in the bottom of the 1st inning with an opposite-field solo home run to left field!!! #RaysUp pic.twitter.com/4aJUvctVYm
— TheRenderMLB (@TheRenderMLB) May 20, 2017
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But Dickerson was not finished.
Corey Dickerson hits a three-run home run to right field for his second home run of the game!!! #RaysUp pic.twitter.com/1UXsPh3MVC
— TheRenderMLB (@TheRenderMLB) May 20, 2017
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In the fourth, he hit a monster 442-foot home run (11) to right field, bringing in Jesus Sucre and Daniel Robertson, and giving the Rays the lead again. For Dickerson, his sixth career multi-homer game, including his second in just four days.
Sucre got an RBI double in the second, taking him to 9-for-17 with runners in scoring position.
In the third, Evan Longoria hit a 380-foot home run to left field for his 6th of the season, continuing his recent hot streak.
Evan Longoria extends the Rays’ lead to 3-1 with a solo home run to left field in the bottom of the 3rd inning!!! #RaysUp pic.twitter.com/Z3aYY0xmxh
— TheRenderMLB (@TheRenderMLB) May 20, 2017
The Rays added more runs in the fifth after a two RBI single by Logan Morrison, bringing home Kevin Kiermaier and Dickerson.
Yankees Get Some Runs
American League home run leader Aaron Judge hit a 392 foot blast halfway up the seats in right field in the second, for his 15th of the year. Judge was brought across in the fourth with Starlin Castro off a Chase Headley double that tied the game at 3-3.
Gary Sanchez hit a solo home run in the fifth to bring the Rays lead back down to two, before Tampa added to the lead. In the sixth, Judge came across for the third time in the game on a Headley fielders’ choice.
Rough Start For Tanaka
Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka had his second consecutive rough start, throwing only 76 pitches over 3+ innings. He fell victim to nine Rays hits, including three that left the field.
In his last start, Tanaka was pulled after giving up eight runs over 1.2 innings. The Yankees star now has an ERA of 6.56 on the season, but 9.00 in May.
Ejections Galore
Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild and manager Joe Girardi were ejected in the bottom fifth for arguing balls and strikes. Girardi threw a bit of a temper tantrum by covering home plate with clay before taking his exit.
Cash on the Girardi incident in the 5th #nocomment pic.twitter.com/NLmPRF2Clg
— The Scrum Sports (@TheScrumSports) May 21, 2017
After hitting Judge with a pitch, Andriese was ejected in the sixth. He finished with five strikeouts, six hits, four runs over five innings and 87 pitches.
Andriese would still get the win after the Rays held on to win 9-5, clinching their third straight series win.
Manager Kevin Cash was all around happy about today’s win, including the over 22,000 in attendance.
Cash’s take on today’s #Rays win against #Yankees pic.twitter.com/eRyBpCudiZ
— The Scrum Sports (@TheScrumSports) May 21, 2017
Up Next
Sunday is the battle of the aces, as Chris Archer (3-2 3.70 ERA) takes on C.C. Sabathia (3-2 4.93 ERA). First pitch is at 1:10 PM at the Trop.
