Game 1: With the Yankees in a deep slump while the Rays have been red-hot, this series didn't look to be the one we had circled on the calendar a couple of weeks ago. Still it was good to make a statement and the Rays made one tonight in a 7-1 win, their 8th straight. Ryan Yarbrough continues to mesmerize AL hitters as he went 6.1 2 1 1 3 6 to improve to 3-1, 2.70. The 3 walks equaled his season total coming in so you could call him wild tonight. A 3-run rally in the 2nd was all they needed with Christian Vazquez and Mike Brosseau getting key RBI singles, and Vazquez added a homer (#4) later while Brosseau had an RBI double. Taylor Walls drove in a pair with fielder's choices.
May 13: Placed P Pete Fairbanks on the 10-day IL with a sore elbow, recalled P Ryan Thompson from AAA Durham, signed P Shane Greene to a minor league contract and assigned him to AAA Durham.
Fairbanks had to leave last night's game with a sore elbow. It's a 5-day injury but described as "moderate" so off to the IL he goes. The big news is the signing of Greene, a quality veteran reliever who will be coming up soon. Houston waived him and he cleared, so we get him for the minimum plus a $180K bonus. He's 55 stuff, 50 movement, 60 control and looked good with the Astros with a 2/14 BB/K ratio in 10 innings and was a closer as recently as 2019.
Game 2: All good things and all that as the Yankees snapped the Rays' 8-game win streak with a 4-2 win. Luis Severino and the Yankee bullpen were tough today while Brendan McKay walked 3 guys in the first two innings including the leadoff man in both, and all 3 of them came around to score. McKay did get the whiffs in a 5.1 5 4 4 4 8 outing, his first loss of the season. Oscar Colas (an RBI double) and Wander Franco drove in the Rays' runs.
Game 3: The Rays snapped back from yesterday's loss and beat the Yankees by the same 4-2 score they lost to them, thanks to some solid pitching and a big day at the plate from Christian Vazquez. After the Yankees scored their runs in the 1st on a Gleyber Torres homer off Yonny Chirinos, Vazquez got them on the board with a solo homer in the 2nd and added an important RBI single in the 6th. Manuel Margot had an RBI single and Brandon Lowe a fielder's choice RBI in the 3rd to put them ahead. Chirinos settled down after his shaky 1st to go 5 7 2 2 2 5 and improve to 6-1, 2.42 but kudos to Rafael Dolis, who came in after Chirinos gave up 2 infield singles to lead off the 6th. He got a fly ball and induced Aaron Hicks to ground into his 3rd double play of the day to end the threat, then added a perfect 7th. Nick Anderson got the 8th and Ken Giles finished for save #6.
Team record: 27-9. Winning three times as many as you lose is good, right? The new second place team is Boston, one up on New York and 9 back of the Rays. Boston won today when Detroit closer Alex Lange walked three straight Sox with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th. Meanwhile with Milwaukee losing today the Rays now have the best record in baseball. Next up: An off-day then we head to Chicago to play the White Sox for 3.
MLB News: Seattle's Justus Sheffield pitched a no-hitter against Baltimore at home, walking 3 and whiffing 8 in a 107-pitch outing. Here's a look at the current MLB standings and leaders:
