Game 1: The Rays made it 14 straight overall and 13 straight over the Yankees with a 9-1 beatdown at Yankee Stadium. With Jaiden Hardaway needing a day off, Daniel Malone took over the leadoff spot and did his best J-Hard impression by homering twice, driving in 3 and drawing a walk. He's having a sneaky-good season at .315-14-61-28. Danny Ayala (#38) and Jim Gebers (#26) also went deep to support Josh Carsello, who was excellent at 6.1 5 0 0 2 4. He's now 11-6, 4.05 and one more good start away from getting that ERA below 4, quite an accomplishment since he was in the mid-5s about six weeks ago.
Game 2: If Yankee fans thought yesterday's game was bad, they really couldn't have enjoyed tonight's as the Rays doubled their fun and annihilated New York 18-1 for consecutive win #15. Rays batters hit 8 homers, including back-to-back-to-back-to-back homers in the 8th inning to tie the MLB record. You'd need an accountant rather than a sportswriter to tally up the damage, but leading things were Jim Gebers (4-5, 2 HRs #27 & 28, 4 RBI), Mike McKee (4-4, HR #16, 3 RBI) and Omar Rodriguez (2-4, HR #27, 3 RBI). Also going deep were Danny Ayala (#39, 3 RBI), Daniel Malone (#15, 3rd in 2 days), Jeff Baez (#12, a 2-run shot) and Daniel Vasquez (#26, pinch-hitting in the 8th). Ben Hill was also 3-6 with an RBI and is now hitting .421. Danny Romero was the beneficiary and he went the distance with a pitch-to-contact-and-get-the-game-over-with line of 9 4 1 0 2 1, losing his shutout in the 8th when Baez booted a 2-out grounder. He's now 18-3, 3.67 and arrested a run of poor starts.
A rare sweep of the 3 stars on a night when there was a full schedule:
Game 3: Well for 3 innings the Yankees looked like they had a chance. They were up 2-0 and had former Ray and quality starter Leo Ortega on the mound. Then Ben Hill happened. The rookie slugged a 471-foot 3-run homer (#6) to dead center off Ortega to make it 3-2 Rays in the top of the 4th and and by the time the top of the 5th was over it was 7-2 as they rolled to a 9-4 win, their 16th straight and 15 in as many tries against the Yankees this season. Jon Jimenez had a 2-run HR (#23) in the 5th, and Jim Gebers stayed scorching hot with HR #29 later. Omar Rodriguez was 4-5 with an RBI as well. Tim Gates got the start and wasn't his best, but 5 6 3 3 1 3 was good enough for the win today and he's now 18-4, 3.58.
Game 4: The Rays concluded perhaps their most ridiculous series in team history by walloping the Yankees yet again 13-0 and sweeping the 4-game series by an aggregate score of 49-6. Their win streak is now 17 and they're 16-0 vs New York this season. I'll start with the pitching for a change as Ted Hadley threw a 2-hit shutout, walking 1 and fanning 7 on 111 pitches for his 2nd Rays win. It's an indication of what Hadley can do if he can keep the ball in park. Keeping the ball in the park was something Yankee pitching was incapable of, as the Rays blasted 6 more homers today to give them 21 in the 4 games. Danny Ayala hit a pair to give him 41, including a 3-run shot in the 1st that got the ball, er boulder, rolling as he drove in 5. Mike McKee had another big day as he also homered twice (#17 and 18) and drove in 3 while Jim Gebers hit his 5th of the series and 30th of the year and Daniel Malone hit his 4th (#16) in 3 games this series (he sat yesterday).
Team record: 109-33. Next up: We continue our AL East road swing with 3 in Toronto.
Awards note: Jim Gebers was named AL Player of the Week for his 5-homer performance, going 10-23 with 8 RBI.