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Art Deco · 01-21-2023, 10:03 AM

The Rays fared well in the big showdown series with the Yankees, taking 2 of 3 and missing out on a sweep thanks to a bullpen meltdown. With New York losing on the Monday off-day following, the Rays now stand a full game ahead in the AL East with the teams now having played an equal number of games.

Tampa Bay made an early statement of intent by scoring 6 times in the first inning of the opener and going on to a 9-4 win over New York. It helped that Yankee starter Luis Severino had to leave the game after fanning the leadoff man and they then went to town against the bullpen with Nate Strickland's 2-run, 425-ft homer to dead center (#7) the key blow in the inning. Wander Franco had a big game, going 3-5 with HR #8 and 2 RBI while Dong-hwan Kim and Cristian Hernandez each plated a pair. Francisco Morales made it 2-for-2 in wins since joining the Rays, going 6 6 3 3 2 6 with the generous support.

The ingredients were all there for another Rays win as Kevin DiCostanzo was outstanding, no-hitting New York through 5 innings with a 3-0 lead. DiCostanzo did run up a pitch count and had to leave in the 6th after going 5.2 2 1 1 2 5 but the Rays got the run he allowed back and went up 4-1 in the 7th. And that's where things went sour as the injury-hit bullpen had its issues. Christian Little got DiCostanzo out of the 6th but ran into trouble in the 7th, loading the bases for Cody Adcock, who got a high-leverage opportunity after pitching well this year. He didn't today, hitting a man to force in a run and giving up a 2-run double to let New York tie with all the runs charged to Little. And then in the 9th Mike Moore (2-3), our nominal closer with Josh Scanlon out, put two men on and although he got the 2nd out he gave up a 3-run walk-off homer to let the Yankees pull out a 7-4 win. Nate Strickland was 3-5 with an RBI and William Contreras hit his first homer (#3) since April 16, a 2-run shot that gave them the 3-0 lead in the 6th.

Things did not look good at all in the finale when Wes Mendes was hit for 5 runs in the first inning on 49 pitches but a massive power display enabled the Rays to wipe out that deficit and eventually score an 11-7 win over the Yankees to take the series. Joshua Baez was a one-man comeback machine as he blasted a 3-run homer in the 2nd to make it 5-3 and then a 2-run shot (#8) in the 4th to tie the game up. In the 5th the Yankees brought in a lefty so Jonathan Gutierrez pinch-hit for Nate Strickland and delivered a 2-run homer off the bench (#9) to put the Rays ahead to stay, and in the 6th Diego Cartaya added a solo shot (#3) and Dong-hwan Kim a 3-run homer (#12) to put it away. Mendes settled down but couldn't get the third out in the 5th to get the win, finishing 4.2 4 5 4 6 6 on 110 pitches so it went instead to John Swanda (3-2). We did have to survive some bullpen escapades as Slade Cecconi brought the tying run on-deck in the 9th with 2 out so Ruben Abeyta had to get the final out for his first save. Swanda unfortunately had to leave with biceps tendinitis and will be out the better part of three months.

Team record: 43-21. Next up: An off-day then we head south on I-95 to play 3 in Washington.

And good for Kim:

01-21-2023, 10:03 AM	#981
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,581	June 11-13, 2032: at NY Yankees (3) The Rays fared well in the big showdown series with the Yankees, taking 2 of 3 and missing out on a sweep thanks to a bullpen meltdown. With New York losing on the Monday off-day following, the Rays now stand a full game ahead in the AL East with the teams now having played an equal number of games. Tampa Bay made an early statement of intent by scoring 6 times in the first inning of the opener and going on to a 9-4 win over New York. It helped that Yankee starter Luis Severino had to leave the game after fanning the leadoff man and they then went to town against the bullpen with Nate Strickland's 2-run, 425-ft homer to dead center (#7) the key blow in the inning. Wander Franco had a big game, going 3-5 with HR #8 and 2 RBI while Dong-hwan Kim and Cristian Hernandez each plated a pair. Francisco Morales made it 2-for-2 in wins since joining the Rays, going 6 6 3 3 2 6 with the generous support. The ingredients were all there for another Rays win as Kevin DiCostanzo was outstanding, no-hitting New York through 5 innings with a 3-0 lead. DiCostanzo did run up a pitch count and had to leave in the 6th after going 5.2 2 1 1 2 5 but the Rays got the run he allowed back and went up 4-1 in the 7th. And that's where things went sour as the injury-hit bullpen had its issues. Christian Little got DiCostanzo out of the 6th but ran into trouble in the 7th, loading the bases for Cody Adcock, who got a high-leverage opportunity after pitching well this year. He didn't today, hitting a man to force in a run and giving up a 2-run double to let New York tie with all the runs charged to Little. And then in the 9th Mike Moore (2-3), our nominal closer with Josh Scanlon out, put two men on and although he got the 2nd out he gave up a 3-run walk-off homer to let the Yankees pull out a 7-4 win. Nate Strickland was 3-5 with an RBI and William Contreras hit his first homer (#3) since April 16, a 2-run shot that gave them the 3-0 lead in the 6th. Things did not look good at all in the finale when Wes Mendes was hit for 5 runs in the first inning on 49 pitches but a massive power display enabled the Rays to wipe out that deficit and eventually score an 11-7 win over the Yankees to take the series. Joshua Baez was a one-man comeback machine as he blasted a 3-run homer in the 2nd to make it 5-3 and then a 2-run shot (#8) in the 4th to tie the game up. In the 5th the Yankees brought in a lefty so Jonathan Gutierrez pinch-hit for Nate Strickland and delivered a 2-run homer off the bench (#9) to put the Rays ahead to stay, and in the 6th Diego Cartaya added a solo shot (#3) and Dong-hwan Kim a 3-run homer (#12) to put it away. Mendes settled down but couldn't get the third out in the 5th to get the win, finishing 4.2 4 5 4 6 6 on 110 pitches so it went instead to John Swanda (3-2). We did have to survive some bullpen escapades as Slade Cecconi brought the tying run on-deck in the 9th with 2 out so Ruben Abeyta had to get the final out for his first save. Swanda unfortunately had to leave with biceps tendinitis and will be out the better part of three months. Team record: 43-21. Next up: An off-day then we head south on I-95 to play 3 in Washington. And good for Kim: Last edited by Art Deco; 01-21-2023 at 10:05 AM.