The Rays went to New York and mauled the Yankees in a sweep, outscoring them 31-5 in total.
Although the Rays had their way over the weekend series the opener was their toughest nut to crack as it took a 3-run
William Contreras homer (#5) in the 9th to break a 3-3 tie as they beat the Yankees 7-3.
Arturo Gutierrez followed Contreras with a solo shot (#26) to go with earlier homers from
Wander Franco (#9) and
Danny Arroyave (#6).
Pedro Avila had a shaky start (4.1 8 3 3 1 4) but the pen was outstanding with
Slade Cecconi going 2 2/3 perfect with 5 whiffs and
Tommy Burpee (3-1) getting the win going the final two.
After trailing 2-1 after 3 innings the Rays went to work on New York pitching and came away with a 7-2 win in the second game.
Arturo Gutierrez, who homered for the first Rays run (#27), had an RBI double to put them up for good in the 5th, and
Kelly Crumpton expanded the lead with a 2-run shot (#22).
Danny Arroyave and
William Contreras were also each 3-4 with an RBI.
Jake Baldino wasn't dominant, but pitched well enough to even his Tampa Bay record at 1-1 after going 5 5 2 2 4 1.
The Rays completed destroyed the Yankees 17-0 in the finale, hitting 8 homers in all including 3 from
Nate Strickland. Just gonna paste the hitting section from the box score rather than recap any further:
Joe Marlette was in cruise control throughout, going to 12-0, 2.90 with a 6 3 0 0 1 7 outing while
Wes Mendes picked up his first save, pitching the final 3 innings with 6 whiffs.
Team record: 71-28. Next up: Back home for 3 vs Baltimore.