[SloppyThirstin]

1939 Yankees beat the 2021 Rays, 4-1

Game 1: Rays 2, Yankees 9 (W: Marius Russo, L: Shane McClanahan)

- Easy Yankees win. They put up 3 runs in 4th and another 3 runs in the 5th to take a 6-2 lead and chased Rays ace Shane McClanahan out of the game. Collin McHugh gave up another 3 runs in his 3 innings of relief.
- Red Rolfe was a HR short of a cycle, going 4-5 with 4 RBI. The fearsome outfield of DiMaggio, Selkirk, and Keller were kept pretty quiet, only getting a hit apiece, but Rolfe was a one-man offense.

Game 2: Rays 2, Yankees 7 (W: Lefty Gomez, L: Tyler Glasnow)
- The Rays took a 1-0 lead in the 2nd, but the Yankees put up 4 in the 3rd and never looked back. Another easy win for the #1 ranked team in the tournament.

- Gomez was PotG, striking out 9 in 7 inning while only giving up one earned run. Rolfe once again carried the offense, hitting a 2-run home run to give the Yankees the lead in the 3rd and going 2 for 3 in the game with 3 RBIs. DiMaggio chipped in with 2 runs on 2 hits, while Joe Gordon went 2-4 with 3 RBIs.
- The Rays offense is ice-cold through the first 2 games. Brandon Phillips, Mike Zunino, Brandon Lowe, and Randy Arozarena have 1 hit between them in the first two games. Kevin Kiermaier and Nelson Cruz have been the only bright spots so far.

Game 3: Yankees 9, Rays 5 (W: Red Ruffing, L: Michael Wacha)

- Rays make it interesting by taking an early 3-0 lead in the 3rd. But Yankees tie it in the 6th and break it open by scoring 4 in the 7th for another easy Yankees win.
- Red Rolfe keeps up his dominance, going 2-4 with a walk and an RBI, while Babe Dahlgren, Charlie Keller, and Joe Gordon all hit home runs. Red Ruffing pitches a complete game despite allowing 5 earned runs, while Michael Wacha's strong start to the day unravels, giving up 8 earned runs in 6.2 innings.
- Red Rolfe, the undeniable star of the series so far, going 9 for15 in the first 4 games, is injured on a slide in the 8th inning! His diagnosis is pending.

Game 4: Yankees 2, Rays 3 (W: Andrew Kittredge, L: Johnny Murphy)

- Our first actually interesting game! And an exciting one at that: Oral Hildebrand was cruising for the Yankees, who took a 2-0 lead in the 4th off of a Joe DiMaggio home. But Hildebrand eventually runs into some trouble as Nelson Cruz hits a solo homer and Wander Franco (who, unfortunately, has been the star for the Rays in the last two games), brings the tying run home with a triple.
- The Yankees bring Johnny Murphy out of the bullpen in the 9th inning. Wander Franco gets his third hit of the day, then steals second. With two outs in the bottom of the 9th, the Rays bring in Francisco Mejia to pinch hit for Mike Zunino (who's had a miserable series, batting .071) Mejia lines one to left to bring Franco home for a dramatic walk-off win with 2 outs in an elimination game.
- With Bill Knickerbocker at 3B instead of Red Rolfe, the Yankees offense doesn't manage to do much.

Game 5: Yankees 3, Rays 2 (W: Marius Russo, L: Tyler Glasnow)

- Another low-scoring game. Russo goes the distance. He wins both game 1 and the deciding game 5.
- Bill Dickey's 2-run HR in the 4th inning gives the Yankees a lead they don't relinquish. The Yankees offense threatens all game but can never quite break it open. They hit 12 runs and add on 6 more walks, but only manage to score 3. But it's still enough to hold off the Rays, who make it interesting with another Nelson Cruz home run in the bottom of the 9th to make it a one-run game, but no luck. Yankees win.

Series MVP: Red Rolfe, despite missing game 4 and 5 due to injury. He goes 9-15, with 8 RBIs and an OPS of 1.721 in his 3 games.
Russo has two solid outings, 17 IP with just 4 earned runs.

Series LVP: Randy Arozarena and Brandon Lowe combine to go 6-35, as the Rays offense never going.