Pain and rain in the Bronx: Yankees 7, Rays 4

Three players left injured in a rain-shortened finale in New York

The Rays were one of only three games taking place today, and they were wrapping up their series against the Yankees. Having taken only one game of the series so far, the Rays were hoping to come away with a true split of the four-game outing in the Bronx. The Rays turned to Ryan Pepiot as their starter, and the Yankees were counting on Marcus Stroman.

In the top of the first Yandy Diaz got a free bag after being hit by a pitch with two outs. The Rays were out on the next at-bat. In the home half Paul Goldschmidt got a one-out double, then Cody Bellinger singled to score Goldschmidt and put the Yankees on the board first. Giancarlo Stanton then homered to scored two runs. Two outs followed, but this was certainly a bad start to the game for the Rays.

The Rays went 1-2-3 in the top of the second. In the home half, with one out, Ryan McMahon and Anthony Volpe got back-to-back walks. Ben Rice then homered to score three more runs. Two outs followed, but the little mistakes were really biting Pepiot and the Rays hard. The Yankees ended the inning with a 6-0 lead.

The Rays were three-up, three-down again in the top of the third. On the turnover to the home half there was a delay in which Chandler Simpson, who had the last at-bat in the top of the inning, appeared to have some discomfort in his hand. He was pulled from the game, and replaced by Jake Mangum.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. took a one-out walk, then Jasson Dominguez singled. Austin Slater grounded into a force out to eliminate Dominguez and score Chisholm. Ryan McMahon singled, but the Yankees would have to settle for the one run.

Brandon Lowe singled to start the fourth, the first Rays’ hit of the game. Then buzz started brewing as Christopher Morel came in for Yandy Diaz, but it was not a hug watch, Yandy was just still smarting from his hit by pitch at the start of the game.

Morel doubled, and Jonathan Aranda singled to score Lowe, putting the Rays on the board.

Junior Caminero hit a sac fly to score Morel.

Josh Lowe then hit into a groundout, eliminating Caminero. Josh stole second, putting himself in scoring position, so when Jonny DeLuca singled, Lowe was able to score.

DeLuca followed what Lowe had done, stealing second, so when Taylor Walls doubled, DeLuca was able to score. It was the final run for the inning, but four runs scored in a single inning suddenly made this a very interesting game (even as the rain started to fall).

The Yankees went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the fourth.

At this point, it was raining in earnest, meaning both teams likely wanted to get through five in case the game needed to be called. Brandon Lowe got a one-out single, then Morel hit into an inning-ending double play. In the home half, Kevin Kelly replaced Pepiot. Stanton reached first on a throwing error by Junior Caminero, and this unfortunately resulted in Aranda jamming his hand into a running Stanton. This looked agonizing for Aranda, not sure how badly he was hurt, but that was the end of the game for him, and Brandon Lowe took over at first.

Chisholm hit into a force out, eliminating Stanton. He then advanced to second on a passed ball. Dominguez walked, and that was when the rain became too much to proceed, and the tarp came out. There was a rain delay of close to three hours before the game was resumed. Mason Montgomery replaced Kelly when the rain delay ended, and induced a double play off of Austin Slater to end the inning.

Yerry De los Santos replaced Stroman in the top of the sixth, and got the Rays out in order. Joe Rock was the next Rays’ reliever in the home half. Ryan McMahon singled to start the inning, but three outs followed to end the inning.

The Rays went 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh. With two outs in the bottom of the inning, Chisholm singled, and then he stole second. A third out ended the inning with no additional runs scored.

It was another three-up, three-down outing for the Rays in the top of the eighth. The Yankees likewise went down in order in the home half.

Jonathan Loáisiga came on for the Yankees in the top of the ninth. While Matt Thaiss doubled to start the inning, three outs followed to end the inning and the game.

Final: Yankees 7, Rays 4