New York Yankees at Tampa Bay Rays: Series Recap

Series Recap:

Game 1: 7/27/21, 7:10 PM (Yankees win 4-3)

Yanks take a big game 1 in St. Pete, thanks to another stellar performance by starter Jordan Montgomery. He tossed 5 shut out innings, while having some trouble on the base paths as he allowed 8 baserunners but none came around to score. Monty’s last 7 starts have all been quality starts and he’s finally getting into a grove and maturing as a young pitcher. New York wouldn’t get on the board until the 5th inning when Greg Allen led off the inning with a double and the next batter DJ LeMahieu would easily drive him in with a single giving the Yanks a 1-0 lead. In the 6th inning after back to back singles by Gleyber Torres and Rougned Odor, Gio Urshela would drive in both runs with a double in the gap making it a 3-0 lead.

Rays starter Shane McClanahan wasn’t bad, 3 runs over 6 innings is a quality start. Chad Green would replace Montgomery in the 6th and quickly serve up a 2-run homer to Brandon Lowe cutting the lead to 3-2. Green has struggled recently but he’s been excellent all season so not too many complaints about him, he’ll figure it out. In the 8th, New York would tack on a needed insurance run thanks to a homer off the bat of Ryan LaMarre whose tenure with the Yankees hasn’t been great but he’s shown some defensive promise in all 3 outfield positions and some opposite field power. Zack Britton would pitch the bottom of the 8th and give up an RBI double to Randy Arozarena, making it a 4-3 game heading to the 9th. Britton has been unacceptable this year, but he’s only throw 8.1 total innings, his track record shows he’s great and really excels at getting ground ball outs. New York would get 2 on and nobody out to start the 9th but back to back strikeouts and a fly out ended the threat. Aroldis Chapman pitched a scoreless 9th inning to earn his 19th save of the season. Chapman has only given up 1 run in his last 7 relief appearances so it looks like he’s back on track. Montgomery picked up his 4th win of the season and his ERA has gotten all the way down to 3.78, great stuff from Monty this season. McClanahan took the tough luck loss.

Game 2: 7/28/21, 7:10 PM (Yankees win 3-1)

That’s a big series win at the Trop. New York steals this game in extra innings thanks to stellar pitching. Starter Nestor Cortes Jr was exactly what the Yanks needed throwing 5 innings of 1 run ball. I was surprised he went that long as he’s really a middle relief 2-3 inning type pitcher but they stretched him and he excelled. Rays starter Michael Wacha was also fantastic allowing 1 unearned run over 5 innings. Rays got on the board first in the 4th inning courtesy of a Brandon Lowe RBI double scoring Wander Franco making it 1-0. In the 5th, Gio Urshela got on by a throwing error by 3rd baseman Joey Wendle and he eventually came around to score on a DJ LeMahieu sac fly making it an unearned run but tying the game at 1. Yankee bullpen was dominate, Luetge, Britton, Green, and Chapman all fired scoreless innings. The game would stay at 1-1 until the 10th, with ghost runner Urshela at 2nd base, Judge would bring him in on an RBI single giving New York a 2-1 lead. Later in the inning, a wild pitch by rays reliever Andrew Kittredge would allow Greg Allen to score making it a 3-1 lead and that’s all they needed. Chapman got the save as he’s been great the last 2 weeks. Chad Green picked up the win while Pete Fairbanks took the loss for Tampa. Yanks go for the sweep with ace Gerrit Cole on the mound tomorrow afternoon.

Game 3: 7/29/21, 1:05 PM (Rays beat Yankees 14-0)

Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees, 14-0. Yankees didn’t show up to play today that’s all it was. Gerrit Cole took the loss and Luis Patino took the win for Tampa.

Bob DeChiara - USA TODAY Sports

My thoughts:

Great to take 2/3 from a rival in your division who happens to be ahead of you. In games 1 and 2, the pitching was excellent and the hitting was alright but very timely and clutch hits was nice to see. Gotta move on from game 3 as they didn’t show up in any aspect. Happens.

Trade Deadline:

Yankees acquired outfielder, Joey Gallo from the Texas Rangers. in exchange for multiple minor league prospects. Yanks also shockingly acquired 1st baseman, Anthony Rizzo from the Chicago Cubs, in exchange for 2 minor leaguers. GM Brian Cashman completely stole both players for minor leaguers not ranked high in the farm system. Loaded up on big lefty bats is exactly what this lineup needed. They also acquired LHP Andrew Heaney from the Angels. Mostly a depth move but he will likely start a couple games. Big moves and the 2nd half should be a fun one.

What’s next?

Tampa stays home for a huge 3 game set against the 1st place Boston Red Sox. The New York Yankees take a very short flight to Miami to take on the Miami Marlins in a 3 game set in Giancarlo Stanton’s former playing grounds.