The Tampa Bay Rays headed into Wednesday night’s matchup in the Bronx with a chance to sweep the New York Yankees and take a leap closer to the top of the AL East. It was a competitive game from start to finish with ups and downs aplenty, and it led to one swing of the bat from third baseman Josh Donaldson in the bottom of the tenth inning to walk it off for the Yankees.
Recap
Corey Kluber got the start for Tampa Bay against his former team and had played well against them all year. He had given up one earned run and had eight strikeouts in twelve innings pitched against New York. This play continued, as he kept the dangerous Yankee lineup scoreless through five innings, allowing the Rays offense to gain some real estate.
Rays third baseman Yandy Diaz got the scoring going for Tampa Bay with a RBI double in the third inning, scoring Jose Siri. Also, a two-run double in the fifth scored not only Siri, but also Rays catcher Francisco Mejia. Diaz has continued to keep the Rays offense afloat with his patient and consistent batting.
Harold Ramirez stepped up in the top of the sixth with a line drive home run to make it 4-0 Rays. The Yankees would answer back in the bottom half with a two run homer by shortstop Gleyber Torres to make it 4-2. Kluber would exit the game following this at bat.
A rain delay would come in the seventh inning to halt play briefly before it started up again. The new pitcher for Tampa Bay was Pete Fairbanks, who gave up a bases loaded walk to Judge to make the score 4-3. Brooks Raley would be next to pitch for Tampa Bay and he also had bad luck as his slider was sent into the stands by first baseman Anthony Rizzo, tying the game at four.
As the Rays offense slacked off late into this game, Ryan Thompson was the next pitcher given the duties of keeping it tied. He held strong, not giving up any runs which forced extra innings.
10th Inning
New York sent Aroldis Chapman to pitch in extras and he struggled mightily, walking both Isaac Paredes and Taylor Walls. However, after a tough at bat, Chapman did find a way to strike out Siri to get the first out. Next to bat was Mejia. On an 0-2 count, Mejia sent the ball down the right field line, leading to a three-run double to make it 7-4.
Jalen Beeks was tasked with closing the game for Tampa Bay. Torres was the first batter with Judge on second. Torres singled on a liner to right field that sent Judge to third. Beeks proceeded to walk Rizzo, which loaded the bases. Donaldson was next to bat and on an 0-1 fastball, he sent the ball deep to right field to win the game on a walk-off grand slam, 8-7.
Next Up
The Rays will travel back to Tropicana Field in Tampa Bay in a matchup with the Kansas City Royals.
Crazy how accurate and formal this is. Love the post