From the perspective of a neutral fan, the 6 games played thus far this season between the Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays have been very entertaining.
From the perspective of Yankee Fan, however, the last two have been very, very satisfying.
Nestor Cortés started at Yankee Stadium this afternoon, against Shane McClanahan, who started the season 7-0. He would not end the game 8-0.
The game was only 1-0 Rays after 4 innings, but Cortés lost it in the top of the 5th. Or maybe he didn't lose it so much as the Rays just plain took it, taking 5 runs onto the board. But the Yankees came right back, scoring 4 in the bottom of the 5th, including home runs from Kyle Higashioka and Aaron Judge, knocking McClanahan out.
The Yankees got another run in the 6th. Later in the inning, a Gleyber Torres hit was followed by another Judge home run, making it 7-6 Yankees and sending the Stadium into paroxysms of joy. It was Judge's 1st big moment of the season, after spending a big chunk of it in a slump followed by another, smaller chunk hurt.
The Yankees loaded the bases again, and Oswaldo Cabrera singled 2 more runs home. A Yankee Fan could have been forgiven for thinking that those 2 runs would come in handy, due to experience. And they did: The Rays got 2 more runs in the 7th.
But Clay Holmes and Wandy Peralta, so often unreliable this season, shut them down the rest of the way. It was the 2nd straight big 9th-inning performance by Peralta, and the 2nd straight classic Yankee win over the Rays. Yankees 9, Rays 8. WP: Jimmy Cordero (3-1). SV: Peralta (2). LP: Ryan Thompson (1-1, not to be confused with the Mets outfielder of the same name of the 1990s).
The Yankees closed to within 7 games of the Rays. They are finally fighting back, and showing some of the guts they showed in the 1st half of last season. Of the Rays' 11 losses this season, 3 of them have been dealt by the Yankees.
The series concludes tomorrow afternoon. Clarke Schmidt starts against Zach Eflin.
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