It turns out the only thing that can try and take out Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow is dehydration.
Glasnow allowed just one run in five innings of work against the New York Yankees as Tampa Bay earned a 6-3 win Saturday, but he nearly did not get a chance at the decision when the training staff had to be called to the mound when the pitcher began cramping in his left hand in the bottom of the fifth inning.
“In the fourth inning it kind of started and then in the fifth inning my left hand and my right calf and quad started to cramp up pretty bad,” Glasnow said after the game. “Willy [Adames] actually went out and brought me Gatorades and water, so thank you to Willy.”
The right-hander said the most important thing to him was convincing manager Kevin Cash not to take him out of the game at that point. The Rays skipper allowed him to stay in, and after walking DJ LeMahieu, struck out Aaron Judge, got Aaron Hicks to pop out, and struck out Giancarlo Stanton to end his afternoon.
“That was an interesting situation,” Cash said afterward. “I don’t know if I’ve ever witnessed anything like that, but I’m glad that he’s ok.”
Tampa Bay initially took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning, when Francisco Mejia sent a Jordan Montgomery pitch over the auxiliary scoreboard in right-center for his first home run as a Ray.
The Yankees tied the game in the bottom of the inning on a RBI single by LeMahieu, but the Rays took the lead for good in the fourth as Austin Meadows drew a one-out walk and scored on Manuel Margot’s second home run of the season.
Joey Wendle made it 5-1 in the seventh with a two-run blast off Jonathan Loaisiga.
The Yankees got back to within 5-2 in the bottom of the seventh with a solo home run by Rougned Odor off Jeffrey Springs, and Judge’s RBI double off Collin McHugh closed the gap to 5-3. But that would be as close as New York got, as McHugh struck out Hicks and Ryan Thompson struck out Stanton to end the threat.
Mejia added more breathing room in the ninth on an RBI double, and Diego Castillo worked a perfect bottom of the frame to earn his fourth save.
For the second consecutive weekend, Tampa Bay can finish off a series sweep of the Yankees with a win in the finale Sunday. Andrew Kittredge (2-0, 1.69 ERA) will open the contest against Gerrit Cole (2-0, 1.47 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 1:05.