After dropping the final three games of their homestand, the Tampa Bay Rays took out their frustrations Friday on the New York Yankees, pounding out 11 hits en route to an 8-2 win in the opener of the three-game weekend series at Yankee Stadium.
Tampa Bay wasted no time getting to Yankees opener Nick Nelson, as he walked Austin Meadows to open the game and gave up back to back doubles to Randy Arozarena and Brandon Lowe, the latter bringing in two runs for a 2-0 lead.
The contest would stay 2-0 until the fifth, when Joey Wendle singled off Luis Cessa, the third Yankees pitcher of the evening. After Manuel Margot struck out, Mike Brosseau brought in Wendle with a double to make it 3-0, and Gio Urshela botched a sharp ground ball off the bat of Willy Adames to bring in Brosseau. Mike Zunino and Meadows each drew a walk to load the bases, and Arozarena grounded into a fielder’s choice. However, another error, this time by Rougned Odor, allowed Adames and Zunino each to score.
Zunino drove in two more in the sixth with a double off Lucas Luetge.
Those runs would be more than enough for Michael Wacha, who worked the first six innings, allowing just one hit and a pair of walks while striking out nine.
“He had everything going,” manager Kevin Cash said. “Really sharp. It allowed our offense a little bit of time to add more, but we had really good at bats throughout the night.”
New York’s only runs came in the seventh thanks to a two-run homer by Giancarlo Stanton off Trevor Richards. Richards would work a scoreless eighth, and Hunter Strickland struck out a pair in the ninth to end the game.
Tyler Glasnow (1-0, 0.46 ERA) will get a chance to earn the series win Saturday afternoon, taking on Jordan Montgomery (1-0, 3.27 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 1:05.
Steve Carney is the founder and publisher of St. Pete Nine. One of the people most associated with baseball coverage in Tampa Bay, he spent 13 seasons covering the Rays for flagship radio station WDAE, first as producer of Rays Radio broadcasts, then as beat reporter beginning in 2011. He likes new analytics and aged bourbon, and is the owner of one of the ugliest knuckleballs ever witnessed by baseball scouts.
