Jeffrey Springs and four relievers combined to throw a four-hut shutout, and Christian Bethancourt‘s two-run homer would end up being more than enough as the Tampa Bay rays whitewashed the New York Yankees 3-0 Friday at Tropicana Field.
Springs dealt with plenty of traffic on the basepaths, as New York got runners into scoring position agaunst the left-hander in the first inning, and also dealt with traffic on the bases in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings, but New York went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position, and ended up leaving a total of ten men on base.
Tampa Bay took the lead off Yankees starter Domingo German in the fourth, as a pair of one-out errors committed by Josh Donaldson allowed both Harold Ramirez and Randy Arozarena to reach, though the second error also allowed the Yankees to throw out Ramirez at the plate. David Peralta picked up his teammates with a line drive base hit that scored Arozarena and gave the Rays a 1-0 lead.
The game stayed 1-0 until the seventh, when Isaac Paredes drew a walk from German, and Bethancourt, celebrating his 31st birthday with his wife and children visiting from Panama, blasted his ninth home run of the year and fifth in a Tampa Bay uniform.
The Rays’ six-run eighth was highlighted by a pair of bases loaded walk by Anthony Banda, issued to Taylor Walls and Yandy Diaz, and Manuel Margot collected two hits in the inning and driving in a pair with his second base hit of the frame.
JT Chargois, Colin Poche, Jason Adam, and Calvin Faucher combined to get the final ten outs of the innings.
The win allows the Rays to cut the Yankees lead in the division to five games (four in the loss column) with 32 games to play in the season.
Corey Kluber (9-7, 4.21 ERA) will go for his tenth win of the season Saturday evening, taking on Clarke Schmidt (5-3, 2.89 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 6:10.
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.
