The old adage in baseball is that solo homers aren’t usually enough to beat a team, but when your opponent hits two and you only hit one, it can happen. And that is exactly what occurred Tuesday, as solo hots from Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez would be enough for the New York Yankees to hold on to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-1 at Tropicana Field.
The first solo homer for New York came three batters into the game, when Judge took Rays starter Luis Patino deep to center field for his eighth home run of the season.
Patino put up a zero in the second, but allowed a one-out single to DJ LeMahieu and a walk to Giancarlo Stanton in the third before two passed balls by catcher Mike Zunino allowed LeMahieu to score the second run of the game.
Zunino got Tampa Bay on the board in the bottom of the third, connecting on a Jordan Montgomery pitch and sending it onto the walkway in center for his seventh home run of the year, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
Tampa Bay would get no closer, and Sanchez gave the Yankees an insurance run in the seventh, going the other way with a Josh Fleming offering for his fourth home run of the year.
The Rays will look to even up the series Wednesday, when Collin McHugh (0-1, 7.36 ERA) opens against Gerrit Cole (4-1, 1.61 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 7:10.
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.
