Tampa Bay Rays

New York Yankee Rivalries: Out with the Red Sox and in with the Tampa Bay Rays (video)

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For the New York Yankees, the rivalry between the Red Sox and Yankees is that of Yankee lore, ever since the Red Sox made the worst trade in baseball history.  The Red Sox traded Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees. From then on it would be called the curse of the Bambino. The Yankees would win seven American League (AL) pennants and four World Series Championships during Ruth’s tenure with the Yankees.  To add insult to injury the Red Sox would go 86 years without a Championship.

That animosity between the clubs would set the stage for decades of rivalry between the two teams, that are just two hundred miles apart.  In an era when there were actually fans in the stands, at both Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium, opposing fans would wear their team’s t-shirts just to irritate each other.  That’s not to deny an occasional beer wouldn’t be split on an unexpecting head.  Every Yankee Red Sox game would take longer to play than with other clubs, and fans would be more involved in every game. Each game was a must-win for their team.

Since that drought, the Red Sox have won four World Championships in 2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018.  The Yankees only won one during the span in 2009.  Even so, in the last decade, the rivalry between the two teams has faded somewhat.  Mostly because the competition with the Rays and the Astros seemed to take center stage.  This year the Astros have taken a back seat to the Rays, as the division lineups don’t have the two teams playing against each other.  However, that’s not to say that the Yankees or it’s fans have forgotten that the Astros may have taken a chance at a World Series away from them in 2017.  The Yankees will deal with that situation in good time.

That brings us to the shortened 2020 season. With the tension between the clubs escalating over the years, the New York Yankees failure this year to win games from the Rays has risen the rivalry to new heights.  After winning a game last night, the Yankees are now 2-9 with the Rays this year.  The Red Sox series were always looked forward too, as fans couldn’t wait to beat the pants off them.  This year is much different, the Yankees go into each series with the Ray with trepidation.

The bottom line in all of this is that the two teams just don’t like each other.  Last night at the ninth inning, the first pitch from Aroldis Chapman whizzed by Michael Brosseau’s helmet, it was a pitch that the Rays thought was on purpose, not to just move him off the plate. Brosseau struck out to end the game, but the interaction between the teams was not over. After a few words were said, both dugouts emptied causing a shouting match that was quelled by the umpires. In an after-game interview, Rays manager Kevin Cash was very angry, and appeared to suggest that retaliation might be forthcoming when he said, we have a pen full of pitchers that can throw 98 mph.

Both of these teams are going to protect their players, and won’t be afraid to do so.  With tension running high tonight, let’s hope that no gets hurt and that both teams behave themselves.  Just like this crazy season, you never know what’s going to happen.  The only thing we can be sure of is that fans will be watching intensely. The Ray’s Kevin Kiermaier said it best in an after-game interview.  It is what it is, we just don’t like each other.

Yankees lefty starter feeling ‘discomfort’ in elbow, bad injury news incoming

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New York Yankees, James Paxton

According to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, New York Yankees left-hander James Paxton is having an MRI on his elbow after his Thursday afternoon start against the rival Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium.

After tossing four shutout innings, Paxton surrendered three earned runs in the fifth inning and was removed from the game thereafter. The Yankees lost 10-5, capping off a three-game sweep for the Rays. The Yankees are now 6-1 against the Rays this season, falling to second place in the American League East.

Across his five starts this season (20.1 innings), Paxton has recorded a 6.64 ERA, a 1.48 WHIP and 26 strikeouts while opponents hit .284 against his offerings. Last season the Big Maple made 29 starts (150.2 innings) for the Yankees, recording a 3.82 ERA, a 1.28 WHIP and 186 strikeouts while opponents hit .242 against his offerings.

Paxton underwent back surgery in March. He has missed extensive time over his big-league career due to said injury, as well as knee and shoulder discomfort.

Paxton missing a start and/or hitting the injured list vacates a spot in manager Aaron Boone’s starting rotation. Candidates to fill the void include Jonathan Loaisiga, Michael King and Clarke Schmidt. Another option is going with a bullpen day every fifth game. Gerrit Cole, Masahiro Tanaka, Jordan Montgomery and J.A. Happ fill the other rotation spots.

Infielder Gleyber Torres was removed from Thursday’s game with a tight left hamstring.

Thursday morning the Yankees placed left-handed reliever Zack Britton on the injured list with a left hamstring strain. Meanwhile, they optioned Miguel Andujar, subsequently recalling right-handed pitchers Ben Heller and Miguel Yajure.

Outfielders Aaron Judge (right calf strain) and Giancarlo Stanton (hamstring), infielder DJ LeMahieu (left thumb) and catcher Kyle Higashioka (right oblique strain) are all serving time on the injured list.

The Yankees are 16-9. They begin a three-game series with the New York Mets on Friday at Citi Field.

New York Yankees: Aaron Boone talks matchup with Tampa Bay Rays

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New York Yankees, Aaron Boone

Following their four-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees, 16-6, hold a two and a half-game lead on the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the American League East; the Yankees begin a three-game series with the Rays at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday.

A week and a half ago, the Yankees dropped three out of four on the road to the Rays. The two teams each scored 14 runs in the series.

Despite their struggles against the Rays earlier in the season, Yankees manager Aaron Boone is optimistic that they can play well against them this week if their offense capitalizes on opportunities (quotes per George King III of the New York Post).

“I thought we did a lot of things in that series pretty well. Even though we didn’t score a ton of runs outside of the one game we played I thought we gave ourselves a lot of opportunities and that is what you have to do against them,’’ Aaron Boone said Monday of his team that went 4-for-27 (.148) with runners in scoring position during the series. “Give yourself as many opportunities as you can because you know it is going to be challenging to score and score big against them but if we give ourselves opportunities and capitalize when we have those chances and to continue to pitch well against them then we will like our chances.’’

The Rays have won eight of their last nine games and accumulated 90-plus wins in the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Last season they won the AL Wild Card Game and took the eventual AL pennant-winning Houston Astros to five games in the AL Division Series round.

The Yankees are expected to send right-hander Masahiro Tanaka to the hill while the Rays are expected to send left-hander Blake Snell to the hill on Tuesday night. The Yankees are currently without Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, and DJ LeMahieu due to injuries.

Houston Astros take Game 1 of ALDS fueled by Verlander, Altuve

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The New York Yankees could pursue Gerrit Cole this offseason.

The Houston Astros opened up their postseason campaign with a 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. Fueled by a dominant outing from Justin Verlander, Altuve led the Astros with a home run off Trevor Glasnow in the fifth inning.

“I love the way he pitches every single day,” said Altuve on Verlander’s performance. “For me, he’s one of the greatest of all time and a Hall of Famer for me.”

Other then Altuve’s home run, the Astros scored on a fielding error by Brandon Lowe in the fifth, and in the seventh Yordan Álvarez doubled knocking in Alex Bregman and Yuli Gurriel knocked in Alvarez.

In seven full innings pitched, Verlander only allowed one hit while fanning eight. The two runs the Rays scored came in the top of the eighth inning off Ryan Pressly. Eric Sogard singled knocking in Joey Wendle and Austin Meadows doubled to deep-center knocking in Eric Sogard.

Game two will be played Saturday at 9:07PM in Houston. Gerrit Cole is on the mound for the Astros while the Rays are pitching left-hander Blake Snell.

New York Yankees: Looking Forward to the Final Road Trip of the Regular Season

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New York Yankees, Yankees, Luke voit

The New York Yankees, already clinching the division and home-field advantage in the ALDS, travel to Tampa and Texas for the final six games of the season. This when the team has to bear down and take it one win at a time.

The first order of business, the Tampa Bay Rays. They are going to do everything in their power to win both games of the two-game set. With Glasnow and Snell coming back off injury, expect to see them at a point during this series. The one-hitter Yankees’ pitchers must be careful with is Austin Meadows. He is hitting .289, with 32 home runs, and 88 RBIs (MLB.com). The Rays have a balanced lineup, mixed with some underrated power and line-drive hitters. This could be a trap series for the team from the Bronx.

Next on the list, the Texas Rangers. The weekend series will set the tone for the Yankees heading into the postseason. Hitters will most likely face Lance Lynn and Mike Minor near the end of the series.  Lynn had a career-best ERA to start the year but fell off in the second half.  Minor helped shutout the Yankees, at home, for the first time in over a year. Beating both of these pitchers should boost the lineup’s confidence heading into the postseason.

Why is this final road trip so important?

The Yankees are currently two games behind the Astros in the loss column, for home-field advantage. They have the tiebreaker which would make it three games. This implies the Yankees must go at least four out of five to stay in the competition for home field. They will have to hope the Mariners and Angels can win at least three of the six games.

As of now, the Yankees will host the Minnesota Twins in the ALDS. This series would be a rematch of the epic 2017 AL Wild Card game. The Twins rotation will most likely consist of Jose Berrios, Jake Odorizzi, and Kyle Gibson. All of them have double-digit wins on the year. The Yankees play much better at home in the playoffs but will have to prove themselves at Target Field, to ultimately get a chance to play in the World Series.

The New York Yankees will get a chance to redeem themselves for losing to the Astros in seven games in the 2017 ALCS. As of late, the Yankees have proven they have a good enough rotation and very intimidating lineup to make it there. Let’s see how they do the second time around.

New York Yankees: An Ideal Starting Lineup for the Post-Season

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New York Yankees shortstop, Didi Gregorius.

Aaron Boone, the manager of the New York Yankees, has a fun, but challenging task of creating a lineup for the postseason.

The Yankees currently have the best record in baseball at 95-51, are 7-3 in their last 10 games, and have an 8.5 game lead on the Tampa Bay Rays. The Yankees have one more two-game set against the Rays, at Tropicana Field, near the end of the month (MLB.com).

With the recent news of Hicks possibly needing Tommy John surgery and Tauchman being out the rest of the season, that opens up some spots in the outfield on the postseason roster. Stanton is the candidate to get the starting spot in left once he comes back off the IL. Clint Frazier could see an increase in playing time as well and will most likely make the postseason roster with all of these injuries.

What should the Starting Lineup Look Like in the Post-Season?

Once everyone comes back from injury, an ideal lineup would look like this: Lemahieu (3B), Judge (RF), Sanchez (C), Encarnacion (DH), Stanton (LF), Voit (1B), Torres (2B), Gregorius (SS), and Gardner (CF). Even for the Astros pitching, that would be a tough lineup to get through.  The balanced hitting of Lemahieu and Judge will set up the middle of the order, where all of the power comes from. Then, the sneaky home run leader, Torres, will add value to the bottom-third of the lineup. Gardner, a player that always seems to make something happen, whether it’s drawing a walk or stealing a base, is a perfect nine hitter to set up the top of the lineup.

Some key players off the bench would be: Gio Urshela (3B), for his electric plays on defense and consistent bat, Cameron Maybin (OF), for his veteran presence and ability to everything he asked to do at a high level, and Austin Romine (C), for his ability to lead as a veteran and come up clutch in big moments at the plate. He also seems to bond well with the pitchers and gives them extra confidence the mound.

Also, for the ALDS, Boone should most likely have Paxton start game 1 with his recent success. Tanaka game 2, Severino game 3, and German open up game 4, with Sabathia and/or Happ, right behind Severino or German. Severino will need some time to get back to his full durability audit may not be this season. German has also thrown a lot of innings this year and they should be careful with his arm. This plan would allow The Yankees could be smart to utilize all of their options to keep everyone fresh out of the bullpen.

Using this strategy, Boone can help lead the New York Yankees to their first World Series in a decade.