Source: FanGraphs
Two wins in a row! That’s always fun. The Yankees should do it more often. They took Sunday afternoon’s series finale from the Rays by the score of 4-2. Let’s recap the win:
- All With Two Outs: For the first 4.2 innings, Jeremy Hellickson kept the Yankees completely off balance with a mix of changeups and sneaky fastballs. They didn’t even hit the ball hard. That all changed in the fifth with a two-out walk by Stephen Drew. Martin Prado picked up his team’s first hit with a double into the left field corner (hard hit!), putting men at second and third with two outs. Brett Gardner plated both runners with a single back up the middle, then Derek Jeter and Jacoby Ellsbury strung together two more singles to score the third run. Two-out rallies are so great.
- Return of HIROK: Hiroki Kuroda allowed a first inning run(s) for the fifth straight start. Thankfully it was just one run (on two singles and a ground ball) on Sunday. He settled right down and retired 17 straight after that, getting the ball into the seventh inning. Matt Joyce’s leadoff double in the seventh ended the consecutive outs streak, and he eventually scored on Evan Longoria’s single. Kuroda did not make it out of the inning — Shawn Kelley bailed him out with a strikeout — but holding Tampa to two runs in 6.2 innings is plenty good enough. He only struck out one but did limit the Rays to four hits and a walk. The extra rest seemed to do Kuroda some good.
- Late Innings: Like I said, Kelley bailed out Kuroda in the seventh, striking out Brandon Guyer with runners on the corners to end the inning. Mark Teixeira whacked a solo homer in the top of the eighth to give the Yankees a much-appreciated insurance run right after the Rays cut their deficit to one. It was his 20th homer of the year. Dellin Betances pitched around an infield single in the eighth and David Robertson retired the side in order in the ninth for his 33rd save in 35 chances. He has successfully converted 21 straight saves, the longest active streak in MLB.
- Leftovers: Prado had himself a great day both at the plate (single, double) and in the field. He made several stellar stops at second base … Chase Headley also had two hits (singles) and several great defensive plays … every starter reached base safely at least once except for the just off the disabled list Brian McCann, though he reached on an error … the run-scoring single in the fifth was Ellsbury’s first hit in a week, since his solo homer against the Indians last Sunday.
For the box score and video highlights, head over to MLB.com. FanGraphs is where you can find some more stats and ESPN is where you can find the updated standings. The Yankees are now seven games back in the AL East — they are back in second place, percentage points ahead of the Blue Jays — and 3.5 games back of the second wildcard spot. FanGraphs has their postseason odds at 10.3%. The Yankees are off on Monday — third off-day in the last week — and will welcome the Astros to the Bronx for three games starting Tuesday. Lefties Chris Capuano and Brett Oberholtzer are scheduled to start the opener. Check out RAB Tickets if you want to catch that game live.
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