The Yankees Escape Tropicana Field With a Much Needed Victory
By: Riley Briggs
The Yankees looked to take down their division rival, the Tampa Bay Rays. The Yanks watched the American Championship Banner go up at Tropicana Park. Combine that with the fact that the Rays sent the Yankees home last season. That should be plenty of motivation for the Yanks to play with all their energy and get revenge in this ballgame. Well, that was not the case. The Yankees played a depressing baseball game. The Yankees’ offense was solid, putting up five runs. But due to a putrid pitching performance, the Yankees were demolished by their rival. The bombers took a 10-5 loss at the trop. Corey Kluber got the start, and his outing was discouraging. Kluber went 2.1 innings while giving up five hits, two walks, and three earned runs. Nick Nelson entered the game after Kluber, and he struggled as well.
On the other side of the ball, Aaron Hicks and DJ LeMahieu hit their first homers of the season. Giancarlo Stanton had a two run single as well. I don’t believe New York Yankees fans have anything to be worried about when it comes to Corey Kluber. It’s still extremely early in the season, and Kluber has not pitched a full season of baseball since 2018. Once Kluber gets settled in I believe he will be a huge part of the Yankees’ pitching staff this season. The Yanks look to end this two game losing streak as they give Domingo German the ball for his second start on Saturday.
Lifeless, lethargic, spiritless, lackluster. Those are not words we would expect the Yankees’ offense to be described as going into the season. Sadly those words fully describe the depressing Yankees’ offense over the first eight games. The Yanks lost 4-0 to the Rays in game two of the series. The bombers’ offense could not have been more dreadful. They again struggled with runners on, and they had little energy all game. This type of offensive display is simply unacceptable. There are no excuses for this star powered Yankee offense to ever be shut out. Putting Yankee fans through the misery of watching them hit like this is simply disgraceful.
The story of the season has been failing with runners on base, and the Yankees have shown no signs of improvement so far in this Tampa series. Today’s starter, Domingo German failed to put together a solid start for his second straight outing. He threw four innings while giving up eight hits and four runs. You have to wonder how long German can keep performing like this before Deivi Garcia is given a chance in this 2021 season. The Yankees’ bullpen looked good with four shutout innings. Justin Wilson made his first appearance as a Yankee. He threw a scoreless inning with a walk and two strikeouts.
A major bright spot for the Yankees was Aaron Judge’s name in that lineup. After missing the last two games from “general side soreness” he was in right field today, and he showed nothing to suggest the side is still bothering him. The Yanks look to improve their pathetic performance so far this series on Sunday with Jordan Montgomery on the mound.
This is what we have been waiting for all season Yankees fans. The Yankees pull off a scrappy 8-4 extra innings win at the trop to avoid the series sweep. This much needed win for the Yankees is the kind of win that can spark a team and get them going. Jordan Montgomery got the start, and he did not have his best stuff. He had trouble finding the zone and was wild compared to his usual self. He went 5 innings while giving up 4 runs on five hits. He drilled Austin Meadows twice and had two walks. He gave his runs up early, and he looked like he was in for a 3 inning 6 earned run performance. That was not the case. He buckled down after the terrible start, and he gave the Yanks much needed length with the taxed bullpen. Monty flat out battled today and gave the Yankees a chance to win the game with a gutsy performance. With Monty keeping the Yanks in the game, it was up to the offense to come up with some runs. Although the Yanks were again struggling with runners on up to this point.
The bombers had a chance to tie or take the lead in the seventh when Mr. Reliable, DJ LeMahieu grounded into a double play with the bases loaded. Down 4-3 in the eighth Gleyber Torres came up with a runner on second and two away. He laced a clutch RBI single for his first RBI of the year and tied the game. Tied in the ninth the Yanks had another chance to take the lead, but a baserunning blunder by Brett Gardner ended the rally.
Aroldis Chapman kept the tie in the bottom of the ninth and sent the game to extras. The tenth saw the Yanks put together their best offensive sequence of the season. Rougned Odor came up with a clutch RBI single for his first hit as a Yankee and gave the Yankees the lead. Gary Sanchez then came up with another RBI single. Gio Urshela then came up with a clutch two RBI hit to put the Rays in the coffin. Albert Abreu came on for the save, and the Yanks secured the win. A bright spot of the game was the bullpen who again was lights out allowing zero runs. Although the MVP of the game was easily Gio Urshela who went 4-5 with 3 RBIs and his first homer of the season. The Yanks look to build off this electrifying win as they take on the Blue Jays starting on Monday, April 12th. Gerrit Cole on the bump.