By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo Credit: MLB
The Tampa Bay Rays lost the series opener to the rival New York Yankees on Thursday, 6-3, at George M. Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees’ home Spring Training facility.
Aaron Judge put the Yankees on the board in the first inning with an RBI single to center. It’s his 22nd RBI of the season.
With bases loaded in the second inning, Taylor Wells got an RBI sacrifice fly to left field to bring Richie Palacios home. Palacios finished the game going 3-for-4.
Rays tied the game 1-1. Junior Caminero hit his fifth home run of the season when he belted a two-run home run to right field to put the Rays in the top 3-1 in the third inning. Caminero leads the Rays in home runs this season.
The Yankees started a rally after Oswaldo Cabrera hit a solo home run on a line drive to right-center in the top of the fifth inning. Cody Bellinger would pick up an RBI later in the inning after hitting a grounder to bring Paul Goldschmidt home.
With runners on first and third in the top of the 6th inning, Jasson Dominguez hits a grounder to second which allowed Jazz Chisholm Jr to score from third. The Rays tried to turn a double play, but they only got the force out at second, and Dominguez reached safely at first. Yankees took the lead 4-3
Catcher Ben Rice would add to more insurance runs after he singles on a line drive to left field, which Domínguez and Cabrera score to make it a 6-3 game.
The Yankees’ three runs in the sixth inning was enough damage for the Rays pitching. Devin Williams earned his fourth save of the season. Taj Bradley got the loss for the Rays. Bradley gave up six earned runs, nine hits, and one home run through five innings of work.
The Yankees improved to 12-7 and remain first in the AL East. The Rays fall to 8-11. The Rays left 10 men on base and went 3-for-7 in runners in scoring position.
On Friday, Drew Rasmussen (1-0, 0.60 ERA) will take the mound for the Rays against struggling Carlos Rodon (1-3, 5.48 ERA).
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
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