The Skinny: The Tampa Bay Rays took a very impressive series against the New York Yankees. The Rays 5-2 win today over the Yankees gave them a three game to one series win over New York. The win keeps the Rays in first in the AL East and drops the Yankees into last.
The Pitching: Scott Kazmir started today for Tampa and was terrific. Kazmir, still recovering from an injury, threw six shut out innings to bring his record to 2-1 on the season and dropped his ERA to 1.69. Dan Wheeler threw a perfect 8th inning with two K’s and and Troy Percival threw a perfect 9th inning for his 10th save of the season.
The Hitting: The Rays got off to a 5-0 lead by scoring in four of the first five innings off Yankee starter Ian Kennedy. Akinori Iwamura had a pair of hits and a pair of runs as did Shawn Riggans. Evan Longoria went 0-3 with three K’s and Carlos Pena was 0-4 with two K’s. The big blow for the Rays was a two run homer by Riggans in the fourth inning.
What’s Next?: The Rays will head to St. Louis to start a series with the Cardinals on Friday night. Andy Sonnanstine will start on Friday night, bringing his 5-1 record to the mound. Game time is 8:15pm.
