It certainly wasn’t the offensive onslaught of the previous game, and the more productive bats in the lineup may have been held to 2-15 on the night, but the Rays were able to walk away from New Yankee Stadium with a 4-3, extra innings win under their belts. Chris Archer was pretty damn good, and Logan Forsythe was inarguably the hero of the game for his play on both sides of the field — playing a solid second base while also driving in the go-ahead run in the 12th.
Despite cooling down significantly toward the end of the game, Matt Joyce gave the Rays an early lead after he hammered a two out home run to right center. Evan Longoria followed with a single, but Loney struck out swinging to end the inning. Tampa Bay was able to double the lead in the top of the third inning, when The Outlaw Kevin Kiermaier hit a full count, leadoff homer right. Kiermaier has now gone yard in three consecutive games, becoming only the second Rays’ rookie to do so, alongside Evan Longoria.
Unfortunately the Evil Empire got both runs back in the bottom of the third, starting when Ichiro Suzuki reached safely on a Chris Archer HBP. The next batter, Brett Gardner, hit a triple up the right field line, driving in Ichiro from first. It bears mentioning: The hit got past Kiermaier in right field. If it was fielded cleanly, Gardner would have been held to a double at best. The Captain was next, driving in the tying run on a groundout to second base. Archer showed signs of spiraling out of control after he walked the next batter, Jacoby Ellsbury, who promptly stole second base — giving the Yankees another threat. But Archer managed to retire the next two batters, keeping the tie intact.
Archer settled down though, and allowed only three other Yankees to reach. He forced weak contact, including a huge inning ending double play in the seventh. All told, the Rays righty slashed 7 IP/5 H/2 ER/2 BB/4 K while coaxing eight ground ball outs — six to Logan Forsythe at second base.
The Rays came up empty handed in the sixth and seventh, despite mounting major two-out rallies in each inning. The rally in the sixth chased starter David Phelps from the game and brought in Adam Warren. The Yankees righty got Brandon Guyer to ground out to end the inning with a pair of runners on the bags. Then in the seventh, Warren gave up a two out single to Kiermaier before walking Desmond Jennings and Ben Zobrist to load the bases, bringing Joyce to the plate. The Rays DH grounded out to second, ending the threat with the bases loaded.
Tampa Bay finally broke up the tie in the eighth inning, this time cashing in on a two out rally. Dellin Betances mechanics broke down with two-outs and…well, we’re all better for it. As BA pointed out in the telecast, Betances’ frontside flew open before he could get his arm out front, and as a consequence he walked both Guyer and Logan Forsythe, ending his night. Yankees skipper Joe Girardi put in David Robertson with hopes of squelching the fire, yet Ryan Hanigan had a different plan — he singled to left and drove in the go-ahead run, giving the Rays a 3-2 lead.
The Yankees mounted a threat of their own with Jake McGee pitching the eighth inning. Ellsbury, who was on base three times, reached on a one-out, seeing eye single to right. After McGee struck out Mark Teixeira, Brian McCann hit a double that fell just in front of a diving Brandon Guyer. Guyer’s fielding gaffe could have proven costly, however Ellsbury’s two-out running gaffe saved a run for the Rays. The Yankees center fielder should have scored easily, but Ellsbury was not running hard as he rounded second — possibly believing the ball would be caught. And though the Yankees third base coach emphatically waved him around, Ellsbury ended up on third. Carlos Beltran popped out to end the inning.
With the lead in hand, Joel Peralta came on to close things out in the ninth inning. He, however, was not able to nail down the game, blowing his fourth save of the season. Brian Roberts teed off on a good splitter on the inside corner of the plate — again tying the game, this time at three apiece. For Peralta, the problem wasn’t the pitch, it was the sequencing. He sped up the bat of Roberts on three consecutive fastballs, then threw an off-speed pitch which Roberts dug out and hit off the facing of the second deck.
The Rays found themselves in another bases loaded situation in the top of 11th inning, but it was for not. Forsythe led off the inning with a single to right, and Kiermaier followed with a single of his own, moving the runner to second. Jennings loaded the bases after being hit by a pitch for the second time, bringing Zobrist to the plate with one out. However, Zobrist and Joyce ended the inning with a whimper — both struck out swinging.
Brad Boxberger entered the game for the Rays and pitched a perfect bottom of the 11th.
The 12th inning proved to be decisive for the Rays. In a bout of deja vu, Guyer walked with two outs and stole second to get into scoring position. Forsythe responded in kind, hitting a soft liner into shallow center to bring Guyer home.
Boxberger remained in the game and pitched a perfect bottom of the 12th to end the game. Rays win, 4-3.
The New What Next
David Price will get the start for the Rays tonight, butting heads with Hiroki Kuroda. The Rays have been good against Kuroda over in his last 29-1/3 innings of work, tagging the 39 year-old RHP for 26 runs (24 earned) on 34 hits, including an abbreviated 5-2/3 inning outing in April. Kuroda was okay in his last start Wednesday, allowing three runs on eight hits with four strikeouts, in a 6-1/3 inning start against the Blue Jays. You can read about the pitching matchup in our series preview, and I’ll post the starting lineup when it becomes available.
Rays 7/1/14 Starting Lineup
Jennings CF
Zobrist SS
Joyce LF
Longoria 3B
Loney 1B
Forsythe 2B
Figueroa DH
Molina C
Kiermaier RF
Price LHP
Noteworthiness
- It looks like Yunel Escobar is headed to the DL, retroactive to June 25. He is eligible to come off the DL on July 11th. Rather than calling up an infielder to take Escobar’s place, the Rays chose to bolster the bullpen — at least over the short-term — by adding reliever Jeff Beliveau. Beliveau has pitched in two games this season for the Rays, retiring all six batters he’s faced.
- Since June 11, the Rays have the second-best record in the AL (12-7) behind the A’s (12-4). Tampa Bay no longer owns the worst record in MLB, now just ahead Arizona.
- Logan Forsythe tied the team record with 10 assists last night.
- The Rays struck out nine, closing out the month of June with 287 strikeouts — making MLB history for the most strikeouts by any team in a single month.
- Despite the slow start, the Rays ended the month of June on a 10-6 run, extending back to June 15th.
- Tampa Bay is now 27-14 when it scores four or more runs, 4-3 in extra innings games, and 13-10 in one-run games.
- Your tweet of the day:
In today’s @TB_Times, Price says trade chances decrease with more #Rays wins; notes on Escobar to DL, more http://t.co/2uuGEroQov
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) July 1, 2014