After a disastrous start to the American League Division Series on Monday, the Tampa Bay Rays held on to defeat the New York Yankees in the second game of the set, 7-5. In doing so, both Tyler Glasnow and the Rays set strikeout records, as Glasnow set a team playoff record with 10 punchouts, while the stable notched eight more for a franchise-record 18 strikeouts in a postseason game.
Glasnow got the start and allowed four runs on three hits and three walks across five innings. He struck out 10 and threw 93 pitches (62% strike rate, 28% SwStr). The right-hander allowed a fluke leadoff home run to Giancarlo Stanton into the short porch in right in the second inning, then retired the next six batters in a row, collecting three strikeouts in the process. But he got into trouble in the fourth inning after he allowed a leadoff single to Aaron Hicks and a four-pitch walk to Luke Voit. Three pitches later, Stanton blasted a 97 mph four-seam fastball, on the outer third of the plate, into the second deck in left-field — a shot that measured 118 mph off the bat. The right-hander buckled down though and struck out the side after the home run, posting a quiet fifth inning which included two more swinging strikeouts. Glasnow’s night came to an end after he walked Hicks to leadoff the sixth. Aside from the two misplaced pitches against Stanton, Glasnow dominated the Yankees and gave the Rays an opportunity to win the game.
Meanwhile, Tampa Bay went yard in each of the first three frames, and four times in the game.
The Rays took the initial lead in the first inning against 21-year-old Deivi Garcia. Randy Arozarena hammered a 3-2 fastball to right with two outs. Arozarena is now 8-13 in the postseason.
Then in the second inning, Joey Wendle led off with a ground ball single to left. Then with two outs, Mike Zunino blasted a 1-2 fastball off the facade in left for a two-run lead. It was Zunino’s second homer of the postseason.
Up 3-1 in the third, Ji-Man Choi walked with one out before Manuel Margot homered to dead center for a four-run advantage. Tampa Bay was able to get a pair of runners in scoring position on an infield hit by Joey Wendle and a two-base throwing error by J.A. Happ on Willy Adames’ grounder, but Kevin Kiermaier popped out and Zunino struck out to end the threat.
The Rays threatened again in the fourth, although they stranded a runner in scoring position.
Be that as it may, they tacked on an important run an inning later. After Wendle walked against Adam Ottavino, then stole second, Kiermaier lined an RBI single to center off Jonathan Loaisiga (who entered in relief of Ottavino) for a 6-4 lead.
In his first two plate appearances of the night, Austin Meadows put together two long at-bats which, unfortunately, resulted in a pair of outs. Still, he didn’t chase pitches outside of the zone and made good contact. If anything, it appeared that his timing was getting better with each subsequent plate appearance. That was a good omen for the outfielder as Meadows led off the home half of the sixth against Loaisiga with a solo shot to centerfield — his first hit since coming off the Injured List, capping the Rays scoring.
New York retired the next nine hitters, keeping the Yankees within reach.
After retiring the Yankees in order in the top of the sixth inning, Diego Castillo started the seventh and quickly got into trouble. Gleyber Torres walked on a full count pitch while Clint Frazier hit a bloop single into right-center. Enter Nick Anderson
Anderson struck out Gary Sanchez (swinging), D.J. LeMahieu (looking), and Aaron Judge (swinging) to put an end to the threat. He followed that up with a perfect eighth. All told, Anderson threw 22 pitches, of which 19 were strikes (86% strike rate). He also coaxed four swinging strikes (21% SwStr) after inducing none against the Blue Jays in his previous two outings.
Pete Fairbanks took the mound looking for his second save of the postseason in the ninth inning. He promptly walked Gio Urshela on five pitches and Torres on a full-count pitch. With the tying run at the plate, Fairbanks came back to strike out both Frazier and Sanchez — strikeouts No. 17 and 18. Still, the Yankees are a difficult team to keep down for long as exemplified by LeMahieu, who lined a first-pitch single to center, scoring Urshela and drawing them within two. Yet, Judge grounded out to third, ending the game with an orange roof.
As Juan Toribio (MLB.com) noted, the win shifted the odds in the Rays’ favor as teams that have lost Game 1 in a best-of-five series but then gone on to win Game 2 have advanced 28 of 53 times (53 percent).
The New What Next
Charlie Morton (2-2, 4.74 ERA) will make his 2020 postseason debut, pitching opposite of Masahiro Tanaka (3-3, 3.56 ERA).
Charlie Morton got the start against the Phillies two Saturday’s ago and looked dominant from the beginning of his outing, allowing just a walk to Bryce Harper over the first two frames, while striking out four. However, that changed in the third.
Scott Kingery grounded a one-out single to centerfield, then stayed out of an inning-ending double play because he was in motion when Andrew McCutchen hit a grounder to third. Kingery moved up third on a wild pitch before Alec Bohm flicked a single to right, tying the game at one. Harper followed, slashing a ball down the right-field line for a triple/Little League homer. He also crossed the plate when Willy Adames’ relay throw got past Brosseau at third, putting the Phillies up by two.
Kingery struck again in the fifth. The infielder hit a one-out double to left-center before Bohm lined a single to right, moving Kingery up 90 feet. Harper plated a run on a single, his tenth consecutive plate appearance in which he had reached. Morton retired J.T. Realmuto on a groundout to end his outing. All told, Morton was charged with four runs (three earned) on seven hits and a walk while striking out eight on 93 pitches (64 strikes, 69% strike rate, 22% SwStr%).
Masahiro Tanaka was knocked around in Game 2 of the American League Wildcard series against Cleveland, allowing six runs on five hits over four innings, while striking out and walking three. Most of the damage was done in the first inning in which five Cleveland hitters reached base and four come around to score. He later allowed the first two batters in the fifth inning to reach base, both of whom would come around to score after he was replaced by a reliever. Tanaka was hit or miss against Tampa Bay this season, allowing two runs or fewer in two outings, while allowing six runs (five earned) in another. Overall, Tanaka is 11-5 with a 3.31 ERA in 21 starts against the Rays. Key Matchups: Willy Adames (6-21, 2 2B), Mike Brosseau (2-3, 2 2B), Kevin Kiermaier (12-39, 2 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR), Austin Meadows (5-19, 2 2B), Mike Zunino (6-22, 2 2B, 2 HR)
You can read about the series in our preview, while the starting lineup is below.
Rays 10/7/20 Starting Lineup
- null
- Meadows RF
- Lowe 2B
- Arozarena LF
- Choi 1B
- Tsutsugo DH
- Wendle 3B
- Adames SS
- Kiermaier CF
- Perez C