Rodriguez’s 27th knock of the season came in the second inning, on the first pitch he saw from Odorizzi, following a walk of Brian McCann, who entered the game 10-16 against the Rays starter with two homers. McCann improved on those numbers with a fourth inning solo shot, his 24th of the season for a three-run advantage. McCann was perfect against Odorizzi on this night, and scored three of the five Yankee runs.
New York tacked on two more runs in the seventh against Odorizzi, after McCann walked to start the inning. Greg Bird, who is filling in for the hobbled Mark Teixeira, belted a two-run homer with one out to cap the Yankees scoring. Odorizzi went 6-2/3 innings and allowed only five base runners, but all of them scored. Jake walked two while fanning eight.
Enny Romero and C.J. Riefenhauser combined to record the final four outs for the Rays.
Odorizzi wasn’t bad, yet his opponent was able to do something his team was not: take advantage of mistakes.
Luis Severino, who has not allowed more than three runs in each of his first six big league starts, got more than enough run support. And though the Rays had chances to pounce in three of the first four innings ― with runners in scoring position ― Severino made some pretty big pitches to walk away from each situation largely unscathed.
In the first Daniel Nava doubled to right, but Severino retired the next two batters (John Jaso, Evan Longoria) on groundouts. In the second, James Loney singled and Kevin Kiermaier walked with two outs, but JP Arencibia went down swinging. Then in the fourth, Kiermaier grounded out after Asdrubal Cabrera and Loney reached with two outs on a single and a walk.
Tampa Bay got its only run against Severino in the sixth when Evan Longoria launched a blast down the left field line.
.@Evan3Longoria knocked his 29th HR, tied for 1st in @MLB with @JoeyBats19 since 2008. WATCH: http://t.co/MY0SPwH5vy pic.twitter.com/KHIIqk5m2I
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) September 5, 2015
It was Longoria’s fourth in as many games, his 18th of the season, and 202nd of his career.
Tampa Bay mounted a one-out rally in the ninth, when Kiermaier singled and Arencibia laced an RBI double down the left-field line. Yet closer Andrew Miller replaced reliever Adam Warren to slam the door shut on the Rays.
The New What Next
An unknown quantity… Matt Moore (1-3, 8.78 ERA) will start on Saturday, making his second return to the Rays this season. Moore initially returned from Tommy John surgery on July 2nd and posted an ugly 1-3 record with an 8.78 ERA in six starts. The Rays sent him to Triple-A Durham, where he went 2-1 with a 3.30 ERA in five starts, and racking up 43 strikeouts in 30 innings. Moore was thought to have an inconsistent release point, something that was addressed in his stint with the Bulls. He is 3-1 with a 4.81 ERA in five career starts at Yankee Stadium.
Moore will be opposed by Nathan Eovaldi (14-2, 4.17 ERA), who leads the Majors with an .875 winning percentage. However, his seven-plus runs of support tends to speak more about his success than his record and ERA. Eovaldi lost to the Rays on May 12 at Tropicana Field, his only career start against Tampa Bay. You can read about the pitching matchup in our series preview.
Rays 9/5/15 Starting Lineup
Jaso DH
Nava RF
Longoria 3B
Sizemore LF
Forsythe 2B
Cabrera SS
Loney 1B
Kiermaier CF
Maile C
Moore LHP
Noteworthiness
― Catcher Luke C Maile gets his first big league start today, catching Moore. John Jaso is back in the leadoff spot, and Grady Sizemore is hitting cleanup. Kevin Cash said he moved Jaso back to the leadoff spot, hoping to get him going again; he wasn’t the same after the drop to the cleanup spot. Cash said he feels Sizemore is hitting a lot of balls hard with little to show for it.
― SS Hak-Ju Lee, who last week was designated for assignment by the Rays, cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A Durham.