The Rays would not have won the game without a terrific (and gutsy) start by Chris Archer. The Yankees took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning when the first five hitters reached on four singles and a walk. After a mid-count meeting on the mound by third baseman Evan Longoria, presumably to let the Rays starter know the Yankees were keyed in to the Rene Rivera’s hand signals, Archer settled down and sailed for the duration of his start.
We changed the signs, Rivera said following the game. Once you get a couple guys at second and they get another guy at second, you think they might see what your signs are. … Longo is on top of the game every time, and he made sure to tell us to make sure we did that at that moment.
The change helped, and it all started with a strikeout of Chase Headley. The whiff was followed by a Stephen Drew to fly-ball out to shallow center, and an inning ending ground-ball out to second by Garrett Jones.
Archer allowed one-out singles to Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner in the second, but Rivera nullified the speedy threats by throwing out both as they tried to swipe second. As Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) noted, Rivera became the first Rays catcher with two caught stealings in an inning since Dioner Navarro in August 2008.
Throwing out those two guys, two speedy guys for them, that was huge in the game, Rivera said.
Archer was dominant from there, retiring 15 of his last 16 (10 consecutive) and taking a no-decision — he remains unbeaten in seven career starts against the Yankees.
On the outside, Archer’s slider had a lot of depth and he used it to make the Yankees’ batters look silly. Yet, if you asked him what the difference maker was, Archer would tell you he didn’t worry about his first inning troubles:
I was honestly not thinking about the situation. I was just thinking about executing my pitches, and I knew that the hits that they were getting, that wasn’t going to beat me. If I stayed down in the zone, use my fastball, use my slider, that that wasn’t going to continue to happen throughout the game.
Offensively speaking, Tampa Bay trailed New York 2-0 headed into the seventh, but the team rallied to knot things up against Nathan Eovaldi. Evan Longoria got things started by looping a single to left field, then advanced on a James Loney groundout. The productive Logan Forsythe walked, and both runners moved up 90 feet on a wild pitch — the first of three. Both scored when David DeJesus singled to center field. At 13 RBI thus far, DeJesus is just six shy of his total of 19 the year prior.
The Rays took the lead in the eighth on another two-run rally. Kevin Kiermaier walked with one out, and moved to third when Steven Souza Jr. hit a blooped a single just out of the reach of the Yankees second baseman. Dellin Betances entered the game in relief, and Longo came through with a first pitch sacrifice fly to deep center field. After Souza stole second, and Loney intentionally walked intentionally, Betances uncorked a pair of wild pitches which allowed Souza to score an insurance run.
Kevin Jepsen worked around a one-out walk in the eighth to earn the win, and Brad Boxberger worked around a soft single in the ninth to earn his ninth save.
The New What Next
RHP Nathan Karns will get the start against Adam Warren and the New York Yankees on Wednesday night. Karns threw a career-high 117 pitches in seven-plus innings against Texas on Friday. Since taking a loss on April 7, he has allowed two or fewer runs in five of six starts. Karns will face the Yankees for the third time in 3½ weeks, and so far he is 0-0, with a 2.79 ERA. Lest you forget about Warren’s four pitch repertoire: fastball (both four and two seam, averages 94 mph), a whiffy change-up (averages 85 mph, has good depth and run), slider/cutter (averages 86 mph, has good depth and run), and curveball (averages 80 mph, has decent depth and run). Tampa Bay got to Warren to the tune of four runs on six hits on April 17th, yet didn’t fare well against him the next time they faced him. Warren held the Rays to one run on five hits through 5-2/3 in that outing. Whatever the case, the see-saw pitcher has relinquished four earned runs in three of his six starts. You can read about the match-up in our series preview.
Rays 5/13/15 Starting Lineup
Kiermaier CF
Souza RF
Longoria 3B
Loney 1B
Forsythe 2B
DeJesus DH
Cabrera SS
Butler LF
Wilson C
Karns RHP
Noteworthiness
— Rays prospect LHP Blake Snell had seven more scoreless innings for the Biscuits, running his season-starting streak (including Class-A Charlotte) to 40.
— The Rays won when trailing after six innings for first time this season; they had been 0-13.
— Jake McGee is scheduled to make his sixth (and potentially last) rehab appearance tonight for Triple-A Durham. Per Marc Topkin, it will be the first time he pitches with only one day between outings, and he will be limited to one inning.
—Is scheduled to throw his third live batting practice session today, with another BP/simulated game Monday. If all goes well, he should be able to start a rehab assignment after that.
— Nick Franklin is scheduled to resume his rehab stint at Durham tonight after being off Tuesday.