Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Game of the Day (6/30/14)

Rays 4, Yankees 3 (12). Tampa's Chris Archer took on New York's David Phelps.

Tampa scored the game's first run in its first half-inning when Matt Joyce homered. Archer worked around a single in the first and a walk in the second, and the Rays doubled their lead on a solo homer by Kevin Kiermaier in the top of the third. But New York struck back to tie the game in the bottom of the third when Ichiro was hit by a pitch, Brett Gardner tripled, and Derek Jeter hit an RBI groundout. Jacoby Ellsbury then walked and stole second, but was left there by his teammates.

The starters both settled down considerably, as only one baserunner was allowed in the next two innings, and Desmond Jennings was promptly caught stealing after drawing a walk. Ben Zobrist walked and James Loney singled in the sixth to chase Phelps from the mound with two outs; Adam Warren induced a forceout to preserve the tie. Archer allowed singles to Mark Teixeira and Carlos Beltran before stranding them.

The Rays loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh on a single by Kiermaier and walks to Jennings and Zobrist, but Joyce grounded out to leave all three runners on. Brian Roberts led off the bottom of the inning with a single and was bunted to second by Ichiro, but Gardner lined into a double play. Dellin Betances relieved in the top of the eighth and recorded two quick outs, but then walked Brandon Guyer and Logan Forsythe. David Robertson replaced Betances and promptly yielded a go-ahead RBI single to Ryan Hanigan.

Jake McGee worked around hits by Ellsbury and Brian McCann in the bottom of the eighth to hold the lead. Jennings was hit by a pitch in the ninth only to be caught stealing afterward. Joel Peralta took the mound in the bottom of the ninth, and with one out, Roberts hit a game-tying homer.

Shawn Kelley retired the Rays in order in the top of the tenth; Jeter led off the bottom of the inning with a single and stole second before being left on. Forsythe led off the eleventh with a single, and a single by Kiermaier and a Jennings HBP loaded the bases with one out, but Kelley rallied to strike out Zobrist and Joyce to keep the Yankees even. Brad Boxberger worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the inning, and Tampa finally took the lead in the twelfth on a walk and steal by Guyer and a Forsythe RBI single. Boxberger was then perfect once more in the bottom of the inning to end the game.

The Rays have posted one of the worst records in baseball so far this year, and a big part of the reason is the fact that they've got an overabundance of players like Brandon Guyer and Logan Forsythe in the lineup. But whether or not they're worthy of important roles on a good team, they're still major leaguers, and they're still capable of occasionally coming up with something like two walks, two steals, and two go-ahead runs (Guyer), or two hits, a walk, and a go-ahead RBI in extras (Forsythe). Which is why even bad teams will occasionally come up with wins, especially when their starting pitching lets them stay close.

No comments:

Post a Comment