B.J. Upton homers twice as Tampa Bay Rays rout New York Yankees 5-2 – ML B Update
Tampa Bay Rays continued to impress the critics as they beat the New York Yankees 5-2 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida on Tuesday, September 4 in second game of their three match series of the 2012 Major League Baseball regular season.
Manager Joe Maddon will be very pleased with Rays’ effort in a game that was important for both teams. Rays are just one game away from snatching first place on the American League East Division standings table and it will be interesting to see if they can
sweep New York in this series to improve their chances of reaching the playoffs.
"A lot of people on our side kind of wrote it off when we were 10½ games out, but I've been around long enough to know that this is a long season. A lot of things can happen, especially with the second wild card in place," Tampa Bay’s center fielder Upton
said. "So we kept our heads up and we're playing good baseball. We find ourselves a game and a half out in September. There's still a long way to go, a pretty tough schedule. We know what's ahead of us."
Credit should be given to the Rays for using their home conditions to great effect. The pitching rotation in particular produced a masterful performance, giving up just two runs against one of the best batting line-ups in the American League.
Starting pitcher Alex Cobb showed just what he is capable of as he gave up four hits and two runs in seven solid innings to grab his ninth win of the season. Relief pitchers Joel Peralta and Fernando Rodney combined to pitch two scoreless innings to keep
New York on the defensive.
After Yankees took an early 2-0 lead, B.J. Upton doubled to left in the first inning to put Rays on the board. Evan Longoria homered to left centre in the third to give Rays a vital 3-2 lead.
Desmond Jennings put Yankees under immense pressure as he connected for a solo home-run to left and Upton smacked a home-run in the fifth inning to give Rays complete control of the situation at 5-2.
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