B.J. Upton shines as Tampa Bay Rays outclass New York Yankees 6-4 – MLB Update
Tampa Bay Rays crushed the New York Yankees 6-4 at Yankee Stadium in New York on Friday, September 14 in the opening game of their three match series.
Rays will be extremely happy with their effort in a crucial American League East Division encounter. With their win, Joe Maddon and company closed down the gap between themselves and league leaders Baltimore Orioles to just two games.
With plenty of games still to be played before the end of the season, the Rays have an excellent chance to make it to the playoffs. It will be interesting to see if Maddon and his men can bring some consistency in their results reclaim the number one position
on the standings table.
Starting pitcher David Price continued his excellent form as he gave up just five hits and two runs in seven innings to grab his 18th win of the season. Striking-out six batters, he created all sorts of problems for the Yankees’ offence. Relief
pitcher Fernando Rodney pitched the perfect ninth for his 43rd save of the year.
"That was a big game for us, facing CC and that lineup," Price said. "We had two Cy Young candidates pitch for us tonight," Maddon said. "Two guys at the top of their game. It was fun to watch."
"I still believe in CC," Yankees’ manager Joe Girardi said. "There's a guy that's done so many special things for us here. So I still believe in him."
"It's no secret our offense -- we're not big boppers. We've got to scratch and claw for runs," Chris Gimenez said. "Any time you can get three runs off CC Sabathia is huge."
After the Yankees took an early 1-0 lead, Elliot Johnson singled to right in the fifth inning to put Rays on the board. Desmond Jennings also made his presence felt with an RBI single to centre in the fifth inning.
Evan Longoria grounded into double play and Ben Zobrist singled to centre in the seventh to restore Rays’ lead to 4-2.
B.J. Upton homered to left in the eighth and Longoria reached first base safely on an error in the ninth to help Rays secure a much needed win.
Tags: