Raul Ibanez helps New York Yankees beat Tampa Bay Rays 5-3 – MLB Update
New York Yankees beat Tampa Bay Rays 5-3 at Yankee Stadium in New York, NY on Tuesday, May 8 in the opening game of their three match series of the 2012 Major League Baseball regular season.
Rays had an excellent 19-8 record before they lost three straight games. Oakland Athletics surprised them in the final two games of the previous three game series and now the Yankees seem to be getting on their nerves.
Joe Maddon and his men are certainly capable of bouncing back. For them, it is a question of putting the pieces of the puzzle together and it will be exciting to see if they turn the tables on New York in second game to keep the series alive.
Raul Ibanez helped the Yankees break the deadlock in the fourth inning with a 380 feet home run to the right field and Nick Swisher scored. Curtis Granderson also made a valuable effort in the fifth to extend the Yankees’ lead to 3-0. Although the Rays fought
hard right till the end, they were unable to wind winning ways.
"It's just like at Fenway. With the short field in right, the relay throw doesn't have to be long," Rays’ manager Joe Maddon said. "I thought he would have been out if he went."
"Not to write Mo's name on the top, because I do it in a certain order, was really strange for me," Girardi said. "So that was kind of like, 'OK, he's not coming out of the bullpen.' I can look at my card as much as I want, and he's not there. I think writing
out that card probably made me realize that it's different now."
Yankees will be very pleased to avenge their series sweep at the hands of the Rays at start of the season. Joe Girardi and company made the most of scoring opportunities in a game that was played on a competitive note. Yankees have given some great results
of late and they will be hoping to continue their impressive form in the upcoming two games of the series to give the Rays some taste of their own medicine.
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