Rays, Yankees on course for division title
The top two teams in Major League Baseball clashed at the Angel Stadium, Anaheim with 43,577 fans in attendance. The Los Angeles Angels were looking for a series save but that never came about as the Tampa Bay Rays swept the floor in comfortable fashion. The crowd didn’t get to see the opposite happening as much of action is now getting critical for the team’s struggle for the division title in the American League.
The Angels have been under immense pressure off late. This month has seen them win just two series and that too was against the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals. The squad hasn’t won its last series since the 11th. The game marked the third loss in quick succession as the players are looking for ways to up their game in the league. The loss today meant that the team had lost this series too. At the moment, the team is ranked 3rd with Oakland Athletics sitting on top for the second position in the Western Division.
Ervin Santana, who is considered the Angels’ star pitcher, was brought in for the game. With 13 wins, 8 losses to his name and an Earning Run Average (ERA) of 4.13, the player was the best option that Los Angeles had at saving the series. However, that never happened as the ball thrower conceded 8 hits, 6 runs and 3 walks. He managed to play in 5.1 innings, pitching 110 times and striking out 6 hitters in the night.
For the Tampa Bay ball club, the game marked an exhibition of reflexive and focused batting. Their hitters registered healthy scores on the board and it was this good form that got them to at par with the New York Yankees’ win for the night. Both teams are on level terms in the East Division table with 78 wins and 48 losses each. With a three game victory streak, the Rays were looking to add another win so their morale would climb alongside their pace for the title.
Wade Davis was Santana’s direct opponent on the mound. The pitcher came in to the game with 9 losses and 9 wins. His ERA of 4.41 suggested a tight ball throwing competition but it was the Angels’ ace man who lost his focus. The Rays man pitched 85 times in his 5.1 innings of play and struck out 5 hitters in the process. He gave away 6 hits, 2 runs and 3 walks for the victory.
The first run came in the top 2nd when Carlos Pena scored off Dan Johnson’s double to the right. Johnson and Matt Joyce then followed home as John Jaso singled to the centre. The last run for the innings came off B. J. Upton who sprinted to the dugout off Ben Zobrist’s sacrifice fly hit to the shortstop. Angels responded with Hideki Matsui who smashed his shot towards a ground rule double in deep centre. Toni Hunter scored from the shot and this brought the first run for the Los Angeles side in the bottom 2nd.
Evan Longoria then smashed his 19th homer of the season to the left. The move got the Rays on top of the Angels with a score of 5-1. No runs came till the top 6th when Matt Joyce decided to join the act as he slammed his homer to the right. Matsui responded in the bottom 6th when he scored off Bobby Wilson’s hit to the third. Zobrist then made it 7th for Tampa Bay when Longoria doubled to the shallow right in the top 7th.
Howard Kendrick then made it 3 for Los Angeles as he banged a homer to the right centre of the ball park in the bottom 7th. It wouldn’t be till the top 9th that the final runs came. Jason Bartlett and Zobrist scored this time when Carl Crawford doubled to the left. Crawford then went on to score the tenth for the team when Joyce hit a sacrifice fly to the right. The score ended on 10 Tampa Bay – 3 Angels.
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