Tampa Bay Rays edge New York Yankees 7-6 – MLB Update
Tampa Bay Rays edged New York Yankees 7-6 at the Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida on Friday, April 6 in their regular season encounter of the 2012 Major League Baseball.
The Rays showed great temperament, determination and fighting spirits in a game that proved to be highly competitive. Not showing any signs of nerves, the Rays dominated their opponents in pressure situations.
Joe Maddon and his men had terrible time during the Spring Training Session. A win over the mighty Yankees will certainly boost their confidence. However, it will be interesting to see if they can give similar sort of results on regular basis to make it
to the post season.
The Yankees struggled to execute their tactics throughout the contest. After putting up a strong show this spring, Manager Joe Girardi was not expecting his team to fail in such a manner. Considering the depth and quality in Yankees’ hitting and pitching
lineups, it should not be surprise to anyone if they bounce back strongly in their next scheduled game.
The way Carlos Pena celebrated with his arms in the air explains what Rays’ win over the Yankees mean to each players in the team. Pena was the star of the show as far as Rays were concerned as he faced C.C. Sabathia with great authority to lift his team
to a memorable 7-6 win.
Pena’s grand slam off Sabathia turned out to be the match winning hit. The striker added an RBI single against Mariano Rivera in the ninth innings to stun the Yankees. Pena went 3 for 5 with five RBI’s. Although he struggled with just .107 average during
spring, Pena looked on top of his game play on Friday.
"Your heart starts racing in that moment and you try to control yourself as much as possible," Pena said. "I tried to slow myself down and breathe and take it one pitch at a time, as easy as you can possibly make it. Instead of building the situation up,
you try to bring it down."
Sabathia had a forgettable outing in Yankees’ opening game. The ace will be looking to make a strong come back in Yankees’ upcoming games.
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