Tampa Bay Rays pound New York Yankees 15-8 to strengthen postseason hopes – MLB Update
The Tampa Bay Rays crushed the New York Yankees 15-8 on Thursday, September 22 to avoid a four-game series sweep at Yankee Stadium in New York.
The result might not have hurt the Yankees much, but would have surely dented Boston Red Sox. Although a consolation win for the Rays, it took them to just two games behind the Red Sox in the Wild Card standings, a position Boston would never have thought
of till September.
Matt Moore pitched five scoreless innings in the crunch game to see the Rays cement their lead on the Yankees. By the time Moore left the mound, the Rays had added 13 runs for the scorecard to show 13-0. Moore, making his first Major League start, struck-out
11 batters in his spell of 84 pitches to wipe-out the batting powerhouse of the Yankees.
Bartolo Colon, however, had a forgettable outing for the Yankees as he leaked seven runs and as many hits in three innings to lose his tenth start of the season. Having sealed the AL East a day earlier, this was an eye-opener for the Yankees and a signal
that the bull-pen needs to be seriously looked upon for the postseason.
Scott Proctor replaced Colon in the fourth inning but disappointed manager Joe Girardi with his dreadful pitching. The reliever was unglued for five runs in his one-inning stay at the mound, seeing his ERA soar to 8.22 for the season.
Left in shackles to complete his rotation for the postseason with only CC Sabathia and Ivan Nova confirmed, Girardi said, "You think about the third game is going to be five days from Wednesday, so you can pretty much let everyone continue to pitch and make
that decision at the end of it."
Rays have re-emerged in the race for the postseason and a win in all of the remaining games may well assure them a playoff berth ahead of the Red Sox. With Toronto Blue Jays defeating Los Angeles Angels, the Rays got a boost in their hopes for qualification.
Angels are the third team in contention for the playoffs via AL Wild Card with just one game behind the Rays.
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