After a woeful series vs. the Oakland Athletics, in which the New York Yankees could muster up minimal offense and were dealt a sweep by the visiting A's, the Bronx Bombers took the field Friday night against their division rivals, the Tampa Bay Rays. With southpaw Matt Moore on the hill, the Rays' lefty looked to piece another quality start together as he had recently been finding his stroke again from the mound after dealing with varied results for the past few seasons.
Fortunately for the Yankees, the offense found life in many ways, including the rare steal of home plate, and picked up a much-needed victory by the score of 6-3. CC Sabathia didn't gain much mileage but still pitched well in a relatively short outing. The bullpen pitched brilliantly per the usual as Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller shut the door on any chance of a late inning comeback with five combined strikeouts over two innings of work.
Now, the Yanks will turn their attention to a Saturday afternoon showdown with the Rays. Masahiro Tanaka (1-0, 3.06 ERA) will take the hill for the Yanks while the Rays will trot out a new arm to their team. Youngster Blake Snell will make the first Major League start of his career at Yankee Stadium. Snell is a talented left-handed pitcher who was selected by the Rays in the first round of the 2011 MLB Draft with the No. 52 pick and has logged time in Princeton, Bowling Green, Charlotte, Montgomery and Durham over the course of his career thus far. Now, though, the lights are on bright and Snell will be tasked with delivering a solid outing as the Rays' pitching staff is a bit banged up.
Join us here at Pinstripe Alley for what should be a fun AL East matchup in The Bronx!