CC Sabathia records his 250th career win as Yankees sweep the Rays

The New York Yankees soundly defeated the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday afternoon by a score of 12-1. The game eclipsed three hours long, but it truly ended in the first hour. With the reigning Cy Young winner on the mound in Blake Snell, the Yankees needed to bring their “A” game. They sure did.

The bottom of the first inning started off innocently enough as DJ LeMahieu hit a dribbler to third base that he beat out for an infield single. Luke Voit would work a walk to put two runners on for Gary Sanchez. The Kraken then decided to pay a visit to the short porch. It was his 21st home run of the season and gave the Bombers an early 3-0 lead. The blast also extend the Yankees’ home run streak to 22 straight games. They are now three games short of the 1941 record.

A laboring Blake Snell would record his first out on the 26th pitch of the game. Kevin Cash would only give him 13 more before removing him from the game. Colin Poche relieved Snell and inherited the bases loaded. He didn’t make things better, though; he hit the first batter he faced to walk in a run.

DJ LeMahieu would got his second chance of the inning with the Yankees batting around and the bases still loaded. On the 52nd pitch of the inning, he laced a single up the middle, scoring two. LeMahieu now has 29 multi-hit games this season and improved his average with RISP to .469. A long first inning finally drew to a close, but not before the Yankees put up six runs on three hits.

Snell had the shortest start of his career, getting just one out. He issued four walks and two hits. To make matters worse, all six runs scored in the first were credited to him. He threw 39 pitches and only 19 of those went for strikes. He is now 2-8 with a 6.34 ERA at Yankee Stadium.

CC Sabathia, meanwhile, made history as he won his 250th career game. He is the 48th to do so, along with being the 14th pitcher in history to reach 250 wins and 3,000+ strikeouts. He pitched a solid game, going six innings with seven strikeouts, allowing just one run.

The Yankees would put up another lopsided number on the scoreboard in the seventh. Gary Sanchez collected his fourth RBI of the game by ripping a 116 MPH double into left field. Edwin Encarnacion flared one into center that scored Voit from third. The biggest blow of the inning came by Gleyber Torres. With the bases juiced, he crushed a grand slam into the Yankees’ bullpen, extending their lead to 12-1.

That number would be the final score. The Yanks are now 7-2 against the Rays this season, outscoring them 52-25 in those nine games. The Bombers now have a 3.5 game lead in the division.

The Yankees will host the Houston Astros in a big four-game set starting tomorrow at the stadium. New York has won their last five, while Houston has lost their last four.