The Yankees had a chance to sweep the four game (6/14/18 – 6/17/18) series vs. the Tampa Rays. Sunday’s series finale came after the 72nd Yankees Old Timers Day. CC Sabathia got the start. Ironically CC (37 years old) is older than Nick Swisher who played in his first OTD game. Nick hit a HR into the 2nd deck in Right-field, and his elder Sabathia pitched into the 8th inning, allowed 3 runs and K’d 10 batters. Unfortunately the young Baby Bomber bats were silenced for the most part and CC took the loss (4-2) as the Yanks could not complete the 4 game sweep, losing a 3-1 final. But 3 out of 4 ain’t bad. Yet another series win !! Let’s take a quick look at the 3 W’s …
Game 1 : GLEY CAN PLAY :
Gleyber Torres put together an at-bat that showed why he is so special, and advanced well
beyond his 21 years. With the Yankees trailing 2-1 in the first game (6/14/18) of a four game series, against a tough young lefty Blake Snell, Gleyber swung and missed through 2 fastballs up in the zone and then fouled off a curve ball with good break to it, before squaring-up a FB and pulling it deep into the seats in LF, for a 3R HR, giving the Yankees a 4-2 lead. Fellow rookie Domingo German (1-4) struck out 10 batters to earn his first career win, as the Yankees held on to win 4-3. Snell who had a 4 game winning streak going into the game took the loss (8-4).
Game 2 : HOT LASAGNA
Jonathan Loaisiga made his MLB debut (6/15/18) for the Yankees. He says his nick-name is Lasagna because his minor league teammates had a hard time pronouncing his last name. Well, Lasagna got off to a hot start, throwing 5 shutout innings, allowing only 3 hits and earning a Win in his first start, as the Yankees beat the Rays 5-0 with the offensive help of a solo HR by Didi Gregorius and 3R Double by Gary Sanchez. Yes, Aaron Boone and Yankee brass were pleased to see how well Lasagna pitched in his first start and I guess you can say, they are … hungry for more.
Game 3 : TRIPLE “S”
Severino, Stanton & Sanchez were the stars of the game. First and foremost Luis Severino once again displayed the he is not only the Yankee Ace, but also one of the most dominant and elite starters in the entire league. Dominance is a good way of describing Sevy’s performance vs. the Rays on Saturday (6/16/18). He threw 8 innings of shutout ball, allowing 3 Hits, 2BB/9 K’s. Severino’s record improved to a major league leading 10-2
Stanton & Sanchez hit back-to-back Homers. Torres had an RBI Double , and Didi an RBI Single. This was the second game in a row the Rays started a bullpen arm to open the first inning. Ryan Yarbrough (5-3) who entered the game in the 2nd inning took the loss. The Ray have lost 12 of their last 16 games in the Bronx, as the Yankees look to sweep the 4 game series on Sunday which is Father’s Day & Yankee Old Timers Day.
