Rays Take Series Against Yankees

The Rays played the Yankees this week and took two games to win the series. The Rays are looking to find their way back to first in the division, while the Yankees are struggling to get out of last. Here’s how the series went down.

Rays Dominate Game One

The Rays took the opening game from the Yankees 5-1 with starter Tyler Glasnow going seven innings with only one earned run. In addition to his dominant pitching performance, the offense backed it up in a big way by producing four homeruns. The Yankees offensive struggles were highlighted during the game after only being able to scrape together three hits in the face of the Rays’ pitching.

All Glas, no breaks. pic.twitter.com/yJGpg4LyLO

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) August 2, 2023

Rays Take Game Two

Zach Eflin was on the bump for the Rays in game two and was just as dominant as Glasnow was the previous night. The Rays again took a win from the Yankees in the 5-2 game. Efflin went six scoreless innings while striking out five for his 12th win of the season.

Carlos Rodon was on the bump for the Yankees that night. Rodon has struggled so far this year. The Yankees obtained him from the Giants during the offseason, expecting him to make a big impact this year after his dominant year in San Francisco. However, the right hander had been out for a large portion of the season due to injury and has not performed well after coming back. The right hander has only made five starts this year with a 6.29 ERA.

These are the home-run-hitting, completely-dominant-pitching, and good-times-having Rays we know and love.

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) August 2, 2023

Yankees Come Back in Game Three

The Yankees were able to scrape a win out of the series in a 7-2 game. Both teams had their aces out on the mound in Shane Mcclanahan for the Rays and Gerrit Cole for the Yankees in the final game of the series.

The game started out promising for the Rays with a two-run shot in the first inning from Wander Franco, but Tampa Bay would not score for the rest of the game. Cole was his dominant self and finished the day with seven innings and two runs.

https://twitter.com/Yankees/status/1686909893737914368?s=20

Mcclanahan struggled and gave up five runs in the third inning. Mcclanahan would come out of the game after four innings due to feeling tightness in his forearm while warming up. The lefty was sent to get imaging done and is awaiting results.  Losing Mcclanahan would be an absolute gut punch for a team who has seen many injuries amongst their starting staff. The Rays did acquire starting pitcher Aaron Civale before the trade deadline who could fill his shoes if needed.