The good news is the Yankee bats are sizzling. Amongst the fireworks tonight were a two-run dinger by Brett Gardner; Chris Stewart building upon a five game hit streak; Jayson Nix with multiple hits, including an awesome triple; and David Adams continuing to swat Mr. Rawlings like a ten year veteran.
David Phelps also carried himself like a veteran. He cruised along effortlessly, sitting nine consecutive Rays at one point and didn’t give up a hit until the fifth inning. Even when Tampa tagged him in the sixth for three runs, Phelps stayed composed. It took a comebacker from Zobrist in the eighth to remove him from the game for precautionary measures. Early tweets from Bryan Hoch and Meredith Marakovits say Phelps only incurred a right arm contusion. X-rays were negative.
The bad news is Curtis is right back on the Disabled List for a minimum of four weeks. He got plunked tonight and was removed from the game. After tests, his left pinkie finger was found to be fractured. Grandy had only been back for eight games.
The ugly? Tampa pitching. Roberto Hernandez pitched four innings and allowed five runs. Cesar Ramos came in for an inning and allowed three more runs. Along the way, Granderson got his finger broken when he was hit by a pitch; Robinson Cano got plunked as well; Jayson Nix drew a walk while the bases were loaded. Neither the plunks nor the bases loaded walk were intentional. Yuck. It will literally be a different ball game with Moore on the mound.
All in all, a good start to the series. Even with the loss of Grandy. The Yankees reached first without him after all. A perverse side benefit of his loss is that the outfield logjam is suddenly eased.
Okay, that’s a stretch but I like my eggs sunny side up. Sue me.
Final Score: Yankees 9 - Rays 4.
Chad R. MacDonald
BYB Writer
Facebook: New York Yankees the Home of Champions
My Blog: ChadRants
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