Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Yankees Fall Below .500, Get Swept By Rays 6-3

For the Yankees and their fans, the fact that the team lost the first two games of this week's Rays series was already pretty bad. 

Going into the set, the Bombers were slumping, making a dignity win in today's series finale an absolute must.

Unfortunately, the struggling, currently-dead-in-every-way club couldn't even do that, getting swept by the Rays 6-3 and dropping to 41-42.

At the beginning of the Yanks' offensive day, things didn't look like they could get much better, as Brett Gardner led off the bottom of the first with a home run to right.

Later on in the third, Brian McCann would also take Tampa Bay's Jake Odorizzi (Win; 5.2 IP, 3 ER) deep, with Gardner tacking on another with a fourth-inning single to put the Pinstripes up 3-2.

That hit from Gardner, coming with two on and two out, was New York's only with RISP in 9 at-bats this afternoon, dropping their average in those situations to .036 since Saturday.

Still, at that point, the Yankees held a 3-2 lead, the third time already they had broken a tie. 

Sure, you could argue the way they did it wasn't pretty, but the fact that Vidal Nuno was doing alright was definitely reason for confidence.

Or, so it was thought. 

In the top of the fifth, Nuno (Loss; 5+ IP, 4 ER) surrendered an RBI Single to Rays LF Brandon Guyer, soon followed by another lead off hit in the team's next turn.  

Immediately after that inning-starting knock, Sean Rodriguez drove a Shawn Kelley pitch over the left-center field wall, giving Tampa a lead and essentially ending the ballgame.

The Yankees had given up their fifth run, something that usually kills their confidence, as they are just 1-32 this season when giving up that many trips around the bases.

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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)