Last night in San Diego, the New York Yankees facing elimination in the ALDS, bounced back with a 5-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. The got reliable pitching from Jordan Montgomery, Chad Green, and Zack Britton. Aroldis Chapman closed it out for the Yankees, and the win was accompanied by a few home runs.
The Yankees won the ALDS’s first game at Petco Park against the Rays but then lost two games in a row when pitching and hitting both failed. In game one, Gerrit Cole didn’t have his best stuff but held back the Rays for the 9-3 Yankee win. In-game two, and attempt to have an opener game backfired. Deivi Garcia started the game giving up one run and was replaced by J.A. Happ, who didn’t have it giving up four runs for the eventual 7-5 loss. On Wednesday night Masahiro Tanaka failed miserably in the Yankee 8-4 when the bullpen doubled the damage.
In both of the New York Yankees losses, the big bats were relatively silent, and hitters left the player on base, contributing to the losses. The only Yankee player that was hot, was Giancarlo Stanton, who hit two homers in the first loss and a two-run long ball in the second loss. That all changed last night Luke Voit and Gleyber Torres both hit home runs.
Jordan Montgomery started the night out by throwing only eight pitches in the first inning and striking out the incredibly hot Randy Arozarena. Ryan Thompson, the Tampa Bay Rays starter, matched Montgomery in the bottom of the frame by striking out he equally hot Giancarlo Stanton. Montgomery got through the first two innings throwing only 19 pitches.
At the bottom of the second inning, the Yankees erupted for two runs. Luke Voit first struck by hitting a solo shot, for his first home run of the postseason. Voit was the regular-season home run leader in all of baseball. DJ LeMahieu delivered a sac fly driving in Brett Gardner for the second run of the inning. At the top of the third inning, “Monty gave up a walk, and Brandon Lowe got an RBI, as the Rays scored a run. The game then remained scoreless until the bottom of the sixth inning.
Montgomery went four innings giving up just the one run while striking out four Rays. Chad Green came in in relief and pitched two shut out innings. He was replaced by Zack Britton who pitched 1.2 innings, striking out three. At the bottom of the sixth with Brett Gardner on, Gleyber Torres stepped to the plate and homered into the fourth deck of the Western Metal Supply Company that Petco Park is built around. Yankees 4 and the Rays 1. The final run of the game for the Yankees was scored by Torres when catcher Kyle Higashioka drove him in the bottom of the eighth. Aroldis Chapman closed it out for the Yankees throwing fastballs at 101 mph.
The winner was Chad Green, the loser Ryan Thompson and Chapman got the save. The New York Yankee win saved them from elimination and forced a winner take all game tonight at Petco Park. The Yankees will send out ace Gerrit Cole on three days rest, and the Tampa Bay Rays will, on only two days rest, send Yankee killer Tyler Glasnow to the mound. It is doubtful either starter will go very deep into the game, and the bullpens of both teams may decide the 2020 ALDS.