The New York Yankees were denied a series sweep on Sunday afternoon thanks to five home runs by the Tampa Bay Rays’ offense.
- Tampa Bay Rays: 8 (8-10)
- New York Yankees: 1 (7-10)
- American League, FINAL, Box Score
- Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY
By Christian Kouroupakis
The New York Yankees were looking for their first sweep of 2016, but Michael Pineda surrendered seven earned runs including three home runs as the Tampa Bay Rays prevailed 8-1.
Corey Dickerson, Steven Souza (2), Steve Pearce, and Logan Forsythe each homered and recorded a combined for seven RBI to back Drew Smyly’s masterful performance.
Smyly, who was coming off an 11 strikeout game against the Boston Red Sox, went seven innings of one-run ball while striking out six.
Alex Rodriguez provided the only offense for New York with an RBI double in the fourth inning to score Brett Gardner. However, it was not enough to spark the Yankees to a comeback
New York finished a homestand they’ll certainly want to forget. They went 3-6 and were outscored 41 to 24 averaging a mere 2.6 runs per game while finding themselves in last place of the American League East.
FINAL: Rays 8, #Yankees 1.
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 24, 2016
Oh, Mike…
Big Mike disappointed yet again for the Yankees as he labored through five innings of seven-run ball while surrendering four home runs.
Pineda interestingly struck out an impressive nine batters despite surrendering ten hits. He became the third pitcher in baseball history to surrender seven runs and ten hits while striking out nine.
The last pitcher to do that was Sidney Ponson back in July of 2000. Despite its uniqueness, Pineda got the loss and watched his season ERA climb to 6.95.
Michael Pineda:
5 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 9 K#Yankees #Rays— NY Yankees Gameday ⚾ (@NYYanksGameDay) April 24, 2016
Injury Note:
According to Jack Curry of the YES Network, Alex Rodriguez tweaked an oblique while taking swings in the batting cages in between at-bats.
A-Rod was sent for an MRI and the average time for an oblique injury is approximately 3-4 weeks and given Rodriguez’s age, he could miss some significant time.
With Aaron Hicks expected to miss up to a week with a shoulder injury, a decision must be made on filling two roster spots.
Hearing ARod tweaked an oblique while taking some swings in the cage between at bats. Yankees aren’t yet sure of extent of injury.
— Jack Curry (@JackCurryYES) April 24, 2016
A-Rod out with oblique stiffness. Already gone for an MRI, which probably means it’s significant. Oblique injuries often mean 3-4 weeks.
— John Harper (@NYDNHarper) April 24, 2016
History:
In the fourth inning, A-Rod ripped a double off the wall in left to give him career double number 542 which passes Rogers Hornsby and ties Harry Heilmann for 32nd place on the all-time double list.
Alex Rodriguez with his 542nd career double passes Rogers Hornsby and ties Harry Heilmann for 32nd on the all-time doubles list.
— Jeff Quagliata (@yestoresearch) April 24, 2016
What’s Next:
The Yankees will travel to Arlington to take on the Texas Rangers for a three-game set and the start of a nine-game road trip.
Nathan Eovaldi will get his fourth start of the year and he is still seeking his first victory and to improve on his 6.11 ERA. Last year, he gave up five runs (four earned) on nine hits in five innings of work in his lone career start against the Rangers.
Cole Hamels was going to get the starting nod for Texas, but he was scratched earlier on Sunday due to groin soreness. As of right now, no replacement was announced.
Full coverage of game one will commence at seven o’clock with first pitch coming at around 8:05 PM ET on the YES Network and ESPN.
