09/14: Yankees Pound Devil Rays 17-3
Posted by: Seamus
As it stood, we had only 20 games left to play. Down a game in the wild card standings and 3.5 behind the Red Sox, the Yankees entered Tampa Bay for what very well could be their toughest series remaining considering how they have played against the Devil Rays this season. The Yanks opened this series last night with a complete thrashing of the Rays, as they scored 5 in the 1st, 5 in the 2nd, and 7 runs in the 6th inning en route to a 17-3 victory. Bernie Williams had three hits on his birthday, Gary Sheffield made his return, and Jason Giambi launched his 30th home run before Joe Torre brought in a few bench players and September callups. Jaret Wright was solid after a rough first inning, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits in 7 innings.
The Red Sox, on the other hand, were the victims of a blowout at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays, so the Yankees' victory allowed them to gain a game on Boston in the standings as they are now 2.5 games back. The Indians won over the Athletics, meaning they remain one game ahead of the Yankees for the wild card (tied in the loss column). However, Oakland's loss put them 1.5 games behind the Yankees in the standings.
One Yankee who did not have the greatest game of his career (or perhaps it will be) was rookie Mike Vento. In his Major League debut, he let a ball roll under his legs in right field and he also forgot how many outs there were, as he reached on a fielder's choice with one out, but began to head back into the dugout thinking that was the third out. Vento was tagged out before he could get back to first. Fortunately though for Vento and for the Yankees, the game was pretty much over before he entered and Derek Jeter was able to calm him down a bit and joke around with him in the dugout.
What is unfortunate for the Yankees, however, is that those 17 runs are not accumulative over the entire series, meaning they'll have to start over again tonight as Chien-Ming Wang goes up against Mark Hendrickson, who has become a nemesis of sorts for the Yankees. Perhaps we should send some sort of letter or petition to him asking him to reconsider resuming his basketball career.
The Red Sox, on the other hand, were the victims of a blowout at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays, so the Yankees' victory allowed them to gain a game on Boston in the standings as they are now 2.5 games back. The Indians won over the Athletics, meaning they remain one game ahead of the Yankees for the wild card (tied in the loss column). However, Oakland's loss put them 1.5 games behind the Yankees in the standings.
One Yankee who did not have the greatest game of his career (or perhaps it will be) was rookie Mike Vento. In his Major League debut, he let a ball roll under his legs in right field and he also forgot how many outs there were, as he reached on a fielder's choice with one out, but began to head back into the dugout thinking that was the third out. Vento was tagged out before he could get back to first. Fortunately though for Vento and for the Yankees, the game was pretty much over before he entered and Derek Jeter was able to calm him down a bit and joke around with him in the dugout.
What is unfortunate for the Yankees, however, is that those 17 runs are not accumulative over the entire series, meaning they'll have to start over again tonight as Chien-Ming Wang goes up against Mark Hendrickson, who has become a nemesis of sorts for the Yankees. Perhaps we should send some sort of letter or petition to him asking him to reconsider resuming his basketball career.
Patrick wrote: