When the Tampa Bay Rays’ pitching is on, it can compare to anyone’s.
Just as the New York Yankees. The Rays managed to slip past the Yankees 3-2 Saturday afternoon, stopping the hottest pitching in the majors along the way.
Starter Nathan Eovaldi has been 9-0 with a 3.32 ERA in his previous 13 starts, but he fell behind 3-0 in the first three innings as Asdrubal Cabrera had a two-run single and Kevin Kiermaier an RBI single. The Rays turned that into a victory, giving up only two runs in the fifth off Matt Moore.
For the Rays, Evan Longoria was hit by a pitch and is listed as day-to-day.
For Moore, it was a decent outing compared to his earlier stint with the team. He gave up two runs on three hits. In an earlier stint with the team, he was 1-3 with six starts and a 8.78 ERA. He gave up at least four runs in five of his six starts.
This time, four Rays relievers โ led by Brad Boxberger, who notched his league-leading 34th save โ shut out the Yankees. New York did load the bases in the eighth, but DiDi Gregorious hit a line drive to second base.
It brought the Rays back to within one game of .500 and 10 games out of the AL East lead.
Chris Archer starts today for the Rays against the Yankess’ Ivan Nova.
