Baidu_MLB/MLB_New York Yankees Tampa Bay Rays 05 09 15.mp4

We'll

face

off

against

Nathan

Eovaldi

of

the

Tampa

Bay

Rays;

last

night

he

was

strong

for

Tampa

Bay

and

tonight

he

is

leading

off,

with

Daniel

Nava

a

familiar

face

here

in

the

Bronx

after

many

years

with

the

Red

Sox

who

was

DFA'd

and

picked

up

by

the

Rays

Evan

Longoria

now

over

career

home

runs,

Grady

Sizemore

on

his

path

back

to

the

major

leagues,

and

Logan

Forsythe,

Asdrubal

Cabrera

and

James

Loney,

who's

swinging

a

hot

bat

right

now

especially

in

this

ballpark.

It's

over

in

New

Yankee

Stadium.

Kiermaier,

who

is

on

every

highlight

reel

defensively.

And

then

he

made

his

first

big

league

start.

He

has

only

one

at

bat

in

his

major

league

career.

He

made

his

debut

September

in

Baltimore.

Look

at

the

Tampa

Bay

Rays'

starting

lineup

for

this

one

today.

Nathan

Eovaldi,

we

mentioned

the

power,

but

the

splitter

has

been

his

biggest

turnaround,

isn't

it?

Well,

Yeah,

there's

no

question

about

it.

He's

got

the

fastball.

It's

going

to

average

around

miles

per

hour,

a

slider,

a

curveball

that

he

uses

infrequently,

a

lot

of

times

early

in

the

count,

but

it

has

been

the

splitter.

He

has

worked

on

that

pitch,

he

worked

with

Larry

Rothschild

on

it

during

spring

training,

and

as

the

season

has

moved

forward,

the

pitch

has

gotten

better

and

better.

Same

with

his

confidence.

And

the

numbers

reflect

that.

Take

a

look

at

the

defense

behind

him.

One

name

you

won't

see

in

the

outfield,

Jacoby

Ellsbury,

had

to

exit

the

game

last

night

because

of

flu-like

symptoms

and

a

very

upset

stomach.

So

Brett

Gardner

will

be

in

center

field.

And

an

interesting

look

up

the

middle.

Of

course,

you've

got

Didi

Gregorius

and

Brendan

Ryan

getting

the

start

today.

One

of

the

premier

shortstops

in

the

major

leagues.

And,

well,

if

you

ask

the

people

here

in

New

York,

he's

a

pretty

good

pitcher

as

well.

He

spent

two

scoreless

innings

out

of

the

bullpen

not

long

ago.

So

there's

a

look.

And

the

Yankees'

defense.

And

it's

a

beautiful

day

temperatures

right

now

in

the

mid

here

at

Yankee

Stadium.

As

we're

all

set

for

first

pitch.

The

Yankees

and

the

Tampa

Bay

Rays.

Game

two

of

this

three-game

series.

Okay,

so

to

begin

things

for

the

Rays,

and

he

starts

them

off,

strike

one.

Well,

there's

that

curveball.

Anytime

you

can

drop

that

in

early

in

the

count,

you

jump

out

ahead

of

the

hitter

advantage

pitcher,

obviously.

With

the

count.

And

I

think

what

you'll

see

from

this

Rays

lineup

is

that

offensive

turnaround.

They're

averaging

over

four

and

a

half

runs

a

game

since

the

beginning

of

August.

And

it

has

been

a

more

aggressive

lineup,

with

a

guy

like

Eovaldi

trying

to

establish

that

fastball.

You

would

expect

a

lot

Early

swings.

You

see,

they're

miles

an

hour.

He

averages

just

under

miles

an

hour

with

his

fastball.

Jaso

over

the

shifts.

And

with

two

strikes

against

him,

a

leadoff

single.

He

went

with

that

to

strike,

elevate

with

the

fastball,

then

tried

to

come

back

with

the

splitter,

but

that

ball

did

not

have

good

action

and

stayed

up

enough

that

Jaso

was

able

to

sweep

it

out

into

right

field.

It's

an

interesting

thing:

you'd

think

that

with

a

pitcher

who's

consistently

throwing

his

fastball

would

be

close

to

unhittable.

Opponents

are

hitting

over

against

this

fastball.

Yeah.

Opposing

hitters

get

a

good

look

at

that

fastball.

The

arm

swing

of

Nathan

Eovaldi.

You're

able

to

follow

it

right

to

the

release

point.

And

so

it

doesn't

jump

on

you

like

some

other

fastballs

do.

First-pitch

strike

to

Nava.

Longtime

Red

Sox,

designated

for

assignment

by

Boston.

Picked

up

by

the

Rays.

At

one

point

recently

he

abandoned

switch-hitting

and

was

only

going

to

be

a

left-handed

hitter.

But

he's

since

returned.

He

picked

things

up

once

again

from

the

right

side

of

the

plate.

It

was

interesting

to

hear

Kevin

Cash

talk

about

it.

How

quickly.

His

hitters

were

able

to

really

adapt

to

this.

A

very

new

game

plan:

don't

wait

pitchers

out,

especially

if

you've

got

a

guy

with

a

plus

arm,

like

we

see

here

today

with

Eovaldi.

Get

on

him

and

try

to

get

on

early.

And

I

think

that

is

a

natural

transition.

I

think

hitters

by

nature

want

to

be

aggressive.

They've

got

the

bat,

they're

in

the

batter's

box;

they

want

to

swing.

And

so

when

you

turn

them

loose.

You

see

guys

really

adapt

to

that

quickly.

Just

like

the

Rays

lineup

has.

And

I'll

tell

you

what.

You

look

at

some

of

the

pitchers

out

there

nowadays.

You

know,

with

two

strikes

the

batting

average

against

is

so

low

and

the

number

of

strikeouts

in

the

game

right

now

makes

it

a

disadvantage

to

hit

with

two

strikes.

So

why

even

be

tempted?

Why

try

to

get

there?

Attack

early.

Kevin

Cash,

in

his

first

year,

took

over

for

Joe

Maddon.

He's

had

fantastic

success

with

the

Cubs

this

year.

Nothing

in

two

on

Nava.

And

there's

no

doubt

the

story

this

year

for

the

Tampa

Bay

Rays

has

been

the

injuries.

They

lead

the

majors

in

disabled

list

stints.

Last

year

you

think

about

the

Rangers

in

the

American

League,

the

Rockies

in

the

National

League,

and

this

year

it

has

been

the

Rays

that

has

been

hung

with

that

unfortunate

stigma

that

they

just

cannot

stay

healthy.

Well,

And

so

they've

had

to

ask

a

lot

of

guys

to

step

in.

you

know,

to

their

credit.

You're

in

September.

You're

just

four

and

a

half

games

out

of

the

second

wild

card.

A

lot

of

guys

have

stepped

up.

You

think

about

a

guy.

We

talked

about

him

already.

Logan

Forsythe,

when

the

season

started

or

going

into

spring

training.

The

idea

was

for

him

to

be

a

platoon

player

out

at

second

base

with

Nick

Franklin.

And

Nick

Franklin

gets

hurt

late

in

spring.

Logan

is

now

forced

into

an

everyday

role.

And

like

you

said,

maybe

the

team

MVP,

John

Jaso,

who

began

this

ballgame

with

a

single

to

right

field.

He

was

the

first

casualty

for

the

Rays.

And

in

his

first

at-bat,

on

a

slide.

And

they

had

to

miss

a

lot

of

time.

I

mean

it

began

that

early

for

Tampa

Bay

this

year.

It

really

did.

And

a

guy

that

they

brought

in

strikeout

there

by

Eovaldi.

But

a

guy

they

brought

in

to

hit

at

the

top

of

the

order.

Good

on-base

percentage

guy.

Not

your

typical

leadoff

hitter.

But

you're

right.

He

gets

on

base

in

his

first

at-bat

a

ball

in

the

dirt.

He

heads

to

second.

Boom.

Down

with

the

wrist,

he

missed

a

ton

of

time.

The

splitter

gets

Nava

there.

One

out,

one

on.

It

brings

up

Longoria.

Longoria

had

a

home

run

last

night.

A

homer

in

back-to-back

games.

In

fact,

Three

homers

in

those

last

two

contests.

Longoria

now

over

home

runs

in

his

career.

He

hit

that

mark

on

this

road

trip

in

Baltimore.

And

for

the

Rays,

a

very

young

franchise

in

the

scheme

of

things,

especially

compared

to

their

opponent

today,

Longoria

has

really

been

the

face

of

Tampa

Bay.

And

if

they

want

to

make

a

move,

they're

going

to

need

Evan

Longoria

to

play

a

big

part

of

that.

All

right,

Zobrist.

That'll

end

the

top

of

the

first.

They

take

their

way

to

the

home

half.

Nothing-nothing.

It's

a

Yankee

starting

lineup

that

leaves

off

with

center

fielder

Brett

Gardner.

Chris

Young

gets

a

start

at

left

field.

Alex

Rodriguez

Last

night,

career

home

run

number

And

you

see

John

Ryan

Murphy

doing

the

catching

today.

Didi

Gregorius

swinging

an

awfully

hot

bat,

and

Ryan

is

at

second

base

and

rounds

out

the

order

today

for

the

Yankees.

Gardner

in

the

leadoff

spot.

Ellsbury,

feeling

some

flu-like

symptoms,

had

to

be

removed

from

the

game

yesterday,

and

you

can

see

the

numbers

here

on

Matt

Moore.

Well,

these

are

the

numbers

that

warranted

the

trip

back

down

to

Durham,

where

Matt

Moore

made

the

proper

adjustments

and

then

found

himself

back

up

here

in

a

very

meaningful

game.

Back

to

the

line,

then

Loney

keeps

it

in

front

of

them.

We're

out,

number

one,

in

tumbling

fashion.

I'll

tell

you

what,

the

Rays

organization

they

pride

themselves

on

pitching

and

defense,

and

a

heck

of

a

play

here

by

Loney:

the

backhand,

he

knocks

it

down,

realizes

he's

got

a

little

bit

of

time,

then

scrambles

to

the

bag

with

the

baseball

in

hand.

Trying

to

beat

Gardner

Gardner

can

fly.

You

can

see

the

effort

from

the

Yankees'

leadoff

man

with

the

headlong

slide.

A

good

start

for

Moore:

two

pitches,

one

out.

He

faces

Chris

Young.

You

think

back

to

Matt

Moore,

an

All-Star

back

in

Took

Yu

Darvish's

spot.

On

the

American

League

club.

And

really,

his

fastball

velocity

in

his

early

days

was

higher.

He

was

humming

it

in

the

upper

Fastball

velocity

has

come

down,

but

he

was

still

effective

after

Tommy

John.

Yeah,

I

mean,

when

he

came

up

it

was

an

easy

mph.

Now,

you've

seen

him

here

this

afternoon.

Early,

going

around

mph,

and

he'll

stay

right

around

there.

Maybe

get

it

up

to

But

with

Matt

Moore,

it's

the

deception.

The

ball

gets

on

you

quick,

so

he

can

throw

a

fastball

and

get

swings

that

tell

you

it

was

harder

than

that

because

of

the

deception.

Good

life

on

his

four-seam

heater.

Two

quick

outs,

it

brings

in

A-Rod.

Now

what

a

difference

a

productive

season

can

make.

Alex

Rodriguez.

He

was

all

but

banished

here

in

the

Bronx.

You

can

see

his

numbers

here.

A

phenomenal

season.

Last

night

he

hit

career

home

run

number

and

now

he

is

beloved

Here

in

New

York,

more

than,

well,

anywhere

else.

But

no

bigger

cheers

for

any

Yankee

than

for

this

man

when

he

comes

up

to

the

plate.

It

has

been

something

of

a

year

of

redemption

for

Alex

Rodriguez,

saying

all

the

right

things,

doing

all

the

right

things,

being

a

good

teammate

and

productive.

That

always

helps.

That's

a

big

part

of

it,

isn't

it?

Moore

gets

ahead,

one

and

two.

Well,

that

production

has

started

to

come

down

just

a

little

bit,

but

you

mentioned

that

home

run

last

night.

This

is

a

team

that,

when

the

Yankees

jump

out

early,

they

win

at

a

higher

clip

than

any

other

team

in

the

American

League,

and

that's

what

he

did

last

night.

That's

why

it's

a

big

home

run.

Hit

the

opposite

way,

high,

but

near

the

line

foul

ball.

Take

a

look

at

what

he

did

last

night.

Well,

this

is

following

a

walk

to

Brian

McCann.

And

a

breaking

ball

that

just

hung

out

over

the

plate.

And

Alex

Rodriguez

made

that

kind

of

loud

contact.

That

typically

is

the

result.

And

the

amazing

part

is...

You

mentioned

the

loud

contact;

that

was

about

as

free

and

easy

a

swing.

As

you'll

see

from

any

big

leaguer.

And

he

had

no

problem

parking

it

over

the

fence.

Not

exactly

what

Matt

Moore

was

hoping

for.

Ninety-four

miles

an

hour

that

time.

And

a

quick,

tidy

one-two-three

bottom

of

the

first.

Through

one.

Leads

things

off

for

the

Rays

at

the

top

of

the

second.

His

pitch.

Soft

roller

to

Brendan

Ryan.

A

nice

start

for

Nathan

Eovaldi.

If

you

think

about

Eovaldi

and

what

he

has

done

this

year,

there's

no

doubt

the

wins

are

the

stat

that

stand

out,

probably

more

than

anything,

Brian.

His

first.

start

of

his

career.

He

picked

up

wins

this

year.

He

has

wins

and

you

mentioned

earlier

the

run

support

for

Eovaldi

has

been

off

the

charts.

The

run

support

has

been

tremendous

but

he's

been

throwing

the

ball

great

for

the

Yankees

over

his

last

starts.

We

talked

about

that

record,

the

ERA

You'll

take

that

all

day

long

especially

with

this

offense

behind

you.

Learning

how

to

win

games

in

the

big

leagues.

Forsythe,

a

fair

ball

tied

to

the

line.

And

Forsythe

is

in

with

extra

bases.

Now

the

hits

just

keep

on

coming

for

this

guy.

Well,

I'm

going

to

tell

you

we

highlighted

him

in

the

open

as

the

Rays'

most

consistent

hitter

and

talked

about

his

quick

hands,

and

that's

what

he's

showing

here

once

again.

I

mean,

Logan

is

just

able

to

let

that

ball

travel

into

the

zone.

He

has

such

trust

in

his

hands

and

in

his

pitch

recognition.

He

lets

it

get

deep

and

then,

boom

fire.

And

there's

not

a

lot

of

wasted

movement

there

and

he's

able

to

sneak

it

down

the

line

past

Chase

Headley.

Rays'

first

scoring

opportunity.

Tampa

Bay

was

sat

down

in

order

in

the

top

of

the

first

despite

a

leadoff

single

by

John

Jay,

so

a

double

play

got

things

going

quickly.

One

out,

Forsythe

at

first,

and

it

brings

in

the

veteran

Asdrubal

Cabrera.

A

switch-hitter.

How

many

times

have

we

seen

it

already?

Recognizing

that

this

Rays

lineup,

especially

the

left-handed

hitters,

will

adjust

against

a

power

righty.

He's

gone

with

a

number

of

first-pitch

breaking

balls

already

here

this

afternoon.

He

had

a

front-row

seat

to

everything

he

did

in

last

night's

Game

One.

Luis

Severino,

the

rookie,

was

fantastic.

He

won

his

third

straight

game

and

the

Rays

were

after

him.

It

seemed

like

they

attacked

him

on

almost

every

pitch

he

threw

last

night.

Eovaldi

had

an

up-close

and

personal

scouting

report.

Especially

early

on,

Severino

came

out

trying

to

establish

that

very

good

fastball

he

has.

The

Rays

were

able

to

get

him

into

a

little

bit

of

trouble

early

in

the

game.

They

worked

some

walks.

Some

base

hits.

They

had

some

base

runners.

But

Severino

was

able

to

pitch

out

of

those

innings.

And

all

of

a

sudden,

he

made

the

adjustment.

Then

he

started

to

see

the

backdoor

slider

for

strike

one.

You

saw

the

changeup

come

into

play.

And

at

that

point

he

really

took

over

the

game.

Ball

and

two

strikes

to

Cabrera,

with

Forsythe

at

second

base;

he

doubled.

You

can

see

what

the

Rays

did

or

did

not

do

last

night.

And

they

have

not

been

able

to

cash

in

in

those

situations.

On

the

season

that

has

been

the

Achilles'

heel

offensively

they've

had

opportunities.

They're

fourteenth

out

of

teams

in

the

American

League

in

RISP

batting

average,

and

if

you're

not

hitting

there

you're

not

scoring

runs.

First

year

for

Kevin

Cash.

He

was

the

bullpen

coach

for

a

couple

of

years

in

Cleveland

and

is

a

former

big

league

catcher.

He

was

a

Yankee

for

a

brief

period

of

time.

Close

pitch,

but

it's

a

full

count.

He's

trying

to

get

the

chase

here.

late

movement

to

get

Cabrera

to

go

off

the

plate.

He

does

not,

so

the

double,

and

now

the

walk

to

Cabrera.

First

walk

today

for

Revaldi.

And

I'll

bring

in

James

Loney.

Loney

has

made

a

name

for

himself

here

in

the

Bronx

at

New

Yankee

Stadium.

He's

nearly

a

hitter.

He

has

the

highest.

Batting

average

of

any

visiting

player

in

this

ballpark's

relatively

young

history.

He

hits

the

ball

where

it's

pitched

up

the

middle.

No

shift

for

Loney

as

a

result.

You

can

see

how

he

has

done

against

the

Yankees

overall

both

home

and

away.

Among

all

active

hitters

he's

at

the

top.

They

haven't

figured

out

the

formula.

Not

yet.

Every

team's

got

that

guy.

They

do.

They

really

do.

And

every

pitcher

has

that

guy.

Fourth,

ninth,

Second,

Cabrera

at

first.

Last

night

we

saw

Jake

Odorizzi

start

game

one

for

Tampa

Bay,

and

McCann,

the

catcher

for

the

Yankees,

has

just

flat-out

owned

him,

and

that

continued

last

night.

For

some

reason

some

guys

just

see

the

ball

better.

You

make

more

mistakes

against

them.

They

may.

I

mean,

it

was

amazing

last

night

because

he

was

the

guy

that

walked

before

the

home

run

by

Alex

Rodriguez,

and

then

they

pitched

to

him

full

count

with

a

fastball.

He

hit

a

home

run

his

second

time

up,

walked

again

his

third

time

up

in

front

of

another

home

run.

Here

comes

the

Jams

him

inside.

He

took

that

off

the

foot.

Brian,

we've

talked

about

the

Rays

becoming

more

aggressive

offensively.

When

you

think

about

it.

The

teams

in

baseball

that

are

really

numbers-driven,

really

analytics-driven:

the

Rays,

certainly,

and

Oakland

as

well.

Kevin

Cash

made

a

pretty

clear

point

today.

Just

because

you

don't

swing

early

doesn't

mean

you're

just

up

there

to

take

pitches.

It's

about

when

you're

aggressive

and

on

what

pitches

you're

aggressive.

Yeah,

I

think

that's

absolutely

the

case,

especially

now

the

way

you

see

a

lot

of

teams,

the

Rays

being

one

of

them,

the

way

that

they

use

their

starting

pitchers.

The

way

that

now,

with

maybe

two,

you

get

to

that

third

time

through

the

lineup,

all

of

a

sudden

managers

are

looking

to

pull

you

even

though

the

pitch

count

may

be

in

order.

So

what's

the

point

in

trying

to

drive

a

pitch

count

up

when

the

guy's

not

going

to

be

there

anyway?

Go

out

there

and

look

for

pitches

mistakes

out

over

the

plate

early

and

go

right

after

them.

He

gets

rung

up.

See,

Loney

maybe

not

happy

with

that

call.

Second

punch-out,

miles

an

hour.

It

was

the

late

movement,

and

James

Loney,

when

the

ball

came

out

of

the

hand,

said

this

was

off

the

plate

and

look

at

it

come

back

and

catch

the

inside

corner.

That's

where

the

beef

lies.

That's

just

a

good

front-door

two-seamer.

By

Nathan

Eovaldi.

Two

outs,

two

on,

that

brings

in

Kevin

Kiermaier.

And

in

Kiermaier's

career

he

has

gone

from

someone

who

first

made

his

big

league

debut

as

a

defensive

replacement.

He

went

from

strictly

a

defensive

replacement

and

part-time

player

to,

now

this

year,

someone

you

could

be

looking

at

as

the

American

League

Gold

Glove

winner

in

center

field.

Well,

his

defense

has

been

otherworldly.

Truly,

I

mean

the

jumps

he

gets

on

balls,

the

amount

of

ground

he

covers,

his

athleticism.

It's

a

chopper;

Brendan

Ryan

can't

get

there,

it

skips

into

right

field,

the

runner

steams

into

third

and

comes

around

to

score

Kiermaier,

for

all

the

talk

about

his

defense,

drives

him

in.

That

makes

it

Tampa

Bay

with

two

outs

here

in

the

second.

Nathan

Eovaldi

is

built

to

get

ground

balls.

And

he

got

one

there.

But

Kevin

Kiermaier

finds

a

hole.

This

ball

leaks

back

to

the

middle.

It's

just

a

chopper,

but

perfectly

placed.

See

Brendan

Ryan

going

after

it

as

hard

as

he

can,

but

once

that

skips

into

right

field

with

everyone

running

with

two

outs

the

Rays

would

plate

their

first

run.

That

makes

it

the

Rays'

first

hit

with

a

runner

in

scoring

position

early

in

this

three-game

series.

He

went

seven

innings

last

night,

as

we

were

talking

about

earlier.

They

bring

in

Maile,

the

catcher.

Maile

made

his

big

league

debut.

Not

long

ago,

at

the

start

of

the

month

in

Baltimore.

You

can

see

he's

from

Kentucky;

he

played

his

college

ball

there

and

had

a

lot

of

family

in

Baltimore.

He

has

some

family

here

today

as

well.

And

it

cooled

off

a

little

bit

there;

three-quarter

swing

to

it.

Let

me

talk

to

Kevin

Cash

about

Luke

Maile,

and

he

talked

about

a

catcher

who

is

a

very

good

receiver

behind

the

plate,

good

at

working

with

the

pitching

staff

and

calling

pitches;

offensively...

Still,

Working

on

that

part

of

his

game.

And

you

can

tell

that

a

large

part

of

the

motivation

to

have

Maile

in

the

lineup

today

is

because...

Of

how

many

times

he

caught

Matt

Moore

in

the

minor

leagues.

During

Moore's

most

recent

stint

down

with

Triple-A

Durham,

four

or

five

times,

so

that's

a

big

part

of

it.

Yeah,

and

that

is

very

important.

I

mean,

you

want

to

keep

Matt

more

comfortable

throwing

to

a

guy

that

he's

had

success

with.

Off

the

plate,

two

and

two.

Time

missing

at

One

thing

when

you

watch

Eovaldi

and

you

look

at

his

game-by-game,

he

is

not

routinely

pitching

deep

into

games

to

the

pitch

count.

Gets

a

quick

one-two-three

top

of

the

first.

It's

been

a

little

bit

more

of

a

labor

here

in

the

second.

Gives

up

two

hits

and

a

walk.

And

a

strike

three

call.

He

gets

him,

able

to

work

out

with

Cabrera

and

Kiermaier

left

stranded,

but

a

run

in

as

the

Rays

take

an

early

lead.

They

put

the

shift

on,

and

quickly

Moore

is

ahead.

And

if

you're

Matt

Moore,

Brian,

You

could

not

have

asked

for

a

better

first

inning

than

what

he

spun.

Nine

pitches,

Three

outs.

No.

Very

sharp

with

his

stuff

early.

He

gets

an

early

run,

An

early

lead

to

work

with.

And

the

fastball

and

the

curveball.

Except

for

that

one,

they've

been

very

good.

You

try

to

bury

a

curveball

and

sometimes

you

take

it

a

little

bit

too

far.

Missed

the

cutoff

man.

Spikes

it

to

make

it

one-and-two.

Lonnie

is

the

only

man

on

the

right

side

of

the

infield,

much

closer

to

first

base

than

to

second.

Beltran

is

looking

to

build

on

what

was

a

fantastic

month

of

August.

He

had

over

with

some

serious

pop

as

well.

And

he

goes

away

from

the

shift.

Nobody

home

to

get

that

one,

and

it's

a

leadoff

single.

As

we've

talked

about,

he

had

a

lot

of

problems,

no

command,

and

Brian,

you

can

tell—talk

about

this

as

a

former

pitcher:

it's

just

not

always

easy

and

it's

not

always

the

same.

Well,

I

wouldn't

know

anything

about

it

because

I

tried

to

come

back

from

Tommy

John

surgery

twice

and

was

unsuccessful

both

times.

It's

a

long

process.

It

is

a

long

process.

It's

a

lot

of

work

behind

the

scenes

to

build

up

the

stamina

to

even

get

into

a

game.

But

the

timing

for

everybody

is

different.

There's

no

question

about

that.

A

flare.

Foul

ground.

Almost

finds

the

seats.

Ken

brings

up

a

great

point,

Brian,

because

when

you

think

about

Tommy

John,

you

really

only

think

about

the

successful

cases.

Right.

Right.

And

there

are

There

are

a

lot

of

guys

that

either

never

make

it

back

to

the

level

they

pitched

at

previously

or

never

make

it

back

at

all;

one

ball,

one

strike

to

Headley.

Beltran

aboard

at

first.

Pops

him

up

out

of

play,

one

and

two.

You

think

about

last

year,

though,

in

the

major

leagues,

big

leaguers

had

Tommy

John

surgery.

That's

more

than

one

entire

team.

One

entire

roster.

You

can

talk

about

Jose

Fernandez,

Matt

Harvey.

It's

easy

to

forget

about

Jarrod

Parker

of

the

A's.

He

had

his

second.

And

then

had

a

setback

this

year.

A

pretty

serious

one.

Grady

Sizemore.

He

is

able

to

make

the

running

catch,

number

one.

Well,

think

about

this.

Just

think

about

it.

The

velocities.

Nowadays

guys

are

throwing

harder

than

ever.

And

when

you

think

about

it,

You

can

build

up

the

muscles

around

that

elbow,

but

it's

held

together

by

a

ligament.

You

can't

strengthen

a

ligament.

It

is

what

it

is.

And

if

the

velocities

continue

to

climb,

that's

just

a

problem.

That's

not

going

to

go

away.

You

can

be

preventative

up

to

a

point.

But

at

some

point

that

ligament

takes

over

and

it

can

be

exposed.

One

out,

one

on

for

Greg

Bird,

Yankees

first

baseman.

And

there's

no

doubt

the

two

main

storylines

in

New

York

these

days.

It's

when

will

the

Yankees

see

Mark

Teixeira

again

and

when

will

the

Yankees

see

C.C.

Sabathia

again.

Well,

we

have

gotten

the

answer

to

one

of

those:

Sabathia

had

a

simulated

game

yesterday,

and

he

will,

if

all

goes

according

to

plan,

rejoin

what

will

be

a

six-man

rotation

for

Joe

Girardi

on

Wednesday,

coming

back

from

a

knee

injury.

But

Teixeira

has

now

officially

been

put

on

the

disabled

list

after

severely

fouling

a

ball

off

his

shin.

That

is

why

we

see

Greg

Bird

getting

some

extended

playing

time.

It's

nice

to

see

C.C.

Sabathia

on

the

verge

of

making

that

return

on

Wednesday

if

everything

goes

according

to

plan.

But

this

is

why

you

need

depth.

Mark

Teixeira,

the

severe

bone

bruise,

took

a

while

to

figure

out

exactly

what

the

issue

was

and

just

how

long

he

may

be

out.

Kevin

Kiermaier

gets

there

easily.

Out

number

two.

I'll

take

you

back

to

August

This

is

exactly

what

happened

to

Teixeira.

Brian,

it

goes

to

the

old

adage,

you

can

never

wear

enough

armor

because

he

has

the

shin

guard

and

the

ball

finds

the

space

above

the

shin

guard.

It

did,

and

I'm

going

to

tell

you

something.

Your

shin

has

no

meat.

It

is

skin

and

it

is

bone.

And

you

create

enough

bat

speed,

and

as

hard

as

Mark

Teixeira

can

hit

a

baseball,

if

you

hit

it

right

off

that

shin

bone,

it's

no

wonder,

when

watching

and

hearing

that,

why

that

may

be

a

problem.

John

Ryan

Murphy,

the

catcher.

He

comes

in

and

gets

plunked

on

the

first

pitch.

Beltran

into

first,

or

pardon

me,

into

second

base.

This

is

going

to

be

a

breaking

ball

pulled

in,

foot

up,

foot

down.

Right

off

that

toe.

Dirt

toe.

That

pushes

a

runner

into

scoring

position

for

the

Yankees

with

two

outs.

And

gives

them

their

first

shot.

And

it

brings

in

what

has

been

truly

one

of

the

best

turnarounds.

Stories

on

the

season

for

the

Yankees.

Didi

Gregorius.

Not

easy

shoes

to

fill

at

shortstop.

No

explanation

needed

there.

And

for

Gregorius,

it

was

a

really

tough

first

half

or

so

of

the

season.

His

defense

has

really

picked

up,

but

what's

easier

to

spot

is

how

much

his

offense

has

improved.

He

has

been

absolutely

scorching

hot

for

the

Yankees

recently

and

over

the

long

haul.

Even

in

the

last

couple

of

months

since

the

All-Star

break,

his

game

has

really

picked

up.

It's

amazing

the

amount

of

progress.

And

the

turnaround.

You've

seen

from

Didi.

Gregorius

during

the

course

of

the

season.

Not

easy

to

do.

Gregorius

falls

behind

He's

hitting

over

his

last

games

and

has

been

a

major

run

producer.

He's

driven

in

runs

in

that

span.

This

Yankees

offense

is

second

in

the

major

leagues

in

runs

scored,

trailing

only

the

Toronto

Blue

Jays.

And

a

big

reason

why

is

that

it's

not

just

a

couple

of

guys

in

the

lineup

chipping

in;

they're

getting

production

one

through

nine.

And

when

you're

able

to

do

that,

you're

going

to

put

up

some

big

numbers.

And

that

did

not

take

long;

more

followed.

Three

pitches

gets

Gregorius

and

the

Yankees.

They

stranded

two;

a

base

hit

from

Kiermaier

in

the

second.

Here's

John

Jaso;

with

the

shift

on,

Brendan

Ryan

makes

the

play

out

number

one.

I'll

bring

in

Nava.

Now

Brian

Eovaldi

is

beginning

his

second

time

through

the

order.

What'd

you

see

the

first

time

through?

Well,

what

really

stood

out

was

a

lot

of

off-speed

pitches

for

first

pitch

early

in

the

count.

You

know,

this

is

a

guy

with

a

big

fastball.

You

just

saw

right

there

a

first-pitch

fastball

to

John

Jaso.

In

this

at-bat

he

went

after

it

aggressively

and

grounded

out

to

second

base.

But

it

was

a

lot

of

first-pitch

off-speed

pitches

by

Eovaldi.

Trying

to

keep

the

Rays'

lineup

off

balance.

First-pitch

ball

to

Nava;

the

first

time

he's

missed.

With

his

first

pitches,

he

was

in

first-pitch

strikes.

That's

A

stat

or

a

topic

of

conversation.

Brian,

That

first-pitch

strike.

You

see

some

guys

really

get

burned

by

throwing

too

many

first-pitch

strikes.

And

it

seems

some

teams,

like

Tampa

Bay,

may

be

more

concerned

with

what

you

do

in

your

first

three

pitches.

Can

you

get

ahead

as

opposed

to

always

being

in

there

with

a

first-pitch

strike?

It

really

depends

on

what

kind

of

pitcher

you

are,

you

know.

The

guys

who

have

really

good

command.

They

can

throw

a

lot

of

first-pitch

strikes

by

design

because

they're

quality

strikes.

There's

a

difference

between

just

a

strike

and

a

quality

strike

that's

going

to

find

the

edges.

Those

first-pitch

strikes

out

over

the

heart

of

the

plate.

Those

are

the

ones

that

guys

ambush

and

jump

on.

And

the

Rays,

You're

right,

Their

idea

is

to

get

to

one

and

two.

The

one-and-one

is

the

break

count.

And

one

and

two,

The

difference

between

one

and

two

and

two

and

one,

When

you

look

at

the

numbers,

is

night

and

day.

So

that

is

the

big

count

for

the

Rays

organization.

Nava

ahead,

Three

and

one.

And

he

draws

the

walk.

Second

walk

from

Vivaldi.

He

reaches

for

the

first

time.

A

name

that

really

comes

to

mind

is

Philip

Hughes

of

the

Twins.

He

is

a

first-pitch-strike

pitcher.

Legitimately

three-quarters

of

the

time,

and

even

his

manager

Paul

Molitor

has

said

that

at

times

he

can

be

just

a

little

too

predictable.

Yeah,

and

there

are

times

that

you

need

to

be—well,

wild

outside,

wild

by

design.

You

know,

like

I

said,

you're

trying

to

hit

those

corners

and

get

ahead,

no

doubt,

but

expanding

the

zone

can

be

just

Just

as

effective,

Especially

with

a

guy

who

has

that

built-in

reputation.

Longoria

bounced

to

an

inning-ending

double

play

back

in

the

first.

And

he

comes

in,

He

gets

hit.

He

was

hit

earlier

this

year

on

the

wrist,

which

stunted

his

production

a

little

bit.

You

can

see

Longoria

really

feeling

that

one.

That

ball

was

tracking

in,

and

it

got

that

right

wrist.

And

you

can

see

the

ball,

Not

a

glancing

blow.

It's

going

to

come

straight

down.

It

got

that

elbow.

Right

elbow.

And

with

more

on

Longoria,

Check

in

with

Ken.

Well,

It's

interesting.

Guys.

And,

Brian,

You

can

speak

to

this.

Evan

Longoria

has

missed

only

two

games

in

the

last

three

seasons.

But

some

with

the

Rays

believe

that

he

might

actually

be

too

tough

at

times

for

his

own

good.

And

that

risk

has

been

a

question

since

he

got

hit

on

June

Now,

But

his

stats

don't

really

reflect

that.

OPS

has

gone

down

every

month

from

April

to

August.

Although

in

September,

so

far,

much

better.

Well,

And

I

think

that's

what,

You

know,

In

his

last

five

games,

He's

hit

four

home

runs.

He's

looked

more

demonstrative

in

his

swings,

More

conviction

in

his

swings.

More

the

Longoria

of

old.

In

other

words.

Well,

There

were

times

where,

You

know,

He

was

getting

his

pitch

out

over

the

plate,

A

pitch

that

you

normally

see

him

really

tee

off

on,

And

just

not,

Just

a

hair

late,

Just

a

little

bit

of

loop

in

the

swing,

And

instead

of

driving

those

pitches,

He

was

fouling

those

pitches

off,

and

so,

you

know,

you're

going

to

get

a

mistake.

Maybe

two

in

the

course

of

an

at-bat.

And

when

he's

fouling

them

off

and

not

putting

the

ball

into

play

with

authority,

the

numbers

will

suffer.

Two

and

one

on

Sizemore

as

Eovaldi

got

John

Jay

to

ground

out

very

routinely

to

Brendan

Ryan

on

the

first

pitch,

but

then

allowed

the

walk.

Longoria

was

hit

by

the

pitch.

And

now

Brady

Sizemore,

making

only

his

second-ever

start

in

the

cleanup

spot.

He

comes

in

here

with

one

out

and

two

on.

Once

again,

his

second

three-ball

count

in

this

inning.

You

mentioned

it

earlier.

John

Jay

is

hitting

leadoff

today.

Cleanup

spot

yesterday.

Sizemore.

Cleanup

today.

Leadoff

in

last

night's

game.

And

he's

ahead

in

the

count

here.

Three

and

one.

And

the

bases

are

loaded.

Fastball

missing.

So,

three

baserunners

without

putting

the

ball

in

play

in

this

inning.

And

here

comes

Larry

Rothschild,

the

pitching

coach.

Now

he's

going

to

come

out

there

and

try

to

get

his

big

right-handed

starter

back

into

the

zone.

Nathan

Eovaldi

has

tremendous

stuff.

But

when

guys

are

pure-stuff

pitchers,

from

time

to

time

they're

going

to

have

those

ballgames

where

the

command

goes

awry.

And

that's

what

we're

seeing

here.

And

where

that

further

hampers

you

is

when

you're

not

commanding

your

pitches;

the

borderline

pitches

you

are

not

going

to

get,

so

you

really

have

to

pitch

out

over

the

plate.

Girardi

is

looking

on

now

in

his

eighth

season

at

the

helm

of

the

Yankees.

The

Rays

got

a

run

in

the

second

with

two

outs

on

the

chopper

into

right

field

by

Kevin

Kiermaier.

And

now

the

hottest

hitter

for

the

Rays,

Logan

Forsythe,

steps

in

one

out,

bases

packed.

Nava

reached

on

ball

four.

He's

made

it

all

the

way

to

third

base.

Longoria

was

hit

on

the

back

of

the

elbow.

And

you

just

saw

ball

four

to

Sizemore.

And

missing

with

the

first

pitch

to

Forsythe.

Now,

to

tell

you

how

quickly

command

can

vanish.

And

it

happens

to

every

pitcher

at

some

point

over

the

course

of

the

season.

Multiple

times

in

fact.

first-pitch

strikes

for

Eovaldi.

After

the

first

out

of

this

inning

it's

been

ball

one,

ball

one,

and

then

two

more

times

after

that.

Four

straight

he's

missed.

Not

exactly

the

breakout

you'd

like

to

see

hardly

more

strikes

than

balls.

As

it's

one

and

one

to

Forsythe.

Get

him

swinging.

Now

that

was

a

split-finger

thrown

with

conviction.

You

could

see

a

good

finish

out

in

front.

That's

what's

been

lacking

here

with

Eovaldi

early

in

this

ballgame.

Had

him

swinging

right

over

the

top.

You

can

see

this

road

trip

for

Forsythe.

Brian,

it

has

been

absolutely

off

the

charts.

Well

the

road

trip

started

in

Baltimore.

Three-game

series.

He

had

three

hits

in

each

game.

A

hit

last

night.

A

hit

already

this

afternoon.

He's

just

able

to

stay

quiet

at

the

plate

for

so

long

and

trust

the

quick

hands.

He

lays

off

that

pitch.

Forsythe

hardly

made

an

out

in

Baltimore.

Nine

out

of

ten,

and

a

couple

of

walks

on

top

of

it.

I

mean,

this

is

a

guy

that.

Just

seeing

the

ball

so

well

right

there

that

fastball,

miles

an

hour,

just

off

the

plate;

he

didn't

flinch.

Another

off-speed,

another

split,

he

was

not

out

in

front

with

it,

let

that

ball

sail

how

that

didn't

hit

Logan

Forsythe,

not

really

sure,

it

almost

just

curled

right

around

it.

Forsythe

has

reached

in

of

his

last

plate

appearances

and

almost

reached

here

by

getting

scraped,

no

place

to

put

him,

and

the

most

timely

punchout

for

Eovaldi

so

far

today

as

we

take

a

look

pitch

by

pitch

of

that

at-bat:

a

huge

at-bat,

Logan

Forsythe

red

hot,

bases

loaded,

just

one

out

here

in

the

inning

you

miss

away,

ball

one,

all

of

a

sudden

a

breaking

ball

into

the

zone

you

get

even,

you

jump

out

ahead,

foul

ball,

still

wanted

to,

just

off,

two

and

two;

how

do

you

not

hit

him

full

count

and

then

want

to

go

away

and

the

fastball

ends

up

on

the

inside

corner

to

pick

up

the

strikeout

looking.

They're

not

quite

out

of

the

woods

yet,

though.

He's

got

the

bases

full,

still

two

outs

for

Cabrera.

On

the

first

pitch

into

right

field.

Nava

comes

in

to

score.

Longoria,

as

it's

bobbled

in

right,

two

runs

come

home.

We

talked

about

the

aggressive

hitting

for

the

Rays

since

the

start

of

August.

Cabrera

follows

suit.

It's

three-nothing

Tampa

Bay.

Cabrera

is

not

one

of

those

guys

who

needs

to

be

talked

into

swinging

early;

he

got

a

breaking

ball

that

was

a

mistake

a

pitch

that

stayed

out

over

the

plate

into

right

field,

and

Carlos

Beltran,

looking

to

make

a

throw,

bobbles

it.

The

Rays

have

extended

that

lead

now

to

three,

and

the

pitch

count

is

approaching

for

Eovaldi.

Chopper

and

an

easy

play

Bird

Levaldi

needed

to

get

out

of

the

third.

Unfortunately

for

his

sake

it

was

a

pitch

too

late.

It's

now

three

nothing

Tampa

Bay.

First

pitch

track

to

Ryan.

Something

that

you're

going

to

see

all

afternoon

long.

The

Rays

are

aggressive

with

the

shift.

They've

got

the

picket

fence

on

the

left

side

of

the

infield

for

Brendan

Ryan.

We've

seen

the

Yankees

beat

it

once

already.

Right

there

to

the

shift,

and

what

a

stab

by

Longoria.

Long

throw,

and

it

is

in

time.

Soft

pop-up,

Forsythe.

You

bring

up

Marcus

Stroman.

This

is

a

young

man

who

we

saw

last

year

at

the

end

of

the

season.

And

you

talk

to

anybody

with

the

Blue

Jays,

They'll

tell

you

that

he

has

an

infectious

personality

that

does

even

more

than

what

he

can

do

up

on

the

mound.

What

is

his

timetable?

We

know

that

his

rehab

has

begun.

They're

wondering

if

he's

going

to

be

ready

after

his

next

rehab

start.

And

it's

a

question.

He's

coming

back

from

this

knee

injury

a

lot

faster

than

anyone

anticipated.

It's

the

kind

of

thing,

Guys,

You

can't

count

on

it.

But,

Man,

If

he

comes

back,

It's

an

entirely

different

equation.

There's

absolutely

no

doubt

if

they

get

a

healthy

Marcus

Stroman

back

with

his

kind

of

stuff

and

the

way

that

he

can

command

the

ball

around

the

zone

and

be

a

stuffed

guy

because

you

think

of

everybody

else,

R.A.

Dickey,

the

knuckleballer,

Mark

Buehrle.

You

talk

about

getting

by

on

guts

and

guile.

A

little

flare

right

there

to

Forsythe

for

the

shift.

It's

worked

out

pretty

well

so

far

early

on

defensively

for

the

Rays.

The

Rays

have

an

early

three-nothing

lead.

Boy,

just

talking

about

that

game

coming

up

in

the

second

part

of

this

doubleheader.

Brian,

this

is

not

the

year,

as

you

can

say

for

the

last

couple

of

years,

to

be

almost

any

other

team

in

the

Central

other

than

St.

Louis.

That

division

you

want

to

be

someplace

else,

don't

you?

Oh,

I

mean

St.

Louis,

they

just

run

away

from

you.

They

run

away

from

you.

You

think

about

some

of

the

other

teams,

The

Pittsburgh

Pirates,

The

Chicago

Cubs

are

emerging

as

a

real

threat

in

that

division.

But

absolutely,

The

St.

Louis

Cardinals

are

the

benchmark.

We

talked

so

much

about

the

injuries

this

year

for

the

Rays,

And

they've

had

more

than

anybody.

The

injury

bug

has

not

gone

easy

on

the

Cardinals.

They

have

somehow

kept

on

going.

As

Kiermaier

tries

to

climb

the

ladder,

He

comes

up

empty.

And

Eovaldi

picks

up

his

fifth

punch

out.

The

St.

Louis

Cardinals

are

One

of

those

true

baseball

organizations.

And

there's

that

elevated

fastball.

That's

what

you

can

do

when

you're

pitching

ahead.

Expand

the

zone.

And

get

Kiermaier

to

chase.

Quick

out

number

one.

It

brings

in

Mailey.

Good

news

for

Yankees

fans.

That

man

CC

Sabathia

is

scheduled

to

pitch

on

Wednesday.

Interesting

hearing

Joe

Girardi

say

what

many

thought

he

might

say

and

that

is

that

the

Yankees

will

be

moving

to

a

six-man

rotation.

For

how

long,

we'll

find

out,

but

it

will

freshen

everybody

up

for

the

time

being.

Sabathia

will

be

pitching

with

a

pretty

hefty

knee

brace,

it

sounds

like.

It's

a

chase

there

for

Jaso.

A

couple

of

punch

outs

to

begin

the

top

of

the

fourth.

And

that'll

be

something

to

really

keep

an

eye

on.

I

mean,

you

go

out

there

to

pitch

and

you're

used

to

feeling

a

certain

way

and

all

of

a

sudden

you

go

with

a

bulky

knee

brace.

It

can

be

a

completely

different

feel

going

out

there

and

trying

to

compete

at

this

level.

You

just

wonder

how

that's

going

to

go.

Is

that

something

you

can

put

out

of

your

mind?

Does

it

feel

free

and

easy?

He

will

be

the

only

left-handed

starter

for

the

Yankees.

Right

now

they're

running

out

five

right-handed

starters,

which

actually

works

out

pretty

well

for

an

upcoming

series

against

Toronto.

A

very

right-handed-heavy

lineup

for

the

Blue

Jays.

on

Jaso.

The

shift

on

for

Jaso.

That

series

coming

up

for

the

Yankees

against

the

Blue

Jays

will

essentially

be

their

version

of

the

World

Series

early

on.

It

will

feel

that

big.

But

in

the

meantime

you

had

better

focus

day

to

day,

on

the

game

that

day,

and

not

look

down

the

road.

They'll

be

here

soon

enough.

The

key

for

the

Yankees

is

to

keep

their

focus

on

the

task

at

hand.

You

talked

about

how

frustrating

it

was

over

the

last

couple

of

weeks

to

just

not

be

able

to

gain

ground

on

the

Toronto

Blue

Jays.

You'll

realize

that

you've

got

seven

games

against

them.

You'll

have

enough

to

say

about

where

you

are

in

the

standings.

But

you've

got

to

take

care

of

business

today.

Jaso

the

opposite

way

avoids

the

shift.

And

after

a

couple

of

strikeouts,

Jaso

was

aboard.

With

the

two-out

single.

He

reaches

for

the

second

time.

The

split-finger

for

Nathan

Eovaldi

has

been

so

inconsistent

this

afternoon.

He

comes

with

another

one

here.

But

that

ball

stays

up

and

it

allows

John

Jaso

to

just

soft-serve

it

out

into

left

field.

He's

got

plenty

of

room

to

work

with.

There's

the

grip.

Look

at

where

it

ends

up.

Easily

recognizable

By

John

Jaso,

And

he

could

just

flip

it

the

other

way

and

take

his

two-out

single.

Well,

Eovaldi

had

a

chance

for

his

first

one,

two,

three

innings

since

the

first,

but

I'll

have

to

wait

till

later.

Here

is

Nava.

Two

outs,

one

man

aboard.

And

off

Murphy's

glove.

And

Jaso

can

easily

waltz

to

second.

Command

issues.

That's

what

has

plagued

Eovaldi.

Whether

it's

the

off-speed

or

the

fastball.

A

lot

of

life

on

that

pitch.

Supposed

to

be

away,

up

and

in,

and

right

off

the

thumb

of

John

Ryan

Murphy's

glove.

Passed

ball

there.

And

a

free

base

for

Jaso.

Nava

walked

and

scored

in

the

third.

And

he'll

look

back

to

that

third

inning.

And

they'll

probably

be

saying

there

were

plenty

of

self-inflicted

wounds

in

that

frame.

You

know

it's

tough

when

you

go

out

there

you

give

up

one

single

and

end

up

giving

up

two

runs

and

leaving

two

on.

I

mean,

you've

got

a

couple

of

walks

and

a

hit

batter.

And

then

Cabrera

with

the

two-run

base

hit

to

right.

Coming

after

the

full-count

strikeout

of

Logan

Forsythe,

you

make

that

strikeout

and

think,

"We're

going

to

get

out

of

this."

He's

the

hottest

hitter

right

now

for

the

Rays

as

the

count

goes

to

two

and

one

on

Nava.

And

if

you're

Tampa

Bay

in

this

ballpark

against

the

second-highest

scoring

team,

you

have

to

pile

on,

as

the

Rays

have

Jaso

in

scoring

position.

The

Rays,

as

a

team,

will

get

more

aggressive

with

the

lead.

Once

you

get

the

right

guys

on

base,

you

start

to

put

them

in

motion,

but

you're

never

content

with

the

lead

in

this

building.

A

lot

of

power

in

that

Yankee

lineup.

Nava.

Deep.

Brendan

Ryan.

Covered

some

nice

ground

there.

Jaso

left

stranded.

Go

to

the

bottom

of

the

fourth.

Nothing.

A-Rod,

a

strikeout

victim.

That

was

more

fastball

in

the

first

inning.

As

they

shift

for

A-Rod.

Now

there's

no

doubt

that

the

biggest

question

around

the

Yankees

entering

this

year

is

what

would

be

the

production

level

of

Alex

Rodriguez.

And

it

finally

started

to

taper

in

what

was

a

rough

month

of

August.

Now

behind

one

and

two,

but

a

home

run

last

night

makes

for

on

the

season

for

Aaron.

Two

balls

and

two

strikes.

And

then

you

can

see

since

August

he's

been

well

beneath

But

through

July

he

was

with

almost

homers.

You

saw

that

coming.

Right

out

of

the

gate

too

after

having

a

season

off;

I

don't

think

anybody

saw

that

coming.

But

adjustments

have

been

made,

as

you

can

see

by

the

numbers.

A

lot

of

it

is

the

off-speed

stuff;

you

try

to

go

short

with

Alex

Rodriguez

and

get

him

reaching

and

out

in

front.

You've

seen

a

lot

of

fastballs

trying

to

tie

him

up.

Up

and

in.

Get

it

over

the

swing.

That's

the

pitch

that

he

has

a

chance

on

the

pitch

that's

down,

he

can

get

down

to

it.

That

same

pitch.

Bring

that

up

about

a

foot.

It'll

be

real

tough

for

him

to

catch

up.

Meanwhile,

this

is

the

first

full

count

for

Matt

Moore

as

he

works

with

May

Lee,

the

rookie

catcher

he

worked

with

a

number

of

times

in

his

most

recent

stint

in

the

minors.

This

is

his

first

start

back.

Brian,

based

on

Moore's

six

starts

after

he

came

back

up

to

the

big

leagues

following

Tommy

John,

his

ERA

was

pushing

nine.

Kevin

Cash

has

to

be

thrilled

with

what

he's

seen

from

Matt

Moore

over

the

first

three

frames.

The

first

three

frames.

There

is

no

doubt

about

it.

This

is

a

completely

different

pitcher.

Before,

with

Matt

Moore,

you

could

set

up

fastball

away.

You

don't

know

where

it

would

end

up.

His

command

was

off.

He

worked

on

that.

He

tightened

up

his

delivery.

He

pared

down

his

arsenal.

He's

been

very

good

this

afternoon.

Pitch

number

eight.

And

he

ties

up

A-Rod.

He

gets

him.

Carlos

Beltran

coming

up

then

with

more

on

Beltran.

Myers

full

speed

ahead.

He

covers

into

the

gap

and

makes

the

catch.

Two

outs.

Now,

the

point

that

Ken

brings

up

about

the

Hall

of

Fame

is

a

very

valid

conversation.

What

if

he

continues

to

be

as

productive

as

he's

been

since

the

first

of

May

for

a

few

more

years?

I

think

that

becomes

an

easier

and

easier

call

on

Carlos

Beltran.

But

I

agree

with

Chili

Davis.

I

mean,

you

play

this

game

as

long

as

you

can.

There's

a

lot

of

time

you'll

be

retired.

There's

a

very

short

window

for

most

guys

and

even

years

in

the

grand

scheme

of

things.

In

baseball

years,

that's

forever.

But

years

is

not

that

long

of

a

time

frame

overall.

So

forget

pride.

If

they're

paying

you

to

do

this.

Well,

yeah,

but

I

mean,

you

got

to

believe

that

they're

going

to

be

paying

you

to

do

this

because

you're

still

productive.

Sure.

Headley

dumps

it

into

center

field

with

two

outs.

Carlos

Beltran,

you

know,

is

a

smart

player.

He

knows

how

to

make

adjustments.

We've

seen

him

do

that

this

season.

But

yeah,

I

say

play

as

long

as

you

can.

Beltran

had

a

little

bit

of

time

this

year

on

the

disabled

list,

but

Brian's

point

is

a

good

one.

Over

with

some

good

pop,

too.

Two

outs,

Headley

at

first

for

Bird.

Joe

Girardi

has

been

very

pleased

with

how

Greg

Bird

has

filled

in.

In

for

Teixeira,

since

Teixeira

has

been

banged

up

and

is

finally

going

on

the

disabled

list.

Really,

you

think

about

Greg

Bird,

you

think

about

Luis

Severino

showing

maturity

beyond

their

years,

not

only

in

Major

League

Baseball

but

in

this

market.

I

mean,

playing

in

New

York

is

not

the

easiest

place.

Sometimes

it's

tough

to

break

in,

but

these

guys

just

go

out

and

play

ball.

They've

been

productive.

He's

unflappable

so

far.

Two

balls

and

a

strike.

To

Shira

was

putting

it

together.

Well,

it

was

an

All-Star

year.

His

first

was

Last

year,

he

was

slowed

so

much

by

the

wrist

injury.

In

fact,

a

couple

of

seasons

in

a

row

were

affected

by

injury.

He

finally

got

things

going,

and

then...

Fouling

the

pitch

off

the

shin.

About

the

middle

of

August.

And

we

heard

from

Girardi.

He

says,

with

complete

conviction,

he

believes

that

Deshera

will

be

back

again

this

year,

even

though

he

says

that

he

doesn't

necessarily

have

anything

concrete

to

back

that

up.

It's

just

his

managerial

feeling.

He's

very

adamant

about

that.

He

pops

it

up,

fighting

the

sunshine.

Here's

Cabrera.

Putting

Longoria

in

the

shift.

And

it

will

be

Longoria

to

lead

things

off

when

we

go

to

the

top

of

the

fifth

inning.

Stadium.

Game

two

of

this

three-game

weekend

series.

The

Rays.

They

lost

last

night,

But

Tampa

Bay

has

a

lead

as

we

start

the

top

of

the

fifth.

Longoria

begins

things.

And

as

for

his

pitch

count,

Now

just

over

A

long

fourth

in

some

respects,

Too—really

more

the

second

and

third,

Though.

He

was

able

to

work

around

a

one-out

single

by

Jaso.

A

two-out

single

by

Jaso

in

the

fourth.

And

Longoria

has

seen

the

Yankees

plenty

over

the

course

of

his

career,

All

with

Tampa

Bay,

you

can

see,

since

Tied

for

the

most

home

runs

against

the

Yankees.

The

most

RBIs.

Not

a

huge

surprise.

Jose

Bautista,

the

man

that

he's

tied

with

in

terms

of

the

home

runs.

Longoria

has

always

had

that

ability

to

step

up

in

the

moment.

So

often

when

you're

playing

the

New

York

Yankees

the

blood

gets

pumping.

You're

playing

here

at

Yankee

Stadium

or

elsewhere,

it's

always

a

big

series,

and

he

certainly

has

performed.

Longoria

drew

a

leadoff

walk

to

start

the

top

of

the

fifth.

So

Eovaldi

now

has

four

walks;

he's

also

hit

a

batter.

A

leadoff

man

reaches;

Sizemore.

Well,

these

are

the

types

of

games

which

really

limit

Eovaldi's

ability

to

get

deep.

You

know,

a

lot

of

deep

counts,

the

walks,

base

runners

he's

been

pitching

out

of

the

stretch

all

afternoon.

A

lot

of

traffic

on

the

base

paths.

And

this

leads

to

a

greater

point

for

Joe

Girardi,

and

that

is

the

Yankees'

bullpen.

And

what

it

looks

like

right

now

is

how

much

he's

had

to

use

one

of

the

most

feared

duos

out

of

any

bullpen.

And

that

is

Betances

and

Miller.

Miller

he

saved

it

last

night.

Betances

had

the

night

off,

and

what

those

two

allow

you

to

do

is

shorten

the

game.

And

shorten

it

significantly.

You

know,

you

can

count

on

those

guys

for

shutdown

eighth

and

ninth

innings.

And

so

all

of

a

sudden

now

with

a

couple

other

guys.

Sprinkled

in

out

there

is

Andrew

Miller;

he

came

in

to

pick

up

that

save

and

got

two

outs

last

night.

Quickly

just

a

few

pitches.

LaGuardia

at

first

base.

Yeah,

the

count

goes

to

one

and

one.

Well,

Sizemore

began

the

year

with

the

Phillies,

now

a

member

of

the

Rays,

and

this

was

a

player

back

then

in

the

early

days

of

his

career.

Early

Three-time

All-Star

with

the

Indians.

Gold

Glove

winner,

Silver

Slugger.

And

then

was

riddled

by

injuries.

And

there

was

a

day,

though,

where

he

was

truly

one

of

the

game's

elites.

Well-rounded

player.

Plus-plus

defender,

good

speed.

Talk

about

Kiermaier's

jumps

and

the

ground

he

can

cover.

Grady's

size

more

of

the

same;

he

can

still

swing

the

stick.

But

you're

right.

Injuries

have

robbed

him

of

time

and

production,

but

he's

been

pretty

good

since

coming

back

with

the

Rays.

Looks

at

a

strike

to

make

it

two

and

two.

Last

year

spent

some

time

with

the

Red

Sox

and

the

Phillies.

Another

example

of

a

guy

that

still

feels

like

there's

something

left

to

give.

Yeah,

he

can

still

be

productive.

He's

worked

his

way

right

into

the

cleanup

spot

here

this

afternoon.

Sizemore

lifts

one

to

right

field.

Beltran

is

there

for

the

catch,

out

number

one,

and

brings

in

Logan

Forsythe.

It

goes

back

to

the

message

to

Carlos

Beltran.

Play

as

long

as

you

can.

I

feel

like

you're

going

to

be

talking

with

Carlos

tomorrow

about

this.

May

do

that.

That

is

the

first

fly

ball

out

today

for

the

Rays.

Six

on

the

ground.

Six

punch

outs.

There's

been

strength

from

Forsythe.

I've

already

tried

to

work

around

a

leadoff

walk

to

Longoria.

That's

our

number

two.

That's

the

type

of

pitch

we've

seen

from

Eovaldi.

We've

seen

some

plus-plus

off-speed

pitches,

but

inconsistent

overall

on

the

day.

And

here

is

Cabrera.

Cabrera

has

reached

base

twice

a

two-run

single

to

right

field

his

last

time

up.

This

has

been

a

rare

start

for

Eovaldi

so

far

where

the

run

support

has

not

been

there.

A

strike

to

make

it

two-and-one.

Drew

Hutchison

and

Mark

Buehrle.

The

only

two

pitchers

in

the

game

with

greater

run

support

than

Eovaldi.

No

surprise.

They

both

play

for

the

Blue

Jays.

The

team

leading

baseball

in

runs.

All

right.

The

talk

about

Matt

Moore

and

Tommy

John

surgery.

Ovalde

had

Tommy

John

surgery

after

his

junior

year

in

high

school.

Ovalde

is

now

years

old,

from

Houston.

He

still

lives

in

Houston

during

the

offseason.

And

even

at

pitches,

he's

still

blowing

gas

that

hasn't

lost

a

thing.

Impressive.

You

know,

you

think

of

a

high

school

pitcher,

especially

in

his

junior

year,

coming

down

with

that

surgery.

How

much

longer

could

you

possibly

last?

Well,

in

his

he's

got

the

best

fastball

among

starting

pitchers

in

the

game.

John

Ryan

Murphy,

off

with

the

mask.

Out

number

three.

Longoria

stranded

at

first

base.

That

takes

us

to

the

bottom

of

the

fifth.

Rays

have

the

lead.

With

the

mustache,

though.

He

needs

the

mustache.

There's

no

doubt.

It's

a

disappointment

that

it's

gone.

There

is

John

Ryan

Murphy,

the

catcher,

leading

things

off.

So

far

the

Yankees

have

not

been

able

to

get

much

going

against

Moore

only

two

hits.

And

they've

had

a

runner

in

scoring

position

only

once.

That

was

Beltran.

And

in

the

second.

Well,

the

one

thing

Matt

Moore

has

done

very

well

this

afternoon

is

establish

command

of

his

fastball.

That

is

what

plagued

him

in

his

first

start

with

the

Rays

this

year.

But

he's

been

moving

the

fastball

around

the

zone.

The

curveball's

been

on

point.

Mainly

it's

been

those

two

pitches

leading

the

way.

And

a

rare

three-ball

count

here.

Three

and

one

to

Murphy.

And

a

full

count.

Gregorius

on

deck,

swinging

a

hot

bat

today

with

a

strikeout.

Here

comes

Morris,

and

he

walks

him,

a

leadoff

walk.

First

walk

today

issued

by

the

lefty.

All

right.

Now

we'll

check

in

with

KB

back

inside

our

Los

Angeles

studio.

All

right.

Kevin,

Thank

you.

Brian,

You

mentioned

his

name.

A

few

minutes

ago,

when

we

were

talking

about

the

Blue

Jays,

that's

one

guy

who

kind

of

gets

lost

in

the

trade

shuffle

and

he

really

shouldn't;

he's

not

a

big

power

guy.

You

know,

He

led

the

National

League

in

hits

last

year

and

has

had

a

ton

this

year;

Gregorius

goes

the

opposite

way

into

the

gap

Sizemore

off

the

wall

and

to

third,

Murphy

fields

and

throws

for

Gregorius;

his

hot

hitting

continues,

how

about

the

shot

Gregorius

shows

going

the

other

way

with

authority

to

left-center

field

here

at

Yankee

Stadium,

out

to

and

one-hopping

the

wall.

And

then

here

comes

the

relay

trying

to

cut

down

the

run,

and

that

ball

hits

right

off

the

helmet.

On

the

dome.

Of

Murphy.

It

was

on

target.

Can

you

call

that

an

accurate

throw?

Very.

Not

sure

that's

the

result

that

you

want.

If

you're

a

quarterback,

better

if

you're

the

relay

guy.

Backup

catcher

showing

some

speed

here.

Absolutely.

Cutting

the

bases

very

well

and

then

taking

one

right

off

the

helmet.

And

suddenly

the

Yankees

bring

the

tying

run

to

the

plate.

That's

Brendan

Ryan.

Didi

Gregorius

right

now

is

about

as

hot

as

they

come.

You

can

see

his

last

nine

games.

He's

been

a

run-producing

machine.

And

with

more

on

Didi

Gregorius.

Ken,

what

do

you

got?

Well,

Yankees

bench

coach

Rob

Thompson

told

me

yesterday

that

he

has

never

seen

a

young

guy

improve

this

much

in

all

phases

in

such

a

short

period

of

time.

That's

a

lot

of

words.

But

what

we've

seen

from

him...

Didi

is

exactly

that.

He's

a

better

baserunner

than

he

was

earlier.

a

better

defender,

and

a

better

hitter.

The

Yankees

always

felt

he

could

hit.

The

reason

they

felt

that

was

because

he

hit

in

the

minor

leagues.

a

batting

average,

a

OPS,

covering

about

minor

league

plate

appearances.

Over

the

last

three

months,

He's

been

even

better

than

that.

He's

been

fantastic,

and

he

really

made

a

name

for

himself

in

the

minor

leagues

coming

up

in

the

Reds

organization.

And

then

you

talk

about

being

put

into

one

of

the

most

difficult

positions

for

any

young

player.

Because

as

Joe

Girardi

said,

he

really

kind

of

sees

this

as

Didi's

rookie

season,

even

though

on

paper

it

isn't.

There's

that

understanding

now

that

you're

the

everyday

shortstop

for

the

New

York

Yankees.

You

don't

have

to

look

over

your

shoulder,

wonder

if

you're

going

to

play

that

day.

You

know

you're

going

to

be

in

the

lineup.

April

and

May,

What

he's

done

since

then

in

all

facets

of

the

game

has

been

remarkable

to

watch.

Meanwhile,

two-and-two

on

Ryan.

Chopper

back

a

couple

of

steps.

Now,

number

one,

he

moves

Gregorius

to

third.

Yeah,

productive

out

there

by

Brendan

Ryan,

looking

to

go

the

other

way,

pick

up

a

base

hit

and

drive

the

run

in.

Even

so,

you

get

the

runner

to

third

with

less

than

two

outs.

Brandon

Jones

is

getting

ready

in

a

hurry.

Just

what

Kevin

Cash

said.

This

is

the

first

sign

of

trouble

here

for

Matt

Moore.

He's

going

to

be

managing

these

games

a

little

differently.

It's

going

to

have

more

of

a

playoff-type

feel

because

for

the

Rays

that's

really

what

they

are.

Tampa

Bay

is

right

now

four

and

a

half

games

outside

of

that

second

wild

card

held

by

the

Rangers.

First

pitch

to

Gardner.

Tough

month

of

August

for

Gardner;

he

hit

just

above

and

led

the

Yankees

in

strikeouts

that

month.

Overall

this

year,

good

numbers

offensively

an

All-Star

this

season

for

the

first

time.

Drafted

and

developed

by

the

Yankees.

For

Gardner,

he

does

not

need

a

hit

here

to

bring

in

a

run

with

Gregorius

on

third

and

one

out;

given

the

way

the

Rays

are

defending

him

Logan

Forsythe

over,

playing

traditional

second

base

and

deeper

they're

conceding

this

run,

and

Brett

Gardner

is

a

guy

that

puts

the

ball

in

play.

He's

got

a

short,

quick

stroke

good

idea

to

put

the

ball

in

play.

He

can

get

an

RBI

if

he

wants

it.

Well

outside,

two

and

one.

You

mentioned

managing

these

games

as

if

they're

must-wins,

and

really

for

the

Rays.

They

have

to

leapfrog

the

Angels,

the

Twins,

and

then

get

past

the

Rangers

as

well.

Ground

ball

Cabrera,

nifty

snag

for

out

number

two

but

Gregorius,

who

doubled

a

run

home,

scores;

now

the

Yankees

are

within

a

run.

Now

Brett

Gardner

is

using

the

middle

of

the

field.

That's

going

to

guarantee

the

run.

But

how

about

the

play

by

third

baseman

Cabrera,

fielding

that

ball

behind

his

body.

The

slide,

the

pop-up,

and

how

about

the

throw

right

on

the

money

to

get

the

speedy

Gardner?

Boy,

Heck

of

a

play.

Two

outs.

Gregorius

in

from

third.

There

was

Chris

Young.

Now

twice

Young

has

been

eaten

up

by

the

shift.

Both

times

he's

put

a

ball

in

play

to

Logan

Forsythe.

The

second

baseman

who

swings

over.

On

the

third-base

side

of

second.

As

he

gets

tied

up

here

by

Matt

Moore.

It's

not

broken.

He's

hit

it

that

way

twice.

It's

really

becoming

almost

more

newsworthy

when

defenses

play

a

guy

straight

up

than

when

they

actually

shift

or

shape.

You

say

the

comment,

They

don't

shift

for

this

guy.

He

must

use

the

whole

field.

He

must

be

well-rounded.

Is

that

a

new

concept?

Using

the

whole

field?

I

think

that

is

going

to

be

the

new

thing.

You're

going

to

have

to

start

teaching

hitters

at

lower

levels

to

use

the

whole

field.

I'm

telling

you

right

now.

If

I

were

an

entrepreneur,

I'd

open

up

a

hitting

school

where

I

would

teach

kids

how

to

hit

to

all

fields.

That

is

going

to

be

in

high

demand

when

you've

got

a

hitter.

You

think

about

guys

like

Paul

Molitor

and

They

just

had

quick

hands.

They

used

the

whole

field.

And

how

dangerous

they

were.

If

you

just

continue

to

hit

into

the

shift,

That's

one

of

the

things

that's

taken

averages

way

down.

I

think

you

combine

that

with

what

pitchers

do

and

everything

else.

But

I

think

that's

something

you

will

see

going

forward:

the

desire

for

guys

who

can

use

the

whole

field

and

keep

a

defense

honest.

You've

got

a

great

business

plan

lined

up

for

you

one

day.

I'm

not.

It's

a

pretty

good

idea.

You

think

back

to

a

former

Yankee

now

in

Seattle,

Robinson

Cano.

There

was

a

time

when

teams

would

shift.

Cano,

Thinking

back

to

his

Yankees

days,

There

was

a

game

at

Fenway

Park.

Middlebrooks

was

the

third

baseman

for

the

Yankees,

And

he

was

halfway

toward

second

base.

Cano

dropped

a

bunt

down

at

Fenway

Park,

And

it

turned

into

a

double.

And

smart

hitters

will

do

that.

And

there

are

certain

hitters

where

you'll

almost

welcome

them.

Because

I'm

not

worried

about...

You

want

David

Ortiz

to

drop

down

a

bunt.

That's

it.

You

think

about

Ortiz,

Barry

Bonds,

Guys

you

would

shift

on.

Yes,

You

want

to

drop

down

a

bunt?

You

can

have

it

all

day.

Not

worried

about

that

from

you.

But

there

are

other

guys

who

are

shifted

upon

who

are

not

home

run

hitters.

They're

not

power

hitters.

And

so

if

you're

not

going

to

be

a

guy

that's

going

to

give

me

every

year,

Then

you

better

be

able

to

use

the

whole

field.

And

it's

hard

for

guys

to

change

that

midstream

because

for

the

longest

time,

The

home

run

was

the

game.

The

power

numbers

were

off

the

charts.

Then

they

started

to

get

PEDs

out

of

the

game.

It

comes

back

to

how

baseball

used

to

be

played.

Two-out

walk.

You

get

a

lengthy

plate

appearance.

Nine

pitches.

And

no

shift

can

defend

ball

four.

Here

comes

Kevin

Cash.

pitches

here

in

the

fifth.

Now

the

Rays

were

hoping,

no

doubt,

that

Moore

could

go

a

full

five,

especially

with

the

way

he

was

rolling

through

the

first

four

innings,

but

that'll

be

it

for

Matt

Moore.

With

two

outs

and

a

man

on,

it

was

the

leadoff

walk

that

did

Matt

Moore

in,

the

walk

that

came

around

to

score

on

the

Gregorius

double.

And

then,

all

of

a

sudden,

the

walk

ended

his

outing.

Brandon

Gomes

comes

in

on

relief.

And

he's

the

first

righty

that

the

Yankees

are

seeing

today.

He's

on

for

the

time.

innings

of

work.

And

Brandon

Gomes

has

been

on

quite

a

run

here

for

the

Rays,

throwing

the

ball

well.

He's

been

throwing

the

ball

as

well

as

he

has

at

any

point

in

the

season

in

the

last

month

or

so,

and

they

recently

had

a

streak

of

consecutive

batters

retired.

It

came

to

an

end

near

the

end

of

August.

Jason

Shreve

is

beginning

to

loosen

up;

it's

to

A-Rod.

He

needs

to

go

ahead

and

run.

A-Rod

struck

out

on

two

fastballs

from

Matt

Moore.

For

Young,

that

was

quite

the

battle

to

finish

the

day

for

Matt

Moore.

On

nine

pitches,

he

ended

up

drawing

the

walk.

Foul

away.

Three

with

two

strikes.

That

keeps

the

inning

alive

for

the

Yankees.

And

it's

two-and-two

on

A-Rod.

It's

been

a

steady

diet

of

breaking

balls

from

Gomes

to

Alex

Rodriguez.

That

one

hung

out

over

the

plate,

similar

to

the

pitch

he

hit

out

in

last

night's

ballgame.

Now

the

count

is

two

and

two.

Boy,

you're

right

about

that.

Chris

Young.

You

know,

when

you

put

together

an

at-bat

like

that,

you

extend

the

inning.

You

get

the

starter

out

of

the

ball

game.

That's

big;

it

really

is

on

a

couple

of

different

fronts.

And

if

you're

Young.

With

two

outs

and

you

represent

the

tie

run,

you

are

well

aware

that

Gomes

has

a

pretty

good

pickoff

move.

So

you've

got

to

hang

tight.

I

wouldn't

be

surprised

to

see

that

right

now

because

he

will

be

off

and

running

with

this

pitch.

Two

outs

and

a

full

count.

So

the

Rays

and

Brandon

Gomes

in

particular

might

try

to

catch

him

napping

and

leaving

a

little

bit

too

soon.

I

wouldn't

be

surprised

at

all

to

see

a

throwover

right

here.

That

only

holds

him

tight.

You're

just

trying

to

catch

a

guy

being

mentally

lazy.

Because

you

know

he's

going

to

go

on

the

pitch;

you

know

for

sure

a

guy's

going.

It

was

John

Ryan

Murphy

with

the

walk

to

lead

off

this

inning,

which

has

given

the

Yankees

their

first

two

runs

of

the

day.

There

he

goes.

This

one

from

Brandon

Gomes,

and

the

Yankees

are

in

business

with

two

down

for

Carlos

Beltran.

Jim

Hickey

comes

out

to

the

mound

to

talk

to

Brandon

Gomes

about

Carlos

Beltran.

It's

been

three

walks

in

this

inning.

That's

uncharacteristic

of

the

Rays'

pitching

so

far

in

this

game.

And

it's

gotten

him

into

some

trouble.

The

situation

at

this

point.

Four

and

two-thirds.

But

overall,

I

think

Kevin

Cash

is

pleased

with

what

he

saw

from

Moore.

Yeah,

I

think

that

was

a

step

forward

for

Matt

Moore.

Especially

those

first

four

innings.

He

was

clean.

The

delivery

was

good.

The

command

was

good.

And

he

went

a

little

south

there

in

the

fifth

inning.

But

definitely

something

to

build

on.

He's

breaking

balls

down

in

the

zone,

by

Brandon

Gomes.

Both

Alex

Rodriguez

and

that

first

pitch

to

Beltran.

They're

not

even

flinching.

I've

seen

that

ball

out

of

the

hand

and

taking

it

one

and

one.

The

season

did

not

get

off

to

a

good

start

for

Carlos

Beltran.

But

you

can

see

here

since

May

and

he

has

spent

a

little

bit

of

time

on

the

disabled

list.

Beltran

has

been

one

of

the

most

productive.

Bats

in

Joe

Girardi's

lineup.

To

center

field.

Kiermaier

plays

it

easily.

And

a

step

back,

a

couple

of

steps.

And

the

Yankees

get

two.

They

struck

two.

And

we're

through

five.

And

then

all

of

a

sudden,

as

you

release

it,

you

start

to

get

that

tumbling

action.

And

that's

when

you

get

the

real

deception.

You

move

that

ball

out.

You

get

it

to

the

fingertips.

And

then

right

here.

And

that

ball

comes

out.

It

starts

to

tumble

and

fade.

That's

when

you

get

your

swings

and

misses.

And

Joe

Girardi

said

that

there's

no

doubt

the

splitter

has

been

the

difference

for

Eovaldi.

His

first

starts

to

his

last

Although,

as

you

can

see

today,

the

pitch

count

went

away

from

triple

digits

at

this

point.

Well,

and

that

pitch

has

been

inconsistent.

We've

seen

some

really

good

splitters

this

afternoon

from

Eovaldi,

and

we've

seen

some

that

have

floated,

stayed

out

over

the

plate

or

completely

missed.

Getting

those

fingers

around

that

seam,

just

trying

to

be

a

little

bit

more

loose

with

it

so

you're

free

and

easy

out

front,

and

that's

what

will

give

you

that

tumbling

action

instead

of

that

ball

being

jammed

tight.

between

those

fingers

and

coming

out

like

a

knuckleball.

And

he

was

saying

that

he

really

never

had

a

good,

clean

delivery

with

a

changeup,

and

that

this

was

his

version

of

it

he

started

throwing

the

splitter

at

the

very

end

of

last

year

with

Martin's

pitching

coach

Chuck

Hernandez.

He

could

never

quite

get

the

feel

for

a

changeup

and

he

wouldn't

be

the

first

guy

to

say

that.

No.

And

you

know

the

thing

that's

different.

That's

sucked

into

right

field,

but

an

easy

play

for

Beltran.

You

know,

the

true

changeup,

your

power

fingers

as

a

pitcher

are

your

index

and

middle

fingers.

So

a

typical

changeup,

you

try

to

get

those

fingers

out

from

behind

the

back

of

the

baseball.

And

if

you

start

to

go

to

the

okay

type

of

changeup,

now

you're

throwing

the

ball

with

your

ring

finger

and

your

middle

finger.

And

It's

a

different

type

of

field.

A

lot

of

guys,

They're

not

able

to

get

that

field.

So

if

you're

able

to

go

to

the

split,

It's

still

the

power

fingers

throwing

the

pitch.

They're

not

behind

the

baseball.

They're

on

the

side

of

the

baseball,

But

you

still

feel

like

you're

in

good

control.

That's

it

for

Eovaldi.

He

gets

one

out

here

in

the

sixth.

A

pitching

change

here

in

the

Bronx.

Down

by

a

run,

they

need

Chasen

Shreve

to

get

a

couple

more

outs

and

let

their

offense

get

back

to

work.

Kiermaier

swings

and

misses.

Season

numbers

on

Shreve:

Very

good.

earned

run

average.

His

last

appearances

spanning

innings

have

yielded

just

one

earned

run.

Kiermaier

made

it

back

in

the

second.

He

chopped.

A

little

round

ball

into

right

field

that

scored

Forsythe

from

second

base.

Kiermaier

batting

eighth.

And

earlier

this

year,

He

suffered

a

bit

of

a

hand

injury.

And

it

seemed

like

it

almost

helped

him

stay

in

his

swing

a

little

more.

Well,

I'll

tell

you

what

it

did:

you

know,

He

hurt

his

thumb.

The

result

of

that

injury

started

to

cut

down

on

the

swing

just

a

little

bit,

putting

the

ball

in

play.

Use

your

legs,

your

speed,

That's

your

asset.

And

I'll

tell

you,

It

really

did

help

using

the

middle

of

the

field.

It

made

a

big

difference.

He

was

down

on

strikes.

We'll

check

it

with

Kevin

Burkhardt,

KB.

Look

at

that.

Thank

you.

KB's

approval.

Appreciate

it.

Well,

if

you're

Tampa

or

even

if

you're

Toronto

that

is

exactly

the

line

you're

hoping

for

from

David

Price

in

September.

It's

the

idea

behind

acquiring

David

Price

in

that

trade,

and

he

is

not

disappointing

that's

for

sure.

Maile,

the

rookie

catcher

He

digs

in,

two

outs,

nobody

on.

This

time

of

year

here

in

New

York,

it's

about

the

bullpen

for

the

Yankees.

Is

it

good

enough

to

take

them

into

the

postseason

and

help

them

make

a

lengthy

postseason

run?

Nathan

Eovaldi

today

went

just

five

and

a

third

innings.

The

Yankees

rank

in

the

bottom

third

in

baseball

this

year

in

innings

per

start.

Less

than

six,

so

today's

outing

from

Eovaldi

is

kind

of

par

for

the

course

for

what

they've

seen

in

the

Bronx

this

year.

And

the

good

news

for

Girardi

and

company

is

this

time

of

year

they've

had

some

relief

added

to

the

bullpen

with

rosters

expanding.

And

the

side

was

set

down

in

order

by

Yankees

pitching

for

the

first

time

since

the

first

inning.

You

can

see

over

appearances.

He's

having

a

tremendous

season.

An

ERA

of

Xavier

Cedeno

is

going

to

go

at

this

Yankee

lineup.

He

likes

the

cutter.

He'll

throw

that

pitch

around

miles

an

hour

with

a

breaking

ball

on

top

of

it.

Nothing

this

guy

throws

stays

straight.

Chase

Headley

to

begin

things

in

the

Yankees'

sixth

inning.

He

just

couldn't

ask

for

a

better

day.

The

Yankees

won

last

night,

five

to

the

final.

They

shift

for

Headley.

One

and

one.

And

we

have

a

new

third

baseman

Richie

Shaffer

is

in

at

third.

We

saw

Longoria

hit

on

the

elbow

by

a

pitch,

and

maybe

that's

part

of

the

reason

why

we

see

him

out

of

the

ballgame.

You

just

wonder

if

that

was

a

fastball

right

off

the

inside

of

that

elbow.

Ken

Rosenthal

already

hit

on

it,

talking

about

how

tough

Evan

Longoria

is;

him

having

to

come

out

of

a

ballgame

would

concern

you

as

a

Rays

fan.

He

gets

Headley

swinging.

That

may

lead

to

finishing

the

strikeout.

Strikeout.

And

there

is

that

number

one.

Take

a

look

at

that.

Earlier

at-bat

from

Longoria.

And

here

is

the

injury

to

his

elbow.

I

mean,

that

is

a

fastball

running

up

and

in

and

catching

him

clean

on

the

inside

of

the

elbow.

And

you

just

wonder

if,

over

the

course

of

the

afternoon,

it

didn't

start

to

tighten

up

a

little

bit.

Not

a

great

place

to

get

hit,

especially

on

the

throwing

arm.

So

Daniel

strikes

out

the

first

man

that

he

sees

and

now

looks

at

Greg

Bird.

Now,

Brian,

we

were

talking

about

the

Yankees'

bullpen.

As

the

top

of

the

sixth

came

to

a

close,

the

interesting

thing

about

the

bullpen

is,

even

though

Yankees

starters...

routinely

this

year

have

not

necessarily

pitched

deep

into

games.

The

two

in

the

bullpen

that

you

think

about

the

most

are

with

Betances

and

Miller.

They're

actually

on

pace

to

pitch

fewer

innings

than

they

did

last

year,

even

though

it

seems

like

they

are

pitching

almost

every

night.

Well,

and

that's

a

credit

to

Joe

Girardi

and

his

game

planning

and

being

creative

in

how

he's

going

to

use

these

guys.

You

know,

the

knee-jerk

reaction

would

be

to

get

him

out

there

all

the

time.

Three

pitches

and

Bird

caught

looking

back-to-back

strikeouts.

But

you

need

to

keep

those

guys

fresh,

and

he's

been

able

to

do

that.

Thus

far.

And

it's

the

best

tandem

in

baseball.

When

you

think

about

the

fact

that

Betances,

you

figure,

could

close

for

how

many

teams

in

baseball

right

now?

And

he's

the

setup

guy

into

Miller.

yeah.

In

that

range.

Murphy

takes

an

outside

pitch

for

ball

one.

The

Yankees

will

have

to

come

from

behind

in

this

one

today.

They've

scored

two

unanswered

runs

after

the

Rays

got

out

to

an

early

three

nothing

lead.

The

Blue

Jays

are

currently

leading

the

Orioles.

And

last

night

was

the

first

time

in

over

two

weeks

that

the

Yankees

won

and

the

Blue

Jays

lost.

But

also

they're

going

to

play

the

game

a

certain

way,

to

add

a

walk.

John

Ryan

Murphy.

In

the

meantime,

Daniel

has

walked.

The

go-ahead

run

to

first

base,

part

of

the

tie.

The

go-ahead

Gregorius,

swinging

a

hot

bat

at

the

plate.

It's

one

and

one.

And

the

approach

that

Kevin

Cash

will

have

to

take

today

is

something

he's

very

familiar

with.

And

that

is

piecing

it

together

with

the

bullpen.

After

a

start

of,

As

it

turns

out

today.

Four

and

two-thirds

for

Matt

Moore.

That's

where

you

go

to

your

sheet.

You

go

to

your

sheet.

What

are

the

matchups?

Who

do

I

want

here?

You've

got

to

cover

some

innings.

Nothing

new

to

the

Rays

coaching

staff.

There's

pitching

coach

Jim

Hickey.

He's

got

a

couple

of

sheets

there.

Speaking

of

matchups.

Let's

warm

it

up

in

the

bullpen.

One

and

two.

It

was

Gregorius

who

got

the

Yankees

on

the

board

in

the

fifth

on

a

double

that

one

hopped

off

the

wall.

Looked

like

it

might

carry

out

off

the

bat.

That

was

the

opposite

way,

but

that's

big

out

there

too.

If

you're

a

left-handed

hitter,

you're

going

opposite-field

left-center

here

at

Yankee

Stadium.

That

is

some

juice.

Murphy

at

first

base,

keeping

an

eye.

It

was

Murphy

who

scored

from

first

after

he

was

walked.

He

came

home

on

the

double

by

Gregorius.

In

this

inning,

he

was

walked

with

two

outs.

Gets

some

swinging

and

that'll

be

it

for

D.D.

Gregorius

as

Cedeno

comes

out

of

the

bullpen

and

he

strikes

out

the

side.

Same

for

Nate

Eovaldi,

Same

for

D.D.

Gregorius,

and

Justin

Wilson,

who

also

comes

out

of

the

bullpen.

Add

in

two

free-agent

signings,

Andrew

Miller,

Chase

Headley,

Pretty

good.

Even

Stephen

Drew,

the

much-maligned

Stephen

Drew.

Almost

league-average

offensively

at

second

base.

So

the

offseason

looks

good,

and

the

decision

not

to

trade

prospects

such

as

Severino

and

Bird

at

the

deadline

also

seems

pretty

shrewd.

Yeah,

all

of

those

seem

to

come

up

aces.

For

Brian

Cashman.

You

can't

argue

with

one

of

them.

I

mean,

really.

Yeah.

Jaso,

lead-off

hitter,

two

for

three

today,

a

couple

of

singles

beginning

the

seventh

for

the

Rays.

And

even

though

Severino

is

only

years

old.

He

got

the

win

last

night.

He's

won

his

last

three

starts.

You

talk

to

anybody

with

the

Yankees

who

has

spent

time

around

him

and

watching

him,

and

they

will

tell

you

he

has

the

poise

and

presence

of

a

guy

who's

been

around

much

longer

than

he

is.

He

has

such

confidence

in

his

abilities

and

his

stuff

and

in

what

he

wants

to

do,

and

it

shows

in

his

mound

presence.

He

had

the

ability

last

night,

working

with

Brian

McCann,

to

make

an

early

adjustment.

He

moved

away

from

the

fastball

and

started

to

sprinkle

in

the

off-speed.

Then

he

got

the

Rays'

offense

off

balance

and

was

so

good.

And

a

lot

of

times

you

don't

see

that

from

a

young

pitcher.

He

did

have

some

help

from

Brian

McCann,

the

veteran

back

there.

He

put

his

fingers

down.

But

ultimately,

you've

got

to

give

it

to

him.

He's

got

to

execute.

Leadoff

walk

to

Jaso;

he

reaches

for

the

third

time.

That's

what

the

Rays

had

in

mind

with

John

Jaso,

a

good

on-base

guy.

Good

idea.

The

strike

zone.

That

brings

in

Nava.

Rob

Thomson

will

adjust

accordingly

here

with

the

man

at

first

base.

So

Nava

back

to

switch-hitting,

now

batting

right-handed.

Boy,

Nava

brought

up

some

really

interesting

points

yesterday

talking

about

that

short

period

of

time

where

he

abandoned

switch

hitting.

And

we

hear

every

once

in

a

while,

even

in

today's

game,

about

some

players

for

whom

things

are

going

so

rough

from

one

side

that

either

they

or

the

coaching

staff

think

it's

a

good

idea.

To

abandon

switch

hitting,

like

Shane

Victorino.

High

throw.

But

corralled.

Nava

is

safe.

Now

the

timing

of

the

play

was

completely

thrown

off

with

the

feet

of

Chase

Headley.

Too

high

to

Brendan

Ryan

and

they're

not

going

to

be

able

to

get

it.

This

looked

to

be

tailor-made.

Nice

chop.

But

it's

up.

Got

to

come

off

the

bag.

Retouch.

And

then

throw

flat

footed.

No

way

you're

going

to

get

Nava.

And

some

good

hops

there

by

Brendan

Ryan.

Look

at

the

lead

runner.

Nava's

safe.

Brings

in

Schaefer,

his

first

at-bat

since

taking

over

for

Longoria;

as

Ken

told

us,

it

was

not

an

elbow

but

rather

a

bruised

forearm.

Now

this

score

right

now,

Tampa

Bay,

is

such

a

reflection

on

this

season

for

the

Rays.

They

have

had

so

many

close

games

this

year.

They

are

tied

with

Seattle

for

the

most

games

decided

by

two

runs

or

fewer

in

the

major

leagues.

I

mean,

it

has

been

razor

thin

for

Tampa

Bay

all

season.

And

it's

really

the

way

that

this

team

has

been

built.

I

mean,

offensively,

for

the

most

part

they've

struggled

to

consistently

score.

You're

having

trouble

plating

runs,

yet

you

have

an

elite

pitching

staff

not

giving

runs

up,

so

there

have

been

a

lot

of

low-scoring,

close

games.

You're

right

about

the

pitching.

They

have

the

third-lowest

ERA

in

the

American

League.

Their

starters

have

been

fantastic.

Warren

loosening

up;

one

out,

one

on

in

Shaffer's

first

at-bat;

Colome

loosening

up

he

was

a

starter

for

a

while

this

year

for

Tampa

Bay,

now

in

the

bullpen.

That's

what

this

has

become

a

battle

of

the

bullpens.

A

tightly

contested

ballgame.

Big

swing

and

a

miss

to

make

it

two

and

two.

Richie

Shaffer

does

not

get

cheated.

He

had

the

count

in

his

favor

at

two-and-one,

got

a

fastball

and

took

a

big

rip.

You

may

see

Shreve

go

right

back

to

that

pitch.

And

we'll

find

out

on

the

misses

low.

He

wanted

to

do

that.

He

just

yanked

that

pitch

down

in

the

zone.

That

fastball

was

meant

to

be

above

the

hands,

above

the

swing.

That's

where

you

can

have

the

right

idea.

But

it

all

comes

down

to

the

execution.

To

Shaffer

in

his

first

plate

appearance

today.

Nava

to

second

base.

So

two

walks

this

inning.

When

Eovaldi

was

on

the

mound,

he

went

five

and

a

third

and

hit

a

batter.

He

walked

four.

And

now

Shreve

has

issued

a

couple

of

walks

here

in

the

seventh.

But

think

about

that.

Six

walks

and

a

hit

batter.

That's

seven

free

baserunners

for

the

Rays.

Tough

to

win

those

games.

And

Joe

Girardi,

maybe.

Just

a

run.

We'll

step

aside

for

a

pitching

change

here

at

the

top

of

the

seventh.

Visibly

upset

with

himself.

Here

is

Adam

Warren.

Adam

Warren.

One

of

those

guys

coming

out

of

the

bullpen

with

very

good

stuff

and

able

to

give

Joe

Girardi

length

if

need

be.

And

a

pinch-hitter.

And

it

is

Brandon

Guyer.

So

Joe

Girardi

goes

to

his

bullpen.

Kevin

Cash

goes

to

his

bench.

Guyer

takes

the

spot

of

Sizemore.

He

finished

with

a

walk.

The

story

this

year

for

Adam

Warren

was

an

interesting

one

in

that

he

began

the

year

as

a

starter

and

absolutely

flourished.

He

was

eventually

sent

to

the

bullpen.

He

was

sent

back

to

the

bullpen

when

Ivan

Nova

came

back

from

injury.

At

the

time

you

could

make

a

very

strong

case

that

he

was

the

Yankees'

most

consistent,

most

dependable,

most

reliable

starter.

But

it

was

simply

a

numbers

crunch.

He

had

six

pitchers

for

five

spots.

Brian

Cashman,

Joe

Girardi

chose

Warren

to

go

back

to

the

bullpen.

He

was

showing

that

ability.

He'd

been

out

there

before.

He's

a

guy

Joe

Girardi

knew

could

make

that

transition.

And

really,

it's

a

nice

problem

to

have.

You've

got

that

many

quality

pitchers

on

one

staff.

Then

you

add

to

it

about

two

months

later.

Jams

him

off

the

hands.

It's

still.

Now

the

Rays

have

had

three

separate

baserunners.

The

first

three

hitters

here

in

the

seventh

inning

have

reached

base

without

a

hit,

and

they're

trying

to

cash

in.

Easy

pop-up,

Brendan

Ryan.

Makes

the

catch.

Boy,

And

not

an

easy

play

for

Brendan

Ryan.

You

know,

that's

almost

a

play

you'd

like

to

see

Carlos

Beltran

take.

Yeah,

Brendan

Ryan

said,

I

had

a

hard

time

finding

that.

It's

high

in

the

sky.

It's

over

his

head.

Kind

of

out

in

that

no-man's

land.

And

you

can

see

him

right

here.

Boy,

When

a

guy

does

that,

You

start

to

panic.

Maybe

not

so

easy

after

all.

He's

able

to

recover.

Big

exhale

there.

Wow.

That

tells

you

all

you

need

to

know

about

that

play.

Nava

stays

at

second.

Schaefer,

Who

walked

to

first.

Two

outs.

Here

is

Forsyth.

This

has

obviously

been

a

disappointing

day

for

Logan

Forsyth.

He's

made

not

one

but

two

outs.

Only

one

for

three.

That

average

has

taken

a

nosedive.

He

set

the

bar

so

high

on

this

road

trip.

And

all

season

long.

He

looked

at

a

strike

to

make

it

one-and-one.

And

think

about

it:

a

five-game

hitting

streak

entering

today

for

Forsyth.

He

was

for

in

those

five

games.

Pretty

good

numbers

against

Adam

Warren

in

his

career.

It's

ten

at-bats.

Two

outs

and

two

on.

Rays

looking

for

more.

Tampa

Bay

is

four

and

a

half

games

outside

the

second

wild

card;

the

top

wild

card

spot

entering

today

is

held

by

the

Yankees,

but

New

York

has

its

sights

set

on

the

division

title

in

the

East.

They're

half

a

game

behind

the

Blue

Jays.

Tied

him

up,

and

that

makes

perfect

sense.

You

know,

you

think

about

the

wild

card:

win

the

division

and

you

get

a

division

series;

the

wild

card

is

a

one-game

matchup.

It's

a

do-or-die.

Nobody

wants

that.

Don't

be

fooled

by

the

success

of

last

year's

two

wild

card

winners.

World

Series

they

made

it

look

maybe

a

little

bit

easier,

getting

out

of

a

sticky

situation.

The

Rays

head

to

the

bottom

of

the

seventh.

We

go

to

the

stretch

having

stranded

two

base

runners,

leading

by

a

run;

Luis

Severino

and

three

home

runs.

The

Rays

are

trying

to

even

the

score

today.

We

have

Jose

Perella

pinch-hitting

in

the

number

nine

spot

for

Brendan

Ryan.

The

first

pitch

is

called

a

strike.

Perella,

years

old,

out

of

Venezuela.

He

had

a

cup

of

coffee

last

year

with

the

Yankees

in

the

big

leagues.

This

seems

like

some

time.

This

season

as

well.

So

Daniel

misses,

making

it

one

and

two.

We

have

a

new

catcher

as

well

for

Tampa

Bay

it's

Rene

Rivera.

Brandon

Guyer

takes

over

for

May

Lee.

He

stays

in

the

game

in

left

field.

Soft

tapper,

foul.

So

far,

this

Rays'

pitching

staff.

Which

was

more

for

four

and

two-thirds.

Gomes

for

a

third

of

it

in

an

inning.

Now

Cedeno

has

been

able

to

hold

this

Yankees

lineup,

which

is

the

second

most

potent

in

baseball,

to

just

two

runs.

Jim

Hickey,

the

pitching

coach,

is

very

pleased

so

far.

Brian,

You

get

the

sense

when

you

talk

to

folks

around

the

game

that,

when

you

speak

of

the

most

highly

regarded

pitching

coaches

in

baseball,

Hickey's

name

is

right

up

there

near

the

top,

Isn't

it?

Well,

You

know

what?

The

proof

is

really

in

his

pitchers.

In

his

pitching

staffs.

What

they're

able

to

accomplish.

His

ability

to

communicate.

With

the

pitching

staff.

Think

about

how

many

guys

are

under

Jim

Hickey

during

the

course

of

a

season.

I

mean,

you've

got

your

or

bullpen.

Then

you've

got

all

the

guys

that

get

called

up.

He's

got

to

put

together

game

plans.

He's

got

to

be

able

to

relate

to

each

guy,

and

it

just

continues

to

have

guys

go

out

there

and

have

great

years.

You

think

about

a

guy

like

Erasmo

Ramirez

coming

over

and

what

he

was

able

to

do,

Nathan

Karns,

and

the

development

of

Chris

Archer,

who

you

can

only

tell

by

his

hair.

That's

the

shot

of

the

day.

There's

just

absolutely

no

doubt,

though.

What

size?

What

is

it?

Do

you

know

the

size

of

the

hat?

Well,

here's

what

I

do

know.

The

hat

has

been

the

same

since

opening

day.

The

hair

has

continued

to

blossom

and

develop.

The

hat

has

stayed

the

same.

It's

his

gamer.

And

so

it

really

is

a

brawl

on

the

mound

between

the

hair

and

the

hat

during

the

course

of

one

of

his

outings.

It's

Perella

looking.

Blossom

is

a

really

good

word

for

that,

Brian.

No,

I

mean,

it

is

the

chia

pet

effect.

That's

true,

and

it

just

continues

to

unfold

and

unfurl.

There's

more

and

more

of

it

as

the

season's

gone

on.

I

mean,

That's

an

impressive

lip

right

there.

Well,

The

Yankees

will

have

to

face

off

against

that

man

tomorrow,

Which

makes

today's

game

for

the

Yankees

even

more

important

if

they

want

to

go

into

tomorrow

with

a

chance

in

the

series

when

Ivan

Nova

will

go

for

New

York.

Back

at

the

top

of

the

order

here

is

Gardner.

Gardner,

now

years

old,

an

All-Star

for

the

first

time

in

his

eight-year

big

league

career,

all

of

which

have

been

with

the

Yankees.

When

you

look

up

and

down

the

lineup

card

for

the

Yankees.

On

a

day-by-day

basis,

even

a

year-by-year

basis.

There

aren't

often

many

times

when

you

can

say

'drafted,

developed,

and

became

an

All-Star'.

All

in

Yankees

pinstripes.

You

see

so

many

veterans.

Who

have

come

over

through

free

agency

or

through

trade.

Gardner

does

not

fit

that

mold

as

he

looks

at

a

count

now.

See

that,

but

chances

over

there

on

the

far

left,

Nick

Romulo.

In

the

foreground,

and

you

start

to

realize

this

is

going

to

be

about

what

the

score

is

when

this

inning

comes

to

an

end.

Two

and

two

after

a

big

swing

and

a

miss

from

Gardner.

Gardner

was

not

heavily

recruited

out

of

high

school,

really

not

even

at

all.

He's

from

South

Carolina

and

knew

he

wanted

to

stay

near

home.

He

either

wanted

to

play

for

Clemson.

Or

the

College

of

Charleston,

which

is

where

he

ended

up

going.

He

had

a

very

good

collegiate

career.

But

he's

really

become

a

mainstay

here

in

the

Bronx.

He's

got

that

ability

to

give

you

a

very

tough

at-bat;

he

works

the

count.

He

sees

a

lot

of

pitches.

Another

guy

who

would

use

the

whole

field

but

is

not

afraid

to

turn

on

some

balls.

And

he

hits

for

occasional

power.

And

not

just

here

at

Yankee

Stadium.

He

had

a

breakout

power

year

last

season.

He

had

bombs.

He's

got

this

year.

On

the

infield.

Fighting

the

sun

a

little

bit,

Schaefer.

Out

number

two.

It's

a

tough

sky

when

you've

got

guys

out

there

with

glasses

on

and

they're

still

using

the

glove

or

the

hand

to

continually

shade

their

eyes.

The

eye

black,

The

sunglasses,

The

glove,

That

kind

of

a

day,

We've

got

a

pitching

change,

Two

outs

and

nobody

on

here

at

the

bottom

of

the

seventh.

Bay,

a

starter

earlier

this

year,

has

really

flourished.

Yeah,

much

like

Adam

Warren,

he

came

from

the

starting

rotation,

went

out

to

the

bullpen

and

has

slowly

but

surely

worked

his

way

toward

the

back

end.

He

has

electric

stuff,

a

big

fastball

and

a

good

slider.

He's

taken

on

some

high-leverage

innings

for

the

Rays.

He

faces

a

pinch

hitter;

it

is

Jacoby

Ellsbury.

Ellsbury

did

not

start

today

because

he

had

to

exit

last

night's

game

with

flu-like

symptoms

and

a

very

upset

stomach.

But

Joe

Girardi

said

that

he

would

be

available

today

if

needed,

and

here

he

is.

Ellsbury

taking

the

spot

of

Chris

Young.

Young

finishes

over

two

innings

with

the

walk

and

he

ties

him

up

on

three

pitches.

Rivera

completes

a

strikeout

and

that'll

be

it

for

the

Yankees.

A

pretty

quick

and

tidy

bottom

of

the

seventh.

Meanwhile,

Gardner

shifts

over

to

left

field,

familiar

territory.

And

then

Brendan

Ryan,

who's

been

lifted

for

a

pinch

hitter.

It's

Stephen

Drew.

At

second

base

for

the

Yankees.

And

Nick

Rumbelow

is

the

new

pitcher

on

the

mound

for

New

York.

He

took

it

over

from

Adam

Moore,

and

it

was

very

impressive.

Rumbelow,

limited

work:

time,

nine

strikeouts,

nine

and

two-thirds

innings.

Faces

Asdrubal

Cabrera

to

begin

things.

Put

the

shift

on

for

Cabrera.

Cabrera

drove

in

two

of

the

Rays'

three

runs

with

one

swing

back

in

the

third

inning.

Tampa

Bay

has

not

scored

since.

They

maintain

a

one-run

lead.

Let

me

ask

your

professional

opinion

on

Nick

Rumbelow.

Would

you

consider

this

a

full-out,

all-or-nothing

type

delivery?

I

mean,

you

talk

about

maximizing

what

you

have.

He

reaches

that

ball

back

out

of

the

glove.

Max

effort.

Brian,

first

of

all,

let

me

say

that

I'm

disappointed

it

took

you

seven

full

innings

to

ask

for

my

professional

opinion.

It's

because

you've

been

wearing

me

out

all

morning

and

all

afternoon.

I

cannot

disagree

with

that.

from

Rumbelow.

Well,

you

know.

There

are

some

guys

who

are

free

and

easy.

There

are

other

guys

who

are

high

effort.

And

this

is

high-effort

delivery.

He

just

really

reaches

back

right

over

that

stiff

front

leg.

Everything

he's

got

on

every

pitch.

Almost

a

little

mechanical

as

well.

This

is

lifted

to

right.

Doesn't

take

much

to

get

out.

It's

right

at

the

wall

and

caught

there

by

Beltran.

With

one

out,

Price

is

now

this

year.

He

has

eight

strikeouts

over

seven

innings.

ERA

below

two

and

a

half.

I

mean,

What

more

could

you

ask

for?

True

definition

of

an

ace.

There's

Loney

with

one

out.

Loney

on

a

skip

there

to

Gregorius.

Two

outs.

We

were

talking

earlier

about

Chris

Archer.

The

young

starter

that

the

Yankees

will

see

tomorrow.

You

can't

talk

about

Chris

Archer

without

sensing

the

presence

he

felt

during

his

time

in

the

Rays

clubhouse

with

David

Price.

David

Price.

It's

really

become

a

pitching

fraternity

in

Tampa

Bay,

and

Price

is

certainly

one

of

the

most

notable

to

come

through

there.

But

talk

about.

Guys

who

have

learned

from

Alex

Cobb,

From

David

Price,

And

now

Archer

is

getting

to

a

point

where

he's

able

to

start

passing

some

things

along.

It's

pretty

impressive,

as

we

were

talking

about

Jim

Hickey

earlier.

It's

not

just

the

pitching

coach.

No.

It

really

is.

You

know,

It

started

with

you

know,

David

Price

and

James

Shields.

He

has

to

hurry

to

get

Kiermaier.

And

he's

out.

We'll

see.

I

bet

you

the

Rays

are

going

to

want

to

take

a

look

at

this

one.

End

of

the

inning.

Cash.

Above

the

dugout

steps,

right

away.

And

they'll

rewind

the

DVR

and

see

what

they've

got.

Kevin

Kiermaier,

who

runs

so

well,

he's

saying

right

now,

take

a

look

at

it.

That

ball

in

the

hole.

You

force

Gregorius

to

move

to

his

right

and

throw

across

his

body.

And

we

know

that

he

has

a

strong

arm.

This

was

quite

the

battle.

So

we'll

see.

This

one

may

get

overturned.

That

ball

bouncing

up

into

the

glove

of

Greg

Bird.

I

think

Kiermaier

was

able

to

get

that

foot

down

before

the

ball

was

in

the

back

of

the

glove.

Boy,

That's

as

bang-bang

as

you

can

get.

But

it

looks

like

maybe

advantage

Kiermaier.

We'll

see.

That's

the

thing.

It's

got

to

be

clear

and

convincing.

And

you

can

still,

on

that

shot,

You

can

still

see

the

ball

outside

of

the

glove.

Yep.

His

foot

pounds

the

back.

But

one

thing

we

do

know

about

instant

replay

is

that

so

much

depends

on

what

the

call

was

initially

ruled.

That's

right.

When

you

get

those

really

bang-bang

types

of

plays,

a

lot

depends

on

the

call

on

the

field.

You're

right

that

the

call

on

the

field

is

typically

what

they're

going

to

go

with,

and

this

certainly

fits

that

category.

So

this

will

be

an

interesting

call.

And

you

have

to

remember

as

you

are

umpiring

at

home

watching

this

that

on

a

play

like

this

the

ball

has

to

touch

the

back

of

the

glove.

It

cannot

be

encompassed

by

the

glove,

so

to

speak.

And

here

we

go.

He's

safe.

That's

overturned.

Two-out

infield

single.

And

there's

no

doubt

the

speed

that

Kiermaier

has

in

the

outfield

translates

to

the

bases

awfully

well.

Well,

He

gets

the

top-end

speed

as

good

as

anybody

in

the

game.

And

he's

starting

to

realize

what

an

asset

that

is.

And

so

you

talk

about

the

thumb

injury,

shortening

the

stroke,

realizing,

'Just

put

the

ball

in

play.'

If

I

put

the

ball

in

play,

I've

got

a

chance.

That's

a

ground

ball

to

shortstop

that

he's

able

to

beat

out.

Rene

Rivera

climbs

in

for

his

first

at-bat

today.

He

took

over

for

May

Lee,

the

rookie

catcher.

Two

outs,

Kiermaier

at

first.

Keep

your

eye

on

Kevin

Kiermaier,

one

of

the

stolen-base

threats

in

this

Rays

lineup.

out

of

The

Rays

like

to

be

aggressive

on

the

basepaths

with

a

lead.

And

with

two

outs,

they

try

to

get

that

runner

into

scoring

position.

Pitch

out.

Right

along

with

us.

Girardi,

the

former

catcher,

now

in

his

eighth

season.

Little

the

Yankees.

Here

comes

the

one-one.

Watch

out.

Rivera

has

to

spill

down

to

his

wallet.

Kiermaier

easily

into

second.

Well,

You

have

a

pitcher

that's

worrying

an

awful

lot

about

Kevin

Kiermaier

over

at

first

base.

We

saw

the

pitch

out.

We

saw

right

there

it

was

a

hold,

Hold.

Hold.

You

lose

a

little

bit

of

rhythm

to

the

plate

and

miss

very

badly.

Right

over

the

head

of

Rene

Rivera.

Well,

You

don't

have

to

worry

about

the

stolen

base

now.

I

took

care

of

it.

Two

and

two.

Good

off-speed

pitch

there

by

Rumble.

Good

arm

speed.

Take

a

few

miles

per

hour

off.

Get

right

back

in

the

count.

Set

yourself

up,

two

to

go,

right

back

to

that

pitch.

I

would

not

hesitate.

The

Rays

have

not

scored

since

the

third

inning.

They

hold

a

one-run

lead.

Thumb

to

left.

Gardner

now

in

left

field.

He's

back

by

the

wall.

Does

he

have

the

room?

He

makes

the

catch.

That

is

a

loud

way

to

end

the

top

of

the

eighth.

And

a

fine

catch

made

by

Gardner,

who

began

the

game

in

center

field.

Gardner

was

up

against

the

wall,

leaving

his

feet.

And

with

the

top

of

the

eighth

over,

we

go

to

the

bottom

half.

And

it

is

A-Rod

who,

with

one

swing,

can

tie

this

game

up.

And

he

faces

out

of

column.

Right

up

the

middle

they

had

the

shift

on.

Forsythe

gobbles

it

up

for

a

quick

Out,

number

one.

Now

that's

precisely

why

you

do

it.

That

ball

off

the

bat

you're

thinking

rocket,

base

hit.

Lead-off

runner

aboard.

Take

it:

you've

got

Logan

Forsythe

right

there,

playing

up

the

middle

a

step-and-a-half

to

his

left

and

able

to

make

the

play.

Easy,

one

out

on

one

pitch.

And

here

is

Beltran

they

put

the

shift

on

for

Beltran.

That

has

got

to

be

at

least

the

third

out

today,

Brian,

where

Forsythe

has

had

a

ball

hit

right

to

him;

this

one

was

smoked

to

him.

This

is

exactly

what

the

shift

allows

you

to

do.

It

allows

you

to

take

your

first

baseman

and

put

him

right

over

there

on

the

line.

Look

where

he's

at.

I

mean,

He's

barely

in

fair

territory.

This

is

a

self-defense

class

right

there.

Yeah,

Who

caught

who?

But

you

have

to

wonder

a

little

bit

more

in

the

case

of

Forsythe.

That's

a

good

example,

too.

When

you

look

at

today's

defensive

metrics

for

judging

how

much

range

a

fielder

can

cover,

At

some

point

you

have

to

take

into

account

the

shift,

because

otherwise

there've

been

at

least

three

circumstances

where

Logan

Forsythe

has

ranged

to

the

third-base

side

of

second

base.

Yeah.

But

really

he's

moved

about

a

half

step.

Right.

Because

of

where

he

is

now.

You

see,

with

Carlos

Beltran

he

was

a

little

bit

further

out

into

shallow

right

field

because

it

gives

him

more

range

and

you're

not

worried

about

Beltran's

foot

speed.

Headley

with

two

outs

and

nobody

on.

Callum

may

have

begun

the

year

as

a

starter,

but

before

his

year

even

began

he

had

visa

problems

getting

to

spring

training.

He

then

had

pneumonia.

He

was

laid

up

in

the

hospital

for

a

long

time.

He

pitched

out

of

the

rotation

for

a

while

for

Kevin

Cash.

He's

now

in

the

bullpen.

He's

pitching

very

well

in

relief.

Well,

And

when

he

went

to

the

bullpen,

That's

a

whole

new

role

for

him.

And

so,

the

first

couple

of

outings

did

not

go

very

well

as

he

transitioned.

You

know,

As

a

starter,

Everything

is

accounted

for.

You

know

what

time

you're

going

to

warm

up.

You

know

your

whole

You

get

it

down.

Bullpen.

It's

different.

The

phone

rings.

Your

name

gets

called.

You've

got

to

be

ready

to

go.

And

he

has

transitioned

into

that

role

very

well

and

pitched

so

well

that

Kevin

Cash

is

not

afraid

to

go

to

him

in

these

one-run

games

in

the

eighth

and

ninth

innings

from

time

to

time.

Both

Yankees

runs

came

in

the

fifth.

Gregorius,

a

double;

Gardner,

an

infield

groundout;

two

to

Headley.

You

can

see

the

shadows

really

creeping

over

home

plate

in

the

circle

right

now.

You

need

a

few

more

feet

out

before

they

really

start

to

come

into

play

because

right

now

the

hitter,

in

this

case

Chase

Headley,

is

making

up

his

mind

to

swing

before

that

ball

hits

the

shadows.

And

so

when

those

shadows

start

to

creep

out

and

get

around

that

halfway

point.

Now

the

time

to

make

your

judgment

on

whether

to

swing

is

going

from

light

to

dark.

Not

quite

yet.

Headley

is

now

years

old.

Bird

is

on

deck.

Headley

had

that

fantastic

season

back

in

A

Gold

Glove

winner.

A

Silver

Slugger

winner

in

the

National

League

with

the

Padres.

Colomé's

Colomé

threw

three

pitches

to

get

the

first

two

outs.

Both

times

he

was

helped

out

by

the

shift

behind

him,

and

now

he's

in

a

little

bit

of

a

battle

with

Headley.

Yankees

need

just

one

run

to

tie

it

up.

It's

pretty

high-leverage

pitching

for

Colomé.

Here

comes

pitch

number

eight.

Up

the

middle

and

a

base

hit.

Headley

is

aboard

with

two

outs,

the

Yankees

have

the

tying

run

at

first,

and

they

bring

the

go-ahead

run

to

the

plate.

A

really

nice

job

by

Chase

Headley.

Working

that

count,

he

fouled.

He

worked

off

some

tough

pitches.

He

got

one

down

and

over

he

could

handle.

He

doesn't

try

to

pull

it;

he

uses

the

middle

of

the

field.

Hits

a

nice

line

drive

to

center

field

and

keeps

this

inning

going

for

the

Yankees.

That

brings

in

Greg

Bird.

Two

outs,

tie

run

at

first

base.

Bird

jumps

on

the

first

pitch

and

pops

it

up.

This

will

find

the

seats,

though.

Strike

one.

Bird

has

played

in

less

than

games

this

year.

One

and

one.

He

hit

a

home

run

last

night.

He

hit

a

home

run

the

game

before

when

he

was

playing

in

Boston.

There

were

three

home

runs

last

night

by

the

Yankees.

And

this

one

by

Bird.

That

was

after

swinging

over

that

split

earlier

in

the

at-bat.

He

got

one

that

stayed

up

a

little

bit

and

did

not

miss

it.

He

has

Headley

at

first

base.

Two

outs.

And

you

wonder

about

a

young

player

like

Bird.

A

young,

left-handed

hitter

like

Bird

in

a

high-leverage

situation

like

this

you

saw

what

he

did

last

night

and

you

know

how

easy

it

is

if

you

get

the

right

swing

to

poke

one

over

the

fence

in

right

field.

Try

to

stay

within

yourself

a

little

bit.

That's

exactly

right.

You

have

to

realize

You're

strong

enough.

Get

the

barrel

to

the

baseball,

and

it

will

fly,

especially

on

an

afternoon

like

this.

Don't

try

to

do

too

much.

When

you

come

out

of

your

mechanics,

things

don't

go

well.

Count

stays

at

two

balls

and

two

strikes.

The

Blue

Jays

winning

today

behind

David

Price.

Which

makes

a

come-from-behind

win

even

more

important

for

the

Yankees

to

try

to

keep

pace.

The

Yankees

have

not

had

the

lead

today.

And

it's

a

full

count.

Well,

and

that

was

the

action

pitch.

That's

where

Colum

A

wants

to

make

something

happen.

Because

now

if

he

lays

off

that

fastball,

it

does

not

get

called.

It's

a

close

pitch.

Very

close

pitch.

But

now

that

allows

it.

Chase

Headley

is

in

motion

here

with

two

outs.

Headley

with

a

two-out

single.

There

he

goes.

The

to

the

opposite

way;

Guyer

has

to

play

it

on

a

hop.

This

gives

an

extra

base.

Headley

to

third.

He's

in

business,

back-to-back.

Two-out

baserunners,

and

they

get

some

help

from

Guyer,

who

came

off

the

bench

and

is

in

left

field

for

Sizemore.

Brandon

Guyer

closed

the

gap

too

quickly.

He's

thinking

about

making

the

catch

and

ending

the

inning.

As

he

gets

too

close

to

the

ball,

it's

now

going

to

short

hop;

he

decides

to

pull

up,

That

was

the

wise

decision.

Then

that

hop

came

off

the

glove.

Chase

Headley,

You

see

right

there,

He's

trying

to

back

up

because

he

was

so

aggressive

coming

in,

and

Chase

Headley

is

off

and

running.

Now

this

play's

going

to

happen.

He

gets

to

third.

Cano

coming

on

to

pinch

hit.

And

go

back

to

early

July

against

Tampa

Bay:

one

swing

and

a

walk-off

win

he

gave

to

the

Yankees.

Down

and

in

to

a

candid

hitter.

McCann

has

tormented

the

Rays.

Long

conversation

up

on

the

mound.

Jim

Hickey,

the

pitching

coach.

Well,

And

you

wonder

here,

Is

Jim

Hickey

out

there

giving

instructions

to

Alex

Colomé,

or

is

he

buying

time?

He's

continued

to

creep

out

a

little

bit

more

toward

the

mound.

That's

when

you

start

to

get

into

the

territory.

It's

going

to

affect.

Runners

on

the

corners.

Two

outs.

Yankees

have

the

tying

run

at

third

base.

The

go-ahead

run

at

first.

And

here

is

McCann.

On

the

season,

it

has

been

that

way

for

McCann.

homers

and

RBIs.

Dorious

would

be

next.

The

first

two

batters

for

the

Yankees

were

retired

on

three

pitches.

It

has

been

a

different

story

since.

McCann

is

well

in

the

driver's

seat.

Three

and

nothing.

Three

straight

off-speed

pitches.

The

first

two

were

borderline.

Good

job

by

Brian

McCann

showing

discipline.

Being

selective.

And

now

he's

in

the

driver's

seat.

And

he's

the

type

of

guy;

if

he

gets

the

pitch

that

he

wants

He

will

be

swinging.

Here

it

comes.

McCann

swings.

And

he

goes

around.

Joe

West.

The

crew

chief.

He

was

ready

to

turn

it

loose

This

ball's

down.

He

realized

it

late.

And

that

ball

had

a

little

bit

too

much

movement

for

Joe

West.

Well,

The

first

two

fastballs

by

Alex

Colomé.

He

was

going

to

fly

open

and

leave

it

He

gets

right

back

into

the

zone.

Good

pitch

there.

Then

this

one

how

about

that?

He

did

not

even

get

out

of

the

batter's

box;

that's

how

hard

he

hit

the

ball,

and

he

already

realizes

it's

been

caught.

You

can

understand

this.

That

was

really

the

only

spot

where

someone

was

going

to

catch

that

ball.

It

was

hit

so

hard;

a

couple

of

feet

left

or

right.

That

ball

gets

into

the

outfield.

Brian

McCann

stays

in

the

game,

taking

over

behind

home

plate

for

John

Ryan

Murphy.

James

Pazos

is

up

on

the

mound

for

the

Yankees.

Here

are

his

numbers

from

the

minor

leagues.

and

two-thirds

innings.

strikeouts

and

the

opponent's

average

jumps

out

at

you

at

just

The

Yankees

need

a

zero

here.

A

pinch-hitter,

Joey

Butler,

takes

over

for

Daniel

Nava

in

the

number

two

spot.

You

have

to

figure

it's

for

Didi

Gregorius.

You

think

back

to

the

last

game

when

he

had

a

similar

situation.

Gregorius

in

Boston

on

Monday.

With

the

bases

loaded

in

the

ninth

inning,

he

flew

out

to

the

wall

in

right

field.

As

Butler

sends

it

to

center

with

some

carry,

Ellsbury,

who

was

not

in

the

starting

lineup

today,

tracks

it

down.

Round

number

one

a

nice

job

there

by

Jacoby

Ellsbury.

That

ball

was

well

struck,

but

he

turned

and

started

running

toward

the

center-field

wall,

then

looked

back,

found

the

ball

and

made

the

catch;

he

didn't

drift.

One

quick

out.

So

here

is

Nava.

Butler

is

taking

the

spot

of

Jaso

in

the

order.

On

Nava

walked

and

scored

back

in

the

third.

This

Rays

team,

is

very

different

this

year

in

a

number

of

ways.

Earlier,

The

job

Brian

Cashman

has

done.

Well,

Remember,

The

Rays

lost

Andrew

Friedman,

Their

general

manager.

To

the

Dodgers.

Replaced

by

Matt

Silverman.

They

lost

Joe

Maddon.

Their

manager.

To

the

Cubs.

Replaced

by

Kevin

Cash.

They've

had

a

ton

of

injuries.

As

mentioned

earlier,

Now,

A

lot

of

statistical

people

would

not

buy

that.

And

keep

in

mind

as

well,

The

Rays

have

needed

a

steady

hand.

They've

used

players.

One

shy

of

the

club

record.

And

that

includes

a

club

record,

rookies.

That's

incredible.

The

rookie,

which

stands

out

more,

all

the

players,

one

shot

at

the

club

record,

as

Ken

said,

or

nearly

rookies.

And

this

is

a

team

that's

in

the

wildcard

hunt.

Yeah,

No,

There's

no

question

that

there

is

a

system

in

place

and

an

environment

that

has

been

created

where

guys

will

thrive.

And

I'll

tell

you

what,

I

agree

with

what

Evan

Longoria

said.

And,

You

know,

Ken

said

maybe

some

of

the

numbers

guys

would

not

buy

into

that.

You

know.

Ability

to

communicate,

Comfortable

atmosphere,

leading

to

better

performance.

But

I'm

going

to

tell

you,

it's

the

old,

you

know,

look

good,

play

good,

feel

comfortable,

comfortable

in

your

own

skin,

comfortable

with

the

coaching

staff.

They're

encouraging

you.

That

will

get

the

best

out

of

you.

And

that's

what

the

Rays

have

seen

happen

all

season

long.

It's

pretty

amazing

they're

even

in

this

position.

You're

talking

about

all

the

players

used.

Nava

began

the

season

in

the

division,

But

with

the

Red

Sox,

Now

with

Tampa

Bay,

and

looks

at

a

count.

Pazos

is

the

fourth

reliever

today

for

the

Yankees.

In

back

of

Eovaldi,

who

went

five

and

a

third.

The

life

story

of

Daniel

Nava

is

rivaled

by

few;

he

could

barely

make

his

high

school

team.

Junior

college

then.

He

made

his

way

through

independent

ball.

And

then

he

was

a

household

name

for

about

minutes

when

he

He

hit

the

first

pitch

he

ever

saw

in

the

big

leagues

for

a

grand

slam.

At

Fenway

Park

off

Joe

Blanton

years

ago

you

know

the

one.

The

Rays

would

love

to

give

themselves

a

little

more

breathing

room.

When

we

go

to

the

bottom

of

the

ninth,

It'll

be

and

due

up

for

the

Yankees.

Gets

him

looking.

Rings

him

up

with

a

fastball.

Two

outs.

Wow.

Low-flying.

Now

you

can

see

Nava's

reaction.

Well.

That

was,

That

was

the

perfect

pitch.

Down

and

in.

Just

the

same

plain

zip.

Kneecap

corner.

That

is

it

for

Nava.

That

is

it

for

Pazos.

We've

got

a

pitching

change.

Two

outs,

bases

empty,

top

of

the

ninth.

It

is

Andrew

Bailey,

making

only

his

second

appearance.

His

second

appearance

of

the

season

and

second

ever

with

the

Yankees.

He

was

a

two-time

All-Star

the

first

two

years

of

his

career.

He

was

American

League

Rookie

of

the

Year

and

a

closer

for

the

Oakland

A's.

And

then

he

underwent

very

complicated

shoulder

surgery.

That's

been

the

most

recent

injury

for

Bailey,

and

shoulder

surgery

is

not

easy

to

come

back

from;

you're

right,

very

complicated,

but

here

he

is

he's

looking

to

get

one

big

out

here

in

the

ninth.

Schaefer

took

over

for

Longoria,

who

had

to

exit

the

game

with

a

pretty

serious

bruise

on

his

forearm

after

being

hit

by

a

pitch.

It'll

be

interesting

to

see

what

his

status

is

tomorrow.

For

Bailey,

you

think

about

his

brief

time

in

Oakland,

then

being

traded

over

to

Boston.

In

the

division

here,

in

the

American

League

East.

And

things

went

south

almost

right

away.

In

a

Red

Sox

uniform,

he

was

injured

in

spring

training,

colliding

while

covering

first

base,

jamming

his

wrist.

He

did

not

spend

much

time

pitching

over

two

years

with

the

Red

Sox.

He

found

his

way

to

New

York.

But

unfortunately,

until

Bailey

can

prove

it.

That

he

can

stay

healthy

and

pitch

effectively

like

he

did

when

he

first

burst

onto

the

scene

in

For

Bailey,

it

has

turned

out

to

be

a

story

of

what

could

have

been

based

on

what

we

saw

in

his

first

couple

of

years.

Full

count.

Five,

but

pulled

foul.

Bailey

once

again

with

a

count,

and

he

lost

him

it's

a

two-out

walk.

Bailey

walks

the

first

man

he

sees.

That

was

a

lot

of

off-speed

pitches

in

that

sequence

by

Bailey.

He

ends

up

yanking

a

slider

off

the

plate.

There's

Geyer,

who

took

over

for

Sizemore.

I

mentioned

earlier

about

the

Rays.

It's

amazing

that

they

are

even

in

the

discussion

for

the

wild

card.

Given

the

injuries

they've

had.

Given

all

the

rookies

nearly

they've

had

to

use.

And

then

you

can

take

it

a

step

further:

the

offense

is

last

in

the

American

League

and

runs

scored

in

baseball.

They

don't

hit

many

home

runs.

Snag

there

by

Bailey.

And

that'll

do

it.

Schaefer

stranded.

We

go

to

the

bottom

of

the

ninth.

The

Yankees

down

by

one

and

down

to

the

final

three

outs.

Boxberger

out

of

ERA

Big

strikeout

numbers.

Fastball

changeup

is

what

gets

it

done

for

Boxberger.

First

pitch

to

Steve

and

Drew.

Missing

for

ball

one.

Brian

Boxberger

might

lead

the

American

League

in

saves,

but

that

does

not

mean

there

have

not

been

some

close

moments

for

him.

Including

his

last

time

out.

That

was

against

the

Baltimore

Orioles.

Gave

up

a

two-run

home

run

to

Jonathan

Schoop

in

the

bottom

of

the

ninth

to

tie

that

game.

Baltimore

would

go

on

to

win

it

on

a

home

run

by

Chris

Davis.

So

there

have

been

some

moments,

but

when

he's

able

to

command

the

fastball

he'll

get

it

And

that

changeup

is

down

around

He

gives

you

a

big

differential

in

velocity.

Yankees

bench

up

for

a

tie,

If

not

a

walk-off

win.

And

he

wins

for

out

number

one.

And

then

there's

Brian.

One

out.

And

here

is

Brett

Gardner.

Well,

in

a

situation

like

this.

Brian,

you

have

to

bring

up

the

point.

That

the

Rays

have

walk-off

losses.

The

most

that

any

team

has

suffered

in

baseball.

And

they

go

to

the

bottom

of

the

ninth

here.

Boxberger

has

gotten

out

number

one,

but

the

Yankees

are

more

than

within

striking

distance.

Well,

by

virtue

of

the

short

porch

in

right

field.

You've

got

a

left-handed

hitter

at

the

plate,

a

guy

that's

also

built

around

some

speed,

He

can

run.

Absolutely.

And

a

one-run

game.

I

mean,

you're

one

swing

away,

so

Brad

Boxberger's

going

to

have

to

be

very

good.

No

margin

for

error.

The

Rays

this

year

are

on

the

road,

and

it's

incredible.

A

third,

exactly

a

third

of

their

losses

on

the

road

have

come

in

walk-off

fashion.

Another

byproduct

of

playing

tight

games.

You

put

yourself

into

those

positions

and

more

often

than

not

they've

gone

against

the

Rays.

Once

again.

Towards

Kiermaier,

and

when

you're

playing

against

the

Rays

you

don't

want

to

hit

it

to

center

field.

Bad

strategy.

Very

bad

strategy.

You

could

win

the

Gold

Glove

this

year.

Yankees

down

to

their

final

out.

It

is

Jacoby

Ellsbury,

who

began

this

game

on

the

bench

and

was

pulled

from

last

night's

game

with

flu-like

symptoms,

much

better

than

the

hip

injury

some

feared.

Strike

one.

Boxberger

looking

for

save

number

Boxberger

a

strike

away.

Here's

Center

field.

Again

toward

the

gap.

There's

Guyer

to

put

it

away,

and

the

Rays

win

it

by

a

run.

Boxberger

gets

the

save.

And

Tampa

Bay

has

evened

up

the

series.