After a well-deserved off day the Yanks started their 9 game stretch against the Rays and Blue Jays with a victory 2-0. Gerrit Cole pitched great and the bullpen backed him up as well as the pitching kept the yanks in this game as the offense did not produce much.
The yanks found another way to win as they won without scoring an earned run against Corey Kluber and the Rays bullpen. 2 errors in the bottom of the 4th made the two runs that the Yanks scored in that inning unearned for Kluber. After that inning both team were held scoreless for the rest of the game. The Yanks have shutout the rays in the last 2 games combined that they have played at the stadium dating back to the season finale of last year. That game they clinched the wild card spot when they eventually lost to the Red Sox.
Gerrit Cole had a very smooth bounce back start from his last horrendous start in Minnesota. He went 6 scoreless innings, in my opinion Boone should've left him in for the 7th as well, but I'm not complaining they still found the way to win, and had 7 strikeouts on the night as well. Anytime you have one of the worst starts of your career, all you're thinking is how you're going to bounce back in your next start, and he did just that.
Peralta to King to Holmes combined to allow 2 hits through 3 great innings of relief. Clay Holmes has now pitched 29 straight scoreless innings and the last run he allowed was on Opening Day. The stat is so crazy and it gets even crazier because this is not the major league record for most consecutive innings without allowing a run. Holmes continues his outstanding work and if I were the Yankees I would not give Aroldis Chapman his role back when he returns from the IL. Holmes has been too good in this role to just give Chapman it back.
Although the Yanks are sitting very comfortably where they are now in the standings and with what their record is, these next 8 games are critical to making more breathing room in the standings for the Yanks. The Rays and Blue Jays are currently 2nd and 3rd in the AL East and own the AL 1st and 2nd wild card spots, so it is critical the Yanks keep their distance from them.
For the 2nd game of the series tonight it is a potential AL Cy Young matchup between Shane McClanahan and Nestor Cortes. Both come in with sub 2 ERA's and are frontrunners to potentially start in the all-star game for the American League. Both pitchers pitched in the series back in Tampa and they absolutely dominated and I would expect nothing less than that tonight.
No comments:
Post a Comment