The Yankees opened their series against the Tampa Bay Rays with a brilliant outing from Clarke Schmidt en route to a 2-0 win Friday night at Tropicana Field.
Here are the takeaways…
-Schmidt turned in his best start of the season on Friday against the Rays. The right-hander twirled 6.2 scoreless innings – the deepest he’s pitched into any game this year – allowing five hits, two walks and striking out six.
The Rays did not have a baserunner reach third base against Schmidt nor did they record an extra-base hit vs. the right-hander. The most trouble he faced was in the fifth after allowing a two-out single to Richie Palacios and a walk to Jose Caballero he came back to strike out Alex Jackson to escape the jam.
-The Rays entered the game first in the American League with 47 stolen bases, but the Yankees did a good job limiting the damage they could cause on the basepaths.
In the third inning, Caballero stole second base and attempted to steal third, too, but Jose Trevino made a perfect throw to third base to catch the speedy infielder for the second out of the inning. Trevino also threw out Isaac Paredes in the seventh at second base to end the inning.
In the sixth, Schmidt picked off Randy Arozarena at first base for the second out of the inning, much to the surprise of the Rays outfielder.
-The Yankees offense continued its Jekyll and Hyde act, scoring just two runs – all courtesy of Anthony Rizzo.
In the fourth, Aaron Judge reached base with a one-out walk before Giancarlo Stanton laced a 116-mph single into left field, moving Judge to third. This set up Rizzo to line an opposite-field RBI single into left to give the Yankees the lead.
Rizzo added a much-needed insurance run in the ninth with a solo shot into right field.
The Bombers had a chance in the seventh to tack on, with Juan Soto at the plate with two runners on base, but the slugger was fooled on a 3-2 sinker from Rays left-hander Garrett Cleavinger to end the threat.
–Clay Holmes, who had not pitched in five days, walked a tightrope in the ninth inning. He walked two of the first three batters he faced and allowed a two-out single to Austin Shenton that loaded the bases for Jonny Deluca. But Holmes settled down and got Deluca to chase a sweeper and close out the game.
Who was the MVP?
Clarke Schmidt. With the Yankees’ offense not doing much Friday night, Schmidt silenced the Rays bats and pitched into the seventh inning for the first time all season to earn the win.
