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Here’s something we’ve said seemingly every day during the 2023 season: The Tampa Bay Rays won.
The final installment in this ongoing and getting tougher series by the day was an 8-2 victory over the Yankees in the Bronx Thursday night. The Yankees – the defending AL East champions – fall to 21-18 on the season, leaving them in last place in the division. They are now nine games away from the Rays.
We’ll get the bad news out of the way for the Rays soon. Phenom short stop Wander Franco was forced to leave the game midway through the fifth inning with what the team called spasms/tightness in the neck on the right side. On a routine groundout off his bat, Franco grabbed his neck as he ran to first base and it appeared to be a mix of mild pain and annoyance. He will be re-evaluated on Friday.
Franco, 22, is batting .318/.374/.554 this season with 14 doubles, seven home runs, 23 RBI, 23 runs, and 12 stolen bases alongside sparkling defense at a premium position, all of which have helped him win today’s MLB WAR- being a leader. Needless to say, the Rays would miss him dearly if he ever missed.
The rest of the night had few negatives for the Rays. Starting pitcher Drew Rasmussen continued his All-Star-caliber work to start the season, cutting through the Yankees’ rankings with apparent ease and superb efficiency. In seven scoreless innings, on 76 pitches, he gave up only two hits while striking out seven.
Offensively, a Yandy Díaz RBI double got the scoring started in the fifth and then Josh Lowe’s two-out, bases-clearing double broke the game open in the sixth.
That put the game away pretty well given the Yankees’ minimal offense from start to finish. But Lowe wasn’t done yet. He added a two-run shot in the eighth, giving him a five RBI night.
The win takes the Rays to 30-9 on the season. The fastest team to 30 wins last year was the Yankees, who had 13 losses at the time. In 2021 it was the Padres, who had 17 in the losing column. In fact, in the integration era (1947-present), these are the only teams to achieve 30 wins before losing for the 10th time:
- 1984 Tigers, 30-5 (Won World Series)
- 2001 Mariners, 30-9 (lost ALCS)
- 1998 Yankees, 30-9 (Won World Series)
- 1977 Dodgers, 30-9 (lost World Series)
- 2023 Rays, 30-9 (TBD)
Back at the end of the Yankees, this kind of backlog is certainly workable over the course of such a long season. It’s been done a few times before. In addition, with the three wild card teams, they are currently just one game away from a playoff spot. They also have three games left in this series against the Rays. The team should see that as an opportunity to bounce back to within six games. Of course, there’s also the possibility of the Rays winning the next three games and pushing the Yankees all the way back to 12. That’s significantly less workable.
Friday’s Rays starter has yet to be determined, but it will be ace Gerrit Cole (5-0, 2.09 ERA) who gets the ball for the Yankees. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM ET.
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