Wednesday, 4 a.m.
It came down to the old lion, who was pitching against the older lion.
It came down to age vs. age, all-star vs. all-star. It was the bottom of the ninth inning of Tuesday night's game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Yankees. The Rays trailed by a run, with the tying run on first, when Nelson Cruz stepped to the plate to face Aroldis Chapman.
It was just June 10 that Cruz had hit a walk-off home run against Chapman while playing for the Twins. But after getting ahead 3-0, Chapman came back to strike Cruz out. It was the third strikeout of the night for Cruz, who is hitting just .111 since coming to the Rays.
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That was the last gasp for the Rays, who trailed 3-0 at one point. They had a chance to tie it in the bottom of the eighth with Randy Arozarena on third with one out, but Mike Zunino hit into a double play.
The Rays had trimmed the deficit to 4-3 on a two-run homer by Brandon Lowe and a double by Arozarena.
“It felt kind of like (the Rays were the big hit away) a few times -- not only a it, but a deep fly ball.," Lowe said. "That's how the game works sometimes. Sometimes, you don't get that hit."
Lowe admitted he was hoping Cruz could salvage the game in the ninth
"Everybody knows when Nelly was with the Twins. We were all for a repeat," Lowe said.
Shane McClanahan started for the Rays and gave up three runs in six innings. Jeffrey Springs, in relief, gave up the eventual winning run on a homer by Ryan LaMarre. For the night, the Rays gave up 10 hits, seven walks and a hit batter.
“I thought Mac threw the ball well," said Rays' manager Kevin Cash. "There was more variance in his velocity tonight. It was good to see his last couple of fastballs got the velocity back up. That’s a challenging lineup to face."
The Rays play the Yankees again tonight at Tropicana Field. Michael Wacha will start for the Rays in a 7:10 p.m. start against Nestor Cortes.