Saturday, 4 a.m.
This year, maybe the New York Yankees have spent well.
Oh, they still spend dollars to dimes when compared to the Tampa Bay Rays. But finally, the team is measuring up to its budget. Finally, they're playing better than the cost-cutting Tampa Bay Rays.
The Yankees shut out the Rays Friday night, getting yet another strong pitching performance to expand their lead in the AL East to 6 1/2 games. Jameson Taillon threw eight shutout innings -- Nestor Cortes had done the same thing the night before 00 in a 2-0 victory.
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Taillon improved his record to 5-0 with a 2.20 ERA.
The Rays managed just a single by Randy Arozarena and a double by Manuel Margot in the loss. The Yankees scored their two runs in the fourth on homers by Gleyber Torrez and Matt Carpenter.
"You have to give Taillon credit," said Rays' manager Kevin Cash. "He’s thrown the ball well. It kind of follows what Cortes did yesterday. They’ve done it all season. Looking though the first five or six inning, there weren’t a lot of pitches that were available to do much with. Obviously, we feel like we’re in a little bit of an offensive rut right now. We’ll get out of it."
The slump is team-wise, but it's especially notable with Wander Franco, who was so hot at the start of the season. His average is down to .262, and he's only five for his last 50.
"I expect Wander to break out whatever he’s going through just about every bat he goes up there,," Cash said. "He's so talented. He’ll find ways to navigate through this."
Jeffrey Springs wasn't bad for the Rays, giving up five hits in six innings. But the home runs did him in.
Springs was encouraged.
"Even the homers," he said. "The first pitch to Carpenter, I felt like I put it where I wanted, up in the zone. He got to it. Same thing with Torres. Maybe it caught a little bit of middle, but it was up in the zone. They just put good swings on it."
The Rays and Yankees play today at 4:10 p.m. at Tropicana Field. The Rays will start Corey Kluber against Gerrit Cole.