3 Biggest Takeaways From Rays Game 2 Win Over Yankees
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The Tampa Bay Rays, despite being the No. 1 seed in the American League and AL East champions, were viewed by many people as the underdog heading into their ALDS matchup with the New York Yankees.
Through the first two games of the series, the Rays are proving those doubters wrong. They are leaving Tropicana Field with a commanding 2-0 series lead, heading to Yankee Stadium on Wednesday with their eyes on a sweep.
Game 2 was the epitome of the kind of baseball Tampa Bay likes to play, taking advantage of every mistake the Yankees made. It resulted in a 5-2 victory, putting them one win away from an appearance in the ALCS and five victories away from the World Series.
How did it get to this point? Let’s take a look at three of the biggest takeaways from Game 2.
3. Give Ben Rice the Junior Caminero treatment
The Rays’ pitching staff has done a great job shutting down this New York lineup. After Drew Rasmussen threw eight shutout innings in Game 1, allowing only one hit, the Yankees mustered only four hits in Game 2.
However, half of those hits were from Ben Rice, and two of them went over the fence for solo home runs. He is a one-man wrecking crew for New York, but as the leadoff hitter, they aren’t getting anyone on base in front of him to create runs.
As a result, Tampa Bay needs to do what other teams have done to them: avoid Rice and make others beat them. Opponents have pitched Junior Caminero carefully all season, and his teammates time and time again have stepped up.
With no Yankees player proving capable of creating offense, it would make sense to work around Rice and make someone else beat them.
2. Rays are relentless with pressure
Tampa Bay has played a brand of baseball this season unlike any other team in the MLB. They put an emphasis on not striking out and putting the ball in play, making their opponents make defensive plays.
It was a strategy that worked perfectly against the Yankees, who couldn’t get out of their own way all evening. They made four errors, which matched the number of hits they had in the game.
The Rays are thriving, succeeding with defense, speed and pitching. The Yankees are crumbling under that relentless pressure, which has been the case time and time again every October.
1. 3 chances to advance
The biggest takeaway from winning the first two games of the series is that Tampa Bay now has three chances at clinching the series and advancing to the ALCS. Winning on the road in the playoffs is a tall task, but the way the schedule was made is beneficial to the Rays.
Their second-best pitcher this season, Nick Martinez, is taking the ball in Game 3. Rasmussen will be back in Game 4, if necessary, on regular rest because they have alternated off days and game days all series thus far. If it happens to go five games, Peralta will be back with all hands on deck for the game on Oct. 10.
The atmosphere will be different at Yankee Stadium for a playoff game, but the Rays did clinch the AL East on that field not even two weeks ago; no moment feels too big for this team.
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Kenneth Teape is an alumnus of SUNY Old Westbury and graduated in 2013 with an Honors Degree in Media Communications with a focus on print journalism. During his time at Old Westbury, he worked for the school newspaper and several online publications, such as Knicks Now, the official website of the New York Knicks, and a self-made website with fellow students, Gotham City Sports News. Kenneth has also been a site expert at Empire Writes Back, Musket Fire, and Lake Show Life within the FanSided Network. He was a contributor to HoopsHabit, with work featured on Bleacher Report and Yardbarker. Previously, he is a reporter for both NBA Analysis Network and NFL Analysis Network, as well as a writer and editor for Packers Coverage. You can follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @teapester725, or reach him via email at teapester725@gmail.com.