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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 1, 2020 3:59:12 GMT -5
Rays put dominance of Yankees to test again FLM
Not even the sight of Gerrit Cole could stop the Tampa Bay Rays from beating the New York Yankees again.
After beating Cole, the surging Rays attempt to continue their mastery of the Yankees on Tuesday night when the AL East rivals continue a three-game series at Yankee Stadium.
The Rays opened the series by getting a 5-3 win Monday when Ji-Man Choi hit a two-run homer off Cole and Kevin Kiermaier also connected off New York's ace.
By getting to Cole, the Rays opened a 4 1/2-game lead over the Yankees and improved to 7-1 in the season series heading into the penultimate meeting of the abbreviated 10-game series.
The Rays have won the last six meetings, and a win on Tuesday would equal their longest winning streak over the Yankees, whose lineup is missing Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Gleyber Torres.
"It's big," Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said. "They're in the division with us and both teams are fairly nicked up as we speak, and you'll take as many as you get because you know when they get healthy, they're a really good club."
Monday's win also was a continuation of Tampa Bay's overall surge. The Rays are 25-11, on their second six-game winning streak of the shortened season and are 13-2 in their last 15 games.
Tampa Bay also is 19-3 in its last 22 games since beating the Yankees in the second game of a doubleheader on Aug. 8. It is the Rays' best 22-game stretch since July 4-30, 2013.
New York's inability to beat the Rays can be attributed to an unproductive offense, especially with runners in scoring position The Yankees were held hitless until the sixth, went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and struck out 11 times.
This season, the Yankees are 1-for-25 with runners in scoring position and have struck out 38 times in the four home games against Tampa Bay. Overall, the Yankees are 5-for-51 with runners in scoring position and have struck out 69 times against the Rays.
"I'm not worried about it," Yankees first baseman Luke Voit said. "They came out hot tonight. It's baseball. We had them last year, they got us this year."
New York's struggles against the Rays at home are part of a 3-8 slide that has them fending off the Toronto Blue Jays for second place in the AL East. The Yankees won three straight over the Mets, winning each time in their last at-bat, but generated little offense Monday other than homers by Gio Urshela and Voit.
After hitting Cole, the Rays will face Masahiro Tanaka (0-1, 3.48 ERA), though Yandy Diaz and Austin Meadows could be held out. Diaz exited Monday's game with right hamstring tightness, while Meadows sat out with oblique soreness.
The Rays will hope Choi has recovered from his stomach issues after exiting Monday's game in the ninth. Choi was 3-for-3 with a pair of walks and is batting .391 (9-for-23) against the Yankees this season.
Tanaka is 10-5 with a 3.33 ERA in 20 career starts against Tampa Bay. This year, Tanaka has experienced mixed results against the Rays, who got one hit off him in five innings Aug. 7, but tagged him for six runs in four innings two weeks ago in New York.
Tanaka has yet to exceed five innings, and in his last start he tossed five scoreless innings while throwing 66 pitches in the second game of Wednesday's doubleheader at Atlanta.
Trevor Richards is expected to start for Tampa Bay as an opener. Richards has a 4.71 ERA in six appearances and has held the Yankees to two runs in seven innings over two outings this year.
--Field Level Media
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 1, 2020 8:05:47 GMT -5
Yankees mystified over Gerrit Cole’s serious home run problem Today 8:00 AM Gerrit Cole
New York Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Monday, Aug. 31, 2020, at Yankee Stadium in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens) APAP By Brendan Kuty | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
NEW YORK — It’s not just the short porch.
Gerrit Cole has been giving up home runs by the bushel and the Yankees aren’t exactly sure what’s wrong.
“Look, it’s surprising,” manager Aaron Boone said after Cole coughed up another two homers in a 5-3 loss to the first-place Rays at Yankee Stadium on Monday.
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Cole has surrendered a league-high 12 bombs. He’s also made eight starts, tied for the league lead.
The Yankees gave him $324 million for the next nine years in December. He has a 3.91 ERA.
“I think as we go here, hopefully that continues to go down as he just continues to execute a little better,” Boone said. “But I also think any time you’re going up against an ace like Gerrit, from a game planning standpoint, I think guys sell out for some things a little differently than they normally would and sometimes those mistakes could turn into slug. He’s been bitten by that here obviously a few outings but I don’t expect it to become a trend.”
It’s not like the Rays got to Cole and then he buckled down. They assaulted him all night. Cole gave up eight hits and four walks. The first homer came in the first inning, a two-run shot to Ji-Man Choi, who has torched Cole. Choi is hitting a career .667 (8-for-12) with three doubles, three homers, eight RBI and three walks vs. the Yankees’ ace.
Cole was searching for answers.
“It’s been back to back starts where it felt really good and thought that had progressed with the stuff in each of the last few outings,” the right-hander said. “To not get rewarded for it and I guess probably underperform relative to the type of stuff and the ability to throw a lot of pitches at a high quality level, it eats at me a little bit. With what we had today, should have pitched better.”
Cole was asked what kind of adjustment he needs to make.
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His answer was long.
“The adjustment is either to throw a different pitch or move the sights or just be better,” he said. “We’re trying to throw a fastball away, you miss a couple inches off the plate. By and large, you’ve executed a fastball away. But the bottom line is, you do that four times and a guy is on first base. So there’s got to be an adjustment at some point there. I think mechanically, it was as effortless as it’s been this year so far. That’s part of one of the things Aaron said he was so encouraged about it, same with Matt. Just how easy and fluid the ball was coming out. Just got to command the zone better, command the leverage better.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 1, 2020 8:07:18 GMT -5
How money factored into Yankees striking out at trade deadline Today 8:14 AM
By Randy Miller | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Here’s what happens every time that Yankees GM Brian Cashman agrees to a trade with a club that adds dollars to the payroll in addition to roster upgrading:
Nothing’s official until Cashman presents all of the details to managing partner Hal Steinbrenner, who either says yes or no.
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It’s always been that way since Steinbrenner succeeded his father, and it was that way when The Boss was in charge, too.
The Steinbrenners almost always have signed off.
This year could have been different if Cashman had agreed to a deal before Monday’s 4 p.m., trade deadline instead of passing on his starting pitcher targets because opponents were asking for young players and prospects that were off-limits.
It never got to that point because Cashman was unwilling to pay a king’s ransom for Cleveland Indians ace Mike Clevinger, who was traded to the San Diego Padres for three intriguing roster players plug three highly regarded prospects.
Cashman also deemed the price too high to deal for Rangers right-hander Lance Lynn for the second time in two summers because his standout pitching this season and $8-million contract for 2021 had Texas asking for a ton before opting to stand pat.
What if Cashman had worked out a deal?
We’ll never know, but Steinbrenner may have vetoed it because the Yankees reportedly are losing hundreds of millions of dollars this year playing a shortened season with no fans in the stands due to the pandemic.
According to TicketIQ, the Yanks are losing an estimated $1.78 million just in ticket losses. The AP estimated the Yanks’ total losses this season above $300 million.
Besides the lost revenue, the word going around was that Yankees ownership was very reluctant to add any more payroll to go all-in this season because there’s no assurance that the coronavirus won’t lead to the postseason being canceled.
“Dollars certainly are part of the equation for any business right now,” Cashman said in his post-deadline news conference. “More than ever. So that’s certainly part of the equation. But forgetting the dollars, the matches before we got to the dollars were as problematic. I’d say more problematic than the money.
“The money would have been another conversation to have. But if you can’t get people off of the players that you’re unwilling to part with and then add a player that’s got dollars and shorter control at the same time, it makes it even that much more difficult.”
Cashman never got close to the finish line on a deal. According to SNY’s Andy Martino, the Indians wouldn’t trade Clevinger to the Yankees unless their return included two of three players that Cashman ruled untouchable - pitching prospects Deivi Garcia and Clarke Schmidt, and outfielder Clint Frazier. The Rangers reportedly made the same demand for Lynn.
Garcia, 21, was brilliant in his Major League debut on Sunday, holding the Mets to one unearned run over six innings. Schmidt, who is ranked the Yanks’ No. 1 pitching prospect by MLB Pipeline, could be in their rotation by 2021. Frazier is a good bat who is needed to play regularly now because both right fielder Aaron Judge and designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton have been hurt.
“I feel very comfortable and confident that we made the right decisions on what was in front of us even though we know that we have a very difficult schedule and a lot of high-end competition as we move forward,” Cashman said. “Yeah, you’d love to import something else to make that ride easier, but I really value what we do have here.
“I look forward to the players that we chose not to move to impact this team as early as 2020 in some cases, and beyond as well.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 1, 2020 11:36:39 GMT -5
Yankees need Deivi Garcia if they want to make an October run By Kristie Ackert New York Daily News | Sep 01, 2020 at 10:04 AM
It was more than just a spot start. Deivi Garcia’s tremendous major league debut on Sunday was a huge relief to a rotation and bullpen that was stretched out in five games over three days. For a front office, in the hours before the trade deadline it was a reminder of why they had held on to him through years of trade talks. And maybe, if the Yankees are lucky, it was a preview of what’s to come this fall.
“A lot of times, especially in championship runs, sometimes you get contributions from unexpected places or sometimes from somebody coming up for the first time in their big-league career and having an impact,’' Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Our game is littered with stories of people coming up and impacting September runs and things like that.’'
The Yankees need something, anything, at this point to spark them.
The Rays popped the Bombers’ bubble — which was capped by Garcia’s six innings of dominance over the Mets Sunday night — by beating their ace Gerrit Cole Monday night. That loss brought the Yankees back to reality. They’ve had to scrape by to just stay ahead of the Blue Jays for second place in the division. The Rays won six straight and seven out of eight against the Yankees.
The Bombers are watching a division title quickly slipping out of their grasp. The expanded playoffs this season and not having fans in the ballparks will make that irrelevant, but the Yankees will need someone like Garcia to play a big role if they are to truly get a chance this October.
As Boone said, they will need that unexpected player to step up and play their role.
Sunday, Garcia looked ready for the part.
“We have asked a lot of him at his stage of his development,’' Yankees GM Brian Cashman said Monday after implying that most of the teams he talked trades with asked for Garcia in the return packages. “After seeing some of his performances in spring training, 1.0, 2.0 we saw a better version of Deivi Garcia [Sunday] which is one we envisioned but just not at this level. Obviously, that was the question.’'
Certainly there was some element of the unknown with Garcia on both sides. The Mets had very little of Garcia’s work to look at before Sunday, just a few spring training games. The Yankees were not sure how he would handle the jump to facing big league hitters.
But they were impressed.
“A composed [pitcher] and a strike-thrower,’' Cashman said. “He looked very comfortable and he looked like he belonged. It didn’t look like it was his first time.”
Friday, the Yankees expect to get a second look at Garcia. Boone said he will likely pitch one of the doubleheader games against the Orioles. If the Yankees are going to get deep into the playoffs this year, that will likely not be the last time they rely on Garcia.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 1, 2020 12:16:15 GMT -5
Jared Carrabis @jared_Carrabis 17m Since leaving the Yankees after the 2018 season, Sonny Gray and Lance Lynn have combined for a 3.04 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 10.61 K/9. Yankees starters collectively since the start of 2019 have a 4.46 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 9.08 K/9.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 1, 2020 15:18:58 GMT -5
Richards vs Tanaka 7pm @boogie Down
1. Ji-Man Choi (L) 1B 2. Brandon Lowe (L) 2B 3. Joey Wendle (L) 3B 4. Austin Meadows (L) RF 5. Yoshi Tsutsugo (L) DH 6. Willy Adames (R) SS 7. Kevin Kiermaier (L) CF 8. Manuel Margot (R) LF 9. Michael Perez (L) C
1. DJ LeMahieu (R) 2B 2. Luke Voit (R) 1B 3. Aaron Hicks (S) CF 4. Clint Frazier (R) RF 5. Gio Urshela (R) 3B 6. Mike Tauchman (L) LF 7. Gary Sanchez (R) DH 8. Kyle Higashioka (R) C 9. Tyler Wade (L) SS
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 2, 2020 2:57:38 GMT -5
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 2, 2020 3:06:52 GMT -5
Yankees’ tempers flare beating Rays, Masahiro Tanaka shines | Rapid reaction Updated Sep 01, 2020; Posted Sep 01, 2020
By Brendan Kuty | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
NEW YORK — The Yankees’ new ace blew up, so their rock held them down.
A night after the Rays thrashed $324-million man Gerrit Cole, old reliable Masahiro Tanaka stepped in and stepped up, throwing six strong innings in a 5-3 win over their division foes at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night.
The victory snapped the Yankees’ six-game losing streak vs. Tampa Bay, which they’re desperately chasing in the American League East. They’re 3 1/2 games back of the first-place Rays with 26 games to go.
DJ LeMahieu homered. Gio Urshela turned in a thrilling round-the-bases trip, fueled by a throwing error, that scored three runs to break a sixth-inning tie. The bullpen gave up just a run in Tanaka’s absence and Zack Britton returned from the injured list with a scoreless eighth.
Clint Frazier turned in a highlight reel catch, ranging far to his right and diving to stop extra bases.
Aroldis Chapman got the save. He nearly hit Mike Brosseau in the head with a 100-mph fastball and then the umpires appeared to warn both benches. The Yankees have been vocal about the Rays’ penchant for throwing up-and-in on them all season.
Rays manager Kevin Cash was ejected from the game.
Benches cleared after the game with both sides barking at each other, but no punches were thrown.
The Yankees improved to 20-14 and have won four of their last five. Tampa Bay lost its winning streak at six.
Tanaka was on point all night, mixing his pitches and hitting spots. He did a better job of locating than Cole, who gave up a pair of homers and four runs in five innings the night prior.
Tanaka’s approach differed from what it’s been most of the season. Instead of pitching off his fastball, he threw mostly sliders (48 percent) and got 11 swings and misses off them. His fastball touched 95.1 mph.
Tanaka didn’t face trouble until the fifth, when Willy Adames hit a ground-rule double to the left-field corner that just hopped over the wall to start the inning. Then Kevin Kiermaier smoked a homer to the right-field second deck to cut the Yankees’ lead to 5-3.
It came on the heels of a strong outing vs. the Braves when Tanaka threw five scoreless innings but got gassed after just 66 pitches.
Urshela provided the offensive moment of the night for the Yankees, who take on the Rays again Wednesday.
After a pair of Yankees singles, Urshela hit a low liner to right-center field. Center fielder Kiermaier missed on the dive — it was too far in front of him. The ball trickled to the wall. Baserunners Frazier and Voit scored easily.
As Urshela rounded third, the cut off throw home sailed over the catcher’s head and to the backstop. Sensing a chance, Urshela broke for home. The throw beat him to the plate but a nifty slide, in which he positioned his body inside the baseline and reached around with his left arm, got him to the plate. He was called safe and a Rays replay challenge was rejected
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 2, 2020 3:18:01 GMT -5
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 2, 2020 3:19:14 GMT -5
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 2, 2020 3:23:24 GMT -5
Marc Topkin @tbtimes_Rays · 6h Some words exchanged at end of game as both benches empty. Umps kept #Rays and #Yankees from getting into it too much
#Rays Cash said it was "absolutely ridiculous" and "poor judgement" and "poor coaching" by #Yankees
#Rays Cash also warned #Yankees he has "a whole stable of guys who throw 98''
#Rays Cash also said the rule of not being able to talk to umps after a warning was issued was also wrong.
#Rays Kiermaier said #Yankees 3B coach Phil Nevin was again an instigator. Also: "We don't like them and they don't like us.''
Here's the full quote from #Rays Cash at the end of comments about #Yankees after Chapman threw near Brosseau's head:
"The last thing I'll say on it is I've got a whole damn stable full of guys that throw 98 miles an hour. Period.'
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 2, 2020 3:28:57 GMT -5
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 2, 2020 3:31:36 GMT -5
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 2, 2020 3:33:02 GMT -5
Tempers may flare as Yankees, Rays end season series FLM
After six frustrating experiences, the New York Yankees finally own a win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
However, seeing his team lose to the Yankees is not what infuriated Rays manager Kevin Cash on Tuesday, and it is possible there could be another dustup Wednesday night when the American League East rivals conclude their season series at Yankee Stadium.
The Rays (25-12) lead the season series 7-2. The Yankees (20-14) won the first game of a doubleheader Aug. 8 in Tampa Bay and went winless against the Rays until getting a 5-3 win on Tuesday.
The Yankees won Tuesday on a two-run double by Gio Urshela and two homers by DJ LeMahieu, but the real action occurred after Aroldis Chapman struck out pinch hitter Mike Brosseau.
Chapman's first pitch to Brosseau with two outs in the ninth inning whizzed past Brosseau's head, and umpires met before issuing warnings to both benches in the latest incident between the intense rivals.
Chapman struck out Brosseau to end it, and Brosseau began walking toward the visiting dugout before turning back to exchange words with someone on the Yankees. The dugouts and benches emptied and players gathered near home plate, but they mostly kept their distance before dispersing to their respective clubhouses.
"I get it they don't like being thrown up and in, but enough's enough," Cash said. "We're talking about a 100 mph fastball over a young man's head. It makes no sense."
The fiery words were uttered after Chapman got his first save while making his third appearance. He did not make his season debut until Aug. 17 because he was recovering from the coronavirus.
While Cash did not outright say there would be some retaliation, the Yankees are hopeful there won't be but also appear ready for it. They enter the finale 3 1/2 games behind the Rays, who are 19-4 in their last 23 games.
"He's still not as sharp as he's going to be," New York reliever Zack Britton said of Chapman. "What they decide to do is on them and we'll see how it transpires, but I would hope nothing would go further than what it did today."
LeMahieu said, "It sounds like they're going to try and throw at us tomorrow. We'll be ready."
This season, the Rays have been hit five times by the Yankees, and Tampa Bay pitchers have hit New York batters three times so far.
"We beat them time and time again, and maybe that frustrates them, I don't know," Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier said. "We like to think that is the reason. It's easy to get mad over certain things like that, so that's my opinion."
If the Rays opt for retaliation early in the game, they will be doing it with Charlie Morton, who will be limited to about 40 to 50 pitches after missing three weeks with right shoulder inflammation.
Before getting hurt, Morton was 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA in four starts. He last pitched Aug. 9 against the Yankees, when he exited after pitching two innings.
Morton's high ERA is mostly based on his season debut, when he allowed six runs in four innings in a loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on July 24. In his next two starts before getting hurt, he gave up three runs in 10 2/3 innings.
Morton threw 93 pitches in the start before he got hurt on Aug. 4 against the Boston Red Sox, though his return likely will feature significantly fewer pitches.
Morton is 4-2 with a 3.99 ERA in nine career starts against the Yankees.
Jordan Montgomery, who starts for the Yankees, is 2-1 with a 4.44 ERA in five starts this year. He last pitched Friday and took a no-decision after allowing two earned runs on five hits in five-plus innings of a 6-4 loss to the New York Mets.
Montgomery is 1-1 with a 3.54 ERA in five career starts against Tampa Bay.
--Field Level Media
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 2, 2020 7:07:57 GMT -5
Yankees
It’s war! Rays trash Yankees for headhunting | ‘We don’t’ like them, they don’t like us’ Today 6:04 AM
By Randy Miller | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
The Tampa Bay Rays basically declared war on the Yankees after being thrown at all night in a 5-3 loss Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.
“Somebody’s got to be accountable,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “I’ve got a whole damn stable of guy’s that throw 98 mph. Period.”
We’ll find out in Wednesday’s series finale if any of the Rays’ 98s are unleashed on the Yankees in retaliation for pinch-hitter Mike Brousseau barely ducking to avoid being beaned with a 101-mph fastball by Aroldis Chapman before striking out to end the game.
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The teams had words on the field after the final out, then the Rays vented during their post-game Zoom media interviews.
“We’re talking about a 100-mph fastball over a young man’s head,” Cash said. “It makes no sense. It’s poor judgment, poor coaching, it’s just poor teaching what they’re doing.”
“We don’t like them, they don’t like us,” Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier after their lead in the AL East over the second-place Yankees was shaved to 3 ½ games.
The Rays have been throwing inside all season to the Yankees while beating them seven times in nine games, and they say that they accepted some first-inning punishment Tuesday. With two out and nobody on, second baseman Joey Wendle was almost hit in the leg by Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka, then drilled in the hip on the next pitch with a 94 mph heater that was the right-hander’s fastest pitch all night.
The Rays did not handle it well in the ninth inning when Brousseau got the scare of his life.
“I don’t know the intent behind Chapman’s pitch to Mikey, but that pitch is right at his head at 100 mph and that’s pretty scary” Wendle said. “If it was intentional or not, I can’t say for sure. But either way, to miss glove side like that up, you’re talking about somebody’s livelihood.
“At 101, if he hits you in the head, it’s going to do some serious damage. In a scenario like that, I’m going to have Mike’s back all day every day.”
Brosseau felt fortunate to get out of the way because he had sat on the bench all night before hitting in the ninth.
“Definitely scary,” he said. “You never step in the box with a scared mentality, but 100 at your head is something that’ll wake you up for sure. It’s really nothing you can prepare for.
“Pretty frustrating honestly. It’s not what you want to see coming in off the bench, especially when we pretty much let everything go after Joey took the message for us and took it like a man. If there was any intent behind it and they wanted to send another message, I guess they made their point.”
The Rays believe the Yankees were getting even for throwing inside all season long to leadoff hitter DJ LeMahieu, who would issue two paybacks on this night, a homer to start the bottom of the first and a second solo shot with one out in the third.
“I think they were pretty upset that we were throwing on the inner half of the plate,” Wendle said. “That’s their prerogative if they’re upset about that. You obviously don’t like getting thrown at, but you play this game long enough to know when it’s intentional and that was intentional.
“But I believe that it’s more blessed to be a peacemaker than to instigate things, and so I was just going to let that one go. I said, ’OK, if they want to put me on base with Austin Meadows behind me in a 60-game season where every game is important, I’m fine with that. I’ll take that for the team. It doesn’t really bother me.’”
The one thrown at Brosseau’s head bothered all of the Rays, buy they say that they won’t be intimidated.
“Our focus is on winning baseball games, and if we feel like pitching on the inner half of the plate is a way that we can do that, then we’re going to continue to do that,” Wendle said. “Our pitchers have been doing pretty well this year, and they’ve been doing that not only to the Yankees, but every other team.
“Nobody else has seemed to have an issue with it and I guess they had had enough, and they decided they were going to hit me.”
And then throw at Brosseau.
“That’s not that’s not the way to do it,” Kiermaier said. I don’t know if it got away. I don’t know if there was intent. Who knows? But once again, we don’t like them, they don’t like us.
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