Coming off three consecutive losses, the Tampa Bay Rays were needing to bounce back against the Yankees on Tuesday night and they did just that behind a stellar performance by Ian Seymour and production from the bottom of the lineup.
Having dropped game one of the four game set on Monday night, the Rays sent southpaw Ian Seymour to the bump looking to even the series. He answered the bell and struck out a career-high 12 batters while allowing three runs over 5.1 innings of work. The three runs came on one swing of the bat. In total he faced 21 batters and struck out more than half. He scattered five hits and walked only one. He earned his 6th win of the season to move to 6-1.
The Rays staked Seymour to an early lead scoring two runs in the bottom of the second inning. He quickly surrendered that lead the following half inning when he allowed a two-out, three run homer to Ben Rice who went 3-4 on the day.
Before and after that one swing, he was solid. Five of the first six outs were via the strikeout. He then punched out a pair in the fourth and the side in the fifth. He was sharp and the Rays offense returned the favor and countered the Yankees three run third with a four run fourth.
With one out, Walls singled to right. Palacios followed with a RBI double to the gap in right-center to tie the game. Then, Feduccia got into one and sent his second homer of the year over the wall in right-center to give the Rays a 5-3 lead. Yandy followed with a homer of his own and with the back to back blasts, the Rays had opened a 6-3 lead.
The six runs were all the Rays would need. After Seymour departed, Kelly, Booser, Cleavinger, and Baker combined to record the final 11 outs. Kelly allowed the only other run of the game in the 6th inning to cut the lead to 6-4. The pen struck out five more Yankee batters and helped the Yankees make history in doing so. With 17 Ks on back-to back nights, they became the first team in history to accomplish such a feat.
While striking out 34 batters over the first 18 innings, the Rays staff has walked only 2.
On a night where the Aranda and Caminero were quiet, combining to go 0-7 with a walk, the bottom of the lineup did its job. Mesa Jr., Walls, Palacios, and Feduccia combined to go6-12 with four RBIs and a pair of homers (Feduccia and Mesa Jr.).
The Rays will look to guarantee a split with a win tomorrow and will send Shane McClanahan to the bump opposite Gerrit Cole. With the win, the Rays moved back to four games up in the standings with a five-game cushion in the loss column.
