Yanks Go Yard Radio Show: Rays-Yankees (9/8-9/11)

On last night’s episode of the Yanks Go Yard Radio Show, we looked ahead to the Yankees four game series against the Tampa Bay Rays

At the beginning of last night’s Yanks Go Yard Radio Show, I talked about the New York Yankees (73-65) sweeping the Toronto Blue Jays this week at Yankee Stadium. Brett Gardner saved the game with his great catch on Tuesday, but New York got good starting pitching in this series and had a great comeback on Tuesday night with a four-run eighth inning.

Last night, Bryan Mitchell threw five shutout innings in his return to the starting rotation and Luis Severino threw 99 miles per hour out of the bullpen to help preserve a 2-0 win. Right now, the Yankees are 4.5 games behind the Red Sox in the AL East and 2.5 games behind the Orioles for the second Wild Card.

Tonight, the Yankees continue their homestand as they begin a four game series against the Tampa Bay Rays (59-79). New York and Tampa are 6-6 against each other this season, with the Yankees winning two out of three in the most recent series (August 12-14).

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During the month of August, the Rays went 14-15 and their 14 wins were the most wins they had in a single month this season. The two standouts in the month of August on offense were third baseman Evan Longoria (.279, eight home runs, 25 RBI’s) and first baseman Brad Miller (.283, eight home runs, 26 RBI’s).

On the mound, the Rays have gone to a six-man rotation now that Alex Cobb (tonight’s starter) is back in the rotation. Cobb, who made his debut last Friday, had been out since 2014 because of Tommy John surgery. Jake Odorizzi (doesn’t pitch in this series) went 4-0 with a 2.48 ERA in six August starts.

Last night, my guest on the Yanks Go Yard Radio Show was the editor of Rays Colored Glasses, Althea Pashman. Althea gave her take on the Rays firing hitting coach Derek Shelton earlier this week, which was somewhat of a surprise. Here are the other topics we discussed:

• Rays roles as spoilers going forward
• 40-man roster callups to watch
• Pitching Matchup Breakdown
• Cobb’s expectations for the rest of the season
• C.C. Sabathia (tonight’s Yankees starter) has given up five runs in his last three starts
• Blake Snell (tomorrow’s Rays starter) has a 2.61 ERA in two starts against the Yankees this season
• Michael Pineda (tomorrow’s Yankees starter) has been terrible against Tampa this season
• Chris Archer (Saturday’s Rays starter) has held opponents to a .207 average since the All-Star Break
• Masahiro Tanaka (Saturday’s Yankees starter) is 4-0 in his last five starts
• Could Sunday be Matt Andriese’s final start in the Rays rotation this year?
• Luis Cessa (Sunday’s Yankees starter) has given up eight runs in his first four starts combined
• Yankees hitters to watch: Tyler Austin and Starlin Castro
• Rays hitters to watch: Kevin Kiermaier and Nick Franklin
• Should the Rays bring back Carl Crawford in 2017?

Next: Biggest Breakouts In Yankees Minor League System In 2016

Also, on last night’s show, we had a second guest, which was Wayne Cavadi from Minor League Ball and Today’s Knuckleball. Wayne, who used to write at YGY, was covering the Charleston Riverdogs playoff game last night against the Rome Braves. We talked about that game and some of our thoughts on the Yankees having five minor league affiliates in their respective postseasons.

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