Think of this exciting, 10-innings, 8-4 Yankees victory over the Rays Sunday afternoon at Tropicana Field, the kind of victory a hitherto faltering team can sustain, as the baseball equals the “Ocean’s Eleven” remembrance.
Aaron Boone’s team delivered an impressive performance. Yet the Yankees’ nemesis eagerly awaits their next meeting.
Because if the Yankees prevented a whip from Rays, they did not avoid further fueling this rivalry, as their pitchers beat four Tampa Bay batsmen this past weekend, once every Friday and Saturday and then twice on Sunday. .
“It’s basically every series with them, and it’s something we have to stop,” said Austin Meadows of Rays, “because it’s not a good feeling to be a hitter and have it in the back of your mind. . “
At the end of the first innings on Sunday, Meadows took the 93km / h Jordan Montgomery fastball on his front shoulder, which infuriated the Rays’ rays and urged the referees to warn both banks against such violence. Montgomery nevertheless struck Meadows again in the fifth innings, this time on his left (back) hand, though the Shipyards crowded together and decided to keep the Yankees south leg in play due to a lack of set-up; the Rays did not object to this thereafter.
No, what left the Rays salty was the volume of HBPs and the overall recent history of violence between these two clubs, which Tampa Bay said was one-sided – since the start of 2018, including last year’s U.S. League Division Series, the Yankees. hit 30 rays while the rays hit 17 Yankees – and not handled properly by the sheriff of the sport.
‘Do I personally think the man is trying to hit him? I do not, ”Rays manager Kevin Cash referred to Montgomery’s first HBP of Meadows. “But it’s going on. It was so badly mishandled by Major League Baseball last year. … There’s no use, because it’s just a transfer, and the intention or not, most of the main players are going to look at you and say, ‘It does not feel good, and I do not care if he did it on purpose or not. ‘ ”
Cash added: ‘Baseball in Major League is here to protect its players in both teams. On all 30 teams. And I don’t think they did that last year. Maybe they could have done a better job [then] we move past this. ”
Regarding the alleged ‘gross misconduct’ of MLB, Cash admitted that he was referring to Yankees’ closer Aroldis Chapman who only received a three-match suspension (which was reduced to two on appeal) because he was last week on September 1st. threw behind Mike Brosseau’s head: ‘Oh yes, without a doubt’. And I know [Masahiro] Tanaka is in Japan, but he got away with it. He beat Joey [Wendle] definitely intentional [the same night] and there is nothing we can do about it. ”
The Yankees, relieved to carry out this victory from behind (twice), did not utter any fighting words about the situation. Montgomery said: ‘I did not try [hit Meadows], … but I understand that the referees are trying to control the situation, I think. ‘
“Definitely no intention, but I understand their anger,” Aaron Boone said. ‘You see Meadows being slapped around the shoulder, I’ll be upset on our part, whether it’s intentional or not. I think it was clear that Monty was really struggling in the first inning to find his command there, and it got away from him. ”
Their anger spread widely. According to Rays catcher Mike Zunino about the four hits in the series (according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times), “If it’s a coincidence, it’s crazy, it happened three days in a row.”
Asked how the Rays could “stop” it, Meadows said: “For us, I think we are doing a good job as a team not to retaliate, but just to keep the game going and our game too late to speak. And that’s probably a good strategy to have. ”
The Rays are the Terry Benedict to the Yankees’ Danny Ocean. They are back for the sequel, Friday night in The Bronx. At a time when so many people find the sport too long and short, baseball should be grateful to Yankees-Rays (though, perhaps more policing to ensure things don’t get out of hand).