Kazmir Gives Rays Series, beat Yanks 5-2.
Those who wondered how 24 year old Scott Kazmir would do the day after inking a big money deal got their answer Thursday afternoon and the answer was "just fine." The young lefty gave the Rays six scoreless innings, giving up only 3 hits and striking out 3. The Rays took 3 out of 4 from the Yankees, and sent the Bronx Bombers into the AL East basement while solidifying their lead atop the AL East. Kazmir is now 2-1 and has not allowed a run in his last two outings. Aki Iwamura lead off the game with a home run, the third lead off HR of his career, and that was a sign of things to come for Ian Kennedy, who took the loss. Shawn Riggans also hit a monster 2 run HR in the 4rth inning. The Rays move to 24-17 and head to St. Louis to take on the Cardinals to kick off Inter-league play.
The Daily Turn:
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The Rays came up one run short of sweeping the Yankees, but the win today gave them their 6th
series win out of the last 7. In that stretch they have faced some pretty good hitting teams in the Yankees, Red Sox and Angels. The Rays went 6-1 on this home stand, the best in club history.
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The Rays only had 5 hits today, and they came from just three Rays. Aki went 2-3, Riggans went 2-3 and Hinske was 1-3. No other Ray collected a hit.
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The series against New York may have been a success for the Rays, but it was a disaster for the 2-5 hitters in the line up. In the series they were a combined 10-62 and absolutely horrid with runners on base. Pena has been in a slump all year, and if the Rays were not playing so well there might be more focus on his lack of offense. All four have had their struggles at the plate, but on defense they have been close to brilliant, making sparkling plays on a nightly basis. It is hard to say how long that ratio will hold up, though, as it is likely that the Ray's young pitchers will eventually need more run support....especially from the 2-5 hitters.
Quote of the Day:
"He's one of the best in baseball."
-Yankees Manager Joe Girardi on Ray's pitcher Scott Kazmir
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