Think of this thrilling 10-inning, 8-4 Yankees win over the Rays Sunday afternoon at Tropicana Field, the kind of win that can stabilize a hitherto wobbly team, as the baseball equivalent of the “Ocean’s Eleven” remake.
Aaron Boone’s couple have done an impressive job. Still, the Yankees’ opponents eagerly await their next encounter.
As the Yankees avoided a Rays sweep, they could not escape further stirring up this rivalry thanks to their pitchers who hit four Tampa Bay batters over the weekend, once every Friday and Saturday, then twice on Sunday.
“It happens to them basically every series, and it’s something that we have to stop,” said Austin Meadows of the Rays, “because being a batter and having that in mind isn’t a good feeling.”
In the bottom of the first inning on Sunday, Meadows took a 93-mph Jordan Montgomery fastball to his front shoulder, infuriating the Rays dugout and prompting the umpires to warn both benches about further such violence. Montgomery nonetheless hit Meadows again in the fifth inning, this time to his left (back) hand, although the umps huddled and decided to leave the Yankees lefthanded in the game due to lack of intent; the Rays later made no objection to this.
No, what made the Rays salty was the number of HBPs and the overall recent history of violence between these two clubs, which Tampa Bay thinks has been one-sided since the start of 2018, including last year’s American League Division Series, the Yankees . 30 Rays hit while the Rays hit 17 Yankees – and aren’t handled properly by the sport’s sheriff.
‘Do I personally think the man tried to hit him? Not me, ”said Rays manager Kevin Cash, referring to Montgomery’s first HBP of Meadows. “But this keeps on rolling. It was so badly mistreated by Major League Baseball last year. … There’s no story because it’s just transfer and, on purpose or not, most Major League players will look at you and say, ‘It doesn’t feel right, and I don’t care if he did it on purpose or not.’
Cash added, “Major League Baseball is here to protect its players on both teams. On all 30 teams. And I don’t think they did that last year. They could have done better and maybe [then] we pass here. “
In regards to MLB’s alleged “ gross assault, ” Cash acknowledged that he was referring to Yankees poet Aroldis Chapman who only received a three-game suspension (which was shortened to two on appeal) for being behind Mike Brosseau’s head on September 1. threw a doubt. And I know [Masahiro] Tanaka is in Japan, but he got away freely. He hit Joey [Wendle] certainly on purpose [the same night] and there is nothing we can do about it. “
The Yankees, relieved to carry out this (twice) victory from behind, spoke no fighting words about the situation. Montgomery said, “I didn’t try [hit Meadows], … but I understand that the referees are trying to get the situation under control, I think. “
“No intention at all, but I understand their anger,” Aaron Boone said. “ Seeing Meadows being slapped around the shoulder, I would be upset on our side, be it deliberate or not. I think it was clear that Monty was really struggling to find his command there in the first few innings and it escaped him. “
Their anger spread far and wide. Rays catcher Mike Zunino said of the four batters in the series (according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times): “If it’s a coincidence, it’s crazy that it happened three days in a row.”
Asked how the Rays could ‘stop’ this, Meadows said, ‘For us, I think we are doing a good job as a team by not getting revenge, just getting on with the game and letting our game speak. And that’s probably a good strategy to have. “
The Rays are the Terry Benedict to the Danny Ocean of the Yankees. They will be back for the sequel, Friday night at The Bronx. At a time when so many feel the sport is too long and too short, baseball should be thankful to Yankees-Rays (though yes, maybe more police to make sure things don’t get out of hand).