No love lost with Rays, Yankees
SAN DIEGO — After losing eight of 10 in a contentious regularseason series, the Yankees just can’t shake the AL East rival Rays.
Not only will the Bronx Bombers face the Rays in the AL Division Series at Petco Park in one of MLB’s bubbles, but the teams that have a recent history of throwing at each others’ hitters are sharing the same resort hotel in northern San Diego County.
Outfielder Brett Gardner said he’s cordial when he passes Rays players at the hotel.
“Obviously it’s not ideal but it’s the cards that we’ve been dealt and I feel we’ve got a group of guys that’s very professional and just business as usual.”
Rays outfielder Kevin Kiermaier minced no words when he said: “They don’t like us, we don’t like them, and it’s going to continue to stay that way.”
Responded Gardner: “I think the feeling’s probably mutual.”
Game 1 is Monday night, when Yankees ace Gerrit Cole — a Southern California native — opposes Blake Snell, the 2018 AL Cy Young Award winner.
“They got the best of us this year, arguably the best team in baseball,” Gardner said of the Rays, the AL’s top seed. “They had a really good season, ran away with the division. Obviously it’s up to us to come out and play better against these guys.”
Snell said he’s not concentrating on the hard feelings between these teams in recent seasons.
“I just know they’re a very talented team that I’m looking forward to facing,” Snell said.
Hard feelings between these teams date to spring training 2008. They hit a peak on Sept. 1 when Aroldis Chapman threw a 101 mph pitch near Mike Brosseau’s head. That led Rays manager Kevin Cash to say, “I’ve got a whole damn stable full of guys that throw 98 miles an hour,” and the Rays began wearing blue T-shirts with four horses lined up behind a fence.
Chapman earned a three-game suspension that remains under appeal. Both managers were suspended for one game apiece.
Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka had hit Joey Wendle with a 95 mph fastball in the first inning. The next day, Yankes reliever Ben Heller was tossed for hitting Hunter Renfroe.
Cole grew up a Yankees fan in the heart of Angels and Dodgers territory, pitched at UCLA and then spent five seasons with the Pirates and two with the Astros before realizing his dream when he signed a nine-year, $324 million contract with the Yankees.
Thanks to the oddness of 2020, he’ll make his second postseason start for the Yankees in an NL ballpark and could come back on short rest for a Game 5.
He went 2-0 with a 0.57 ERA in two starts against the Rays in last year’s ALDS. He was 0-1 in three starts against them this regular season.
The Yankees struggled with injuries and inconsistent play but also 10-game winning streak toward the end of the season.
“When we’ve got a full lineup and everyone’s healthy and they’re in there, we’ve got something special here in New York,” slugger Aaron Judge said.