Perez’s sac fly helps Rays beat Yankees
Pinch-hitter Michael Perez hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning on his 28th birthday, six Tampa Bay pitchers combined on a two-hitter and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the AL East-leading New York Yankees 1-0 on Friday night.
Yoshi Tsutsugo drew a leadoff walk from Adam Ottavino (2-1) in the eighth and went to second with one out when Kevin Kiermaier walked. Both runners advanced a base on a wild pitch before Perez put the Rays up 1-0 on his fly to center.
Chaz Roe (2-0) went the final two innings for the win.
Masahiro Tanaka allowed one hit and struck out five over five innings, retiring his final 13 batters after giving up a first-inning single to Yandy Diaz. The Yankees’ right-hander needed just 59 pitches in his second start after beginning the season on the concussion list after being struck in the head by Giancarlo Stanton’s liner during a July 4th summer camp simulated game.
Three New York pitchers also limited the Rays to just two hits.
After being held hitless by Blake Snell and Andrew Kittredge through five innings, the Yankees got their first hit when DJ LeMahieu lined a single to right with one out in the sixth off Pete Fairbanks.
Snell needed 59 pitches to get through three innings, striking out five and walking two. Kittredge followed with two perfect innings.
The Yankees loaded the bases, on three walks, with two outs in the seventh but Nick Anderson struck out struggling Gary Sanchez on three pitches.
Mike Tauchman had a leadoff double in the eighth but was thrown out for the first out on LeMahieu’s grounder to short.
New York’s season opening stretch of homering in 12 straight games ended. Only four teams have had a longer run.
ORIOLES 11, NATIONALS 0 >> Even Chris Davis got in on the act for the suddenly slugging Orioles, doubling his season total by collecting two of Baltimore’s 19 hits and raising his average from .087 to .143 in Baltimore’s victory.
Seven of the Orioles’ nine starting position players each got at least a pair of hits. José Iglesias led the way by going 4 for 4 with three RBIs, and Renato Núñez added a three-run homer to back left-hander Tommy Milone (1-1), whose six-inning outing was the longest by an Orioles pitcher this year.
Milone, drafted by the Nationals in 2008 and briefly pitched for them in 2011 and 2018, allowed just three hits and didn’t walk anyone.
The Orioles were coming off getting swept in four games at home by the cobbled-together, coronavirus-struck Miami Marlins. But after scoring a grand total of once through the first three games of that series, Baltimore put up seven runs in the finale Thursday, then kept on swinging well Friday against the reigning World Series champion Nationals and starter Aníbal Sánchez (0-2). By the time Sánchez had recorded four outs, Baltimore led 3-0, with four hits and two walks the first time through the lineup. In all, he gave up five runs, 10 hits and three walks in 5 1/3 innings as Washington dropped its second straight game and fell to 4-6.