About Last Night: Yankees 4, Ray 3

by Paul Semendinger

June 16, 2022

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About Last Night:

The Yankees did it again, win, that is. Last night the win came against the Tampa Bay Rays and their ace pitcher Shane McClanahan. This was a game that featured a great starting pitching match-up with McClanahan and his sub-2.00 ERA going against Nestor Cortes and his sub-2.00 ERA.

The Yankees jumped out to a quick lead on Aaron Judge's 25th homer of the year in the first inning. The score remained 1-0 until the bottom of the fifth inning when Kyle Higashioka followed an intentional walk to Isiah Kiner-Falefa with a three-run home run.

The Rays battled back with a single run in the top of the sixth inning and then two runs in the top of the eighth, but Clay Homes came in to toss a scoreless ninth inning to earn the save and preserve the win for the Yankees.

The Yankees, at 46-16, are now 30 games over .500. They are on pace, or close to pace with some other great teams. At this point, the 1998 Yankees were 47-15. The 1984 Tigers were 46-16. The 1927 Yankees were 44-17.

The 2022 Yankees are on pace to win 120 games this year (unlikely, but fun to think about).

Quick Stats:

• Nestor Cortes allowed one run over 5.1 innings. His ERA for the year sits at 1.94.

• Shane McClanahan's ERA is 1.84.

• Clay Homes has had 28 consecutive scoreless appearances. That ties Mariano Rivera's Yankees record.

• Clay Holmes' ERA is 0.29

• The Yankees have won 13 consecutive games at home. That is their most since 1973. Back then they played in the original Yankee Stadium.

• Isiah KIner-Falefa has been walked intentionally twice this month, both times in front of Kyle Higashioka. The first time he was intentionally walked (against the Tigers on June 5), Higashioka popped out.

• The Yankees scored four runs, but had only three hits. Two of the hits, of course, were home runs (Judge and Higgy). The other hit was a single by Kiner-Falefa.

The Big Story:

The big story is that the Yankees continue to roll and roll and roll. We can throw number after number out there to try to tell the story, but the one that says it most clearly is the absurd pace they're on - 120 win pace. That's just crazy. The Yankees have a .742 winning percentage. The next best team in baseball is the Mets at .641. The Yankees are 9-1 over their last ten games.

The Yankees have 100 games left to play in 2022. This should be fun! Player of the Game:

Nifty Nestor Cortes gave the Yankees the early pitching they needed as he out performed Shane McClanahan. Notable Performances:

• Aaron Judge hit his 25th homer. He's on pace to blast 65 homers this year.

• Kyle Higishioka didn't homer until his 35th game played this year. He now has three homers in 26 games played.

• Clay Holmes preserved the one run lead after the first batter he faced reached on an error.

Better to Forget:

• In the bottom of the 8th inning, there was a 16-minute delay in the game because the umpires did not know the rule for a pitching change. This made no sense. None. Zero. It was embarrassing to watch. Baseball worries about pace-of-play and then there is a game, in a dramatic point, and it gets reduced to having four umpires standing in a circle having a discussion. They were so clueless, they had to call the league offices in Manhattan to figure it out.

• Aaron Hicks went 0-3 with three strikeouts.

Next Up:

With 100 games left to play, Luis Severino gets his 100th start tonight against Jalen Beeks. Game time is 7:05 p.m.