With the Red Sox close win of 8-7 over the Orioles, the Tampa Bay Rays defeat of the Yankees with the score of 5-3 puts them in a tie for the Wild Card as they enter the final game of the regular season.
The Yankees sent Bartolo Colon to the mound with an attempt at trying to get a spot on the postseason roster. Colon allowed 7 hits over 5.1 innings but just 2 runs on 1 swing by Ben Zobrist. Rafael Soriano faced his former team with a 3-2 lead as he attempted to fulfill his role as a member of the bridge to Mariano Rivera in the 7th inning but ended up surrendering a 3-run home run to Matt Joyce that gave the Rays a lead that they would not relinquish. David Robertson was able to tally his 100th strikeout of the season; an impressive accomplishment by a player that was originally not meant to have a pivotal role in the bullpen at the beginning of the season.
Jeremy Hellickson took the mound in this important game for the Rays. His line was not good or bad as he walked 5 and gave up 6 hits over 6 innings of work but he kept his team in the game as he only allowed 3 runs. Hellickson’s last inning was a mix of good and bad as he started the inning with a walk and two doubles to give the Yankees the 3-2 lead. After an intentional walk of Jorge Posada, the Rays got Russell Martin to hit into a 5-4-3 triple play. The triple play may have turned the momentum of the game in the Rays favor as the game-winning home run followed this inning. Russell Martin also happened to hit a solo home run in this game as well.
Bartolo Colon didn’t have a good outing and his velocity has been steadily around 90 mph. It will be interesting to see what the postseason roster will look like. Colon’s low velocity and ineffective break on his fastball may not make him effective out of the bullpen.
The Rays opportunity at the Wild Card race is in their hands as a win would ensure that they would at least have a tiebreaking Game 163 with the Boston Red Sox in St. Petersburg. A loss would not ensure their elimination but a Red Sox win would. The end of the regular season has become very exciting and it has made even games like this matter to some Yankees fans.
Ryan Nakada
@adakannayr
