Following a long, 16-inning night for the Tampa Bay Rays, (Thank you Boston.) the bullpen was tired and the arm turned to in a big situation was a rookie’s. The rookie Alexander Torres made his debut in the top of the 9th inning and a total of one hit, one stolen base, and 3 walks (1 intentional) led to the game-winning run to walk in on the bases-loaded walk.
A.J. Burnett’s control was dreadful as he surrendered 8 hits and walked 6 over 5.1 innings. Hector Noesi relieved Burnett and went 1.2 scoreless innings to hold the Rays down long enough for the Yankees to work on their comeback.
The Yankees have had a tendency of struggles with rookies and pitchers they have not seen before. Alex Cobb fit this criteria and the Yankees did struggle with him as he went 6 innings and allowed just 2 runs (1 earned).
With a rookie on the mound and a marathon in their immediate past, patience would be the key to a victory for the Bronx Bombers and 9 walks in tonight’s game may have played a big role in the victory. The bullpen put into tonight’s game for the Rays was not their best arms and in the end, an old style of play and old-fashioned pressure on the bases helped the Yankees take the 1st game in the series.
Ryan Nakada
@adakannayr
