The New York Yankees traveled to Disney for a matchup against the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday. This was the sole game Orlando hosted this spring. With a total of eight runs in the seventh inning, the Rays cruised past the Yankees 12-0, in front of 9,624 in attendance. The Yankees only mustered five hits.
RHP Sean Boyle started the game for the Yankees, but Luke Raley’s home run with two outs in the bottom of the first put the other team ahead 2-0. Boyle got back on track by striking out the side in the second, and he made it through the third without giving up a run. After 3.0 IP, he was done for the day. He only gave up two runs on two hits and struck out three batters and walked two. In his first start of the Yankees spring training, he pitched 3 innings, gave up 2 runs, and got 3 outs.
Luke Raley, the Rays’ left fielder, went 1 for 3 and hit a 2-run home run the other way, which put Tampa Bay ahead of the Yankees in the bottom of the first inning.
Gleyber Torres, who plays second base for the Yankees, was struck out to start the game and then flew out to the center field in the third. Then, in the bottom of the third inning, Torres made an error that let Wander Franco reach safe base. Franco tried to steal second base for the second time in the game, but Jose Trevino threw him out. Luckily the Yankees’ error didn’t come back to hurt them.
Lefty Matt Krook took over from Boyle on the mound and pitched two innings for the Yankees with no runs scored. He let one ball get past him, walked one, and struck out three. Trevino’s only hit of the day was a single to left in the top of the fourth. He went 1-for-3 and struck out for the day.
Oswald Peraza started at shortstop and, with one out in the top of the sixth inning, hit a single to left. After two walks, he moved to third, but Billy McKinney’s popup to second ended the chance to score. Peraza went 1-for-3 on the day and the Yankees took him out of the game after the sixth inning.
Peraza could be the Yankees’ starting shortstop when the season starts. At the end of the 2022 season, he was called up. In 18 games, he hit .306, had one home run, and got on base .404 of the time. The 22-year-old shortstop also played in three games against the Houston Astros in the ALCS 2022.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who played 142 games for the Yankees in 2022, wants to keep his job as the team’s starting shortstop. Top prospect Anthony Volpe also has a chance to get the job. Volpe hit .249 in Double-A and Triple-A in 2022. He had 21 home runs, 65 RBIs, and 50 stolen bases.
“I’m focused on my work,” Peraza said. “I know my job and my responsibilities. I understand that there is competition for a shortstop, but for me, I’ve got to walk my path. I’ve got to focus on what I need to do and pay attention to the small details.”
In the seventh inning, the Yankees lost when Tyler Danish gave up 6 runs, 4 hits, and 2 walks without getting an out. After two singles giving scored two runs, a three-run homer by Jonathan Aranda gave the Rays a 9-0 lead. When Kaleb Cowart came in to replace Danish with no outs, the first batter he faced hit a three-run homer.
Before moving to North Port in 2020, the Atlanta Braves held their spring training games at Disney for 22 seasons. Because Hurricane Ian damaged their spring training facility in Port Charlotte, Tampa Bay’s pitchers and catchers started spring training on February 14 at Disney. The rest of the Rays’ preseason games will be played at Tropicana Field, which is their home field.
On Wednesday, the Yankees will play the Washington Nationals at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.
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