The Yankees won the second game of their doubleheader against the Rays on Thursday, 5-1. >> Box score
Five takeaways from Thursday's game
1) Early in the game, things almost got away from the Yankees. In a full bullpen outing, Chad Green got the ball to start the game on the mound for New York. Austin Meadows singled to start the game, then the bases were quickly loaded as Tommy Pham walked and Green plunked Nate Lowe with a pitch. The Yanks stuck with Green though, and he delivered. Green sent down the next three batters, including two punchouts, to keep the game scoreless after throwing 31 pitches.
2) The lone blemish on the Yankees in the game came in the third inning, but like Green's start, it could've been much worse. After Pham was walked by Nestor Cortes Jr., Lowe knocked him in on a double to right field. Lowe did eventually move to third base on a ground out, but Cortes left him stranded there as Willy Adames popped out to end the inning for the Rays.
3) After a steady dose of offense in the first game of the doubleheader, Charlie Morton shut down the Yankees early. Through the first four innings, Morton only allowed one hit. Things changed in the fifth inning when Luke Voit hit a leadoff home run to tie the game at one. In his five games since returning to the lineup from the 10-day IL, Voit has four hits.
4) With the game tied in the fifth, the Yankees blew things open in the sixth inning with four runs and it started in a strange way. The Yanks eventually batted around the lineup, and the run-scoring rally started when Didi Gregorius stepped up to the plate. He didn't have to swing his bat to bring in a run, though. Morton was winding up to throw a pitch and Rays catcher Mike Zunino called for a timeout, causing a balk to score the eventual game-winning run. Gregorius made sure things didn't end there as his single scored two more runs. The Yankees then loaded the bases for a second time in the inning and Mike Tauchman walked, bringing the score to 5-1.
5) With the win, the Yankees moved to 9-0 on the season when working with their bullpen through the game. Along with Green's opening inning, Cortes went 3.1 innings and Luis Cessa picked up the win with another 3.1 innings of work. Adam Ottavino finished things out with the final 1.1 innings.
Highlights
Hop to it. pic.twitter.com/nK78uuZnd3
- New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 19, 2019
What's next
The Yankees wrap their 10-game homestand following the All-Star break against the Colorado Rockies. J.A. Happ (7-5, 4.93 ERA) takes the mound in the three-game series opener against Kyle Freeland (2-6, 7.39).