Franco's Return Leads Rays To Victory Over Yankees

By Lily Belcher

The Rays took the series opener in New York Friday night with a 4-2 win over the Yankees. Wander Franco, who went 3-for-5, made an impactful return to Tampa Bay’s lineup after a 60-day stint on the IL after a right wrist injury before the All-Star break.

The Rays’ star shortstop, batting second, faced Yankees starter Frankie Montas in his first at bat since the injury and sent a first pitch fastball into centerfield for a one-out double. Randy Arozarena drove home Franco on the next pitch with another double to leftfield to give the Rays a lead in the first inning.

In the fourth inning, Franco drove in two more runs with an RBI double that sent Yandy Diaz and Ji-Man Choi home from first and second, respectively. For the second time, an RBI double to leftfield by Arozarena scored Franco, bringing the score to 4-0 in the fourth.

Drew Rasmussen, pitching for the first time against the Yankees this season and for the first time since going on paternity leave, tossed six scoreless innings. Rasmussen’s ERA dropped to 1.34 in his last seven starts as he continues his commanding streak on the mound, as he pitched a career high of ten strikeouts.

Beeks relieved Rasmussen and gave up a walk to Osawld Peraza, who scored off a challenged RBI single by Aaron Judge from second to end the Rays’ six inning shutout. The Yankees threatened in the ninth, narrowing the Rays’ lead to just two runs and putting the tying run at the plate with two outs. After a late call to the bullpen that brought Shawn Armstrong to the mound, Manuel Margot caught a deep fly ball by Glyber Torres against the rightfield wall to end the game in the Rays' favor.

With Friday night’s win, the Rays sit 3 ½ games back behind New York in the AL East and 1 ½ games ahead in the first wildcard spot

Corey Kluber will lead the Rays on the mound in his 1:05 start on Saturday against Yankees’ Jameson Taillon.

Other Notes:

-In his last 11 games, Arozarena is batting .413 with five stolen bases and ten extra base hits.

-Tyler Glasnow tossed 19 pitches in his first rehab assignment Wednesday and is, hopefully, set to return before the end of the season.

-MLB confirmed new rules for the 2023 season today, including a ban on shifts and changes to the pitch clock. (More opinions on this will be coming soon, trust me.)