Mark Teixeira slugged a potentially back-breaking grand slam off David Price in the top of the second to put the Yankees on top of the Rays 5-0. Since then, we've seen some changes, but only on the mound.
Rays Vs. Yankees: New York Holds 5-0 Lead After Three
Dellin Betances pitched a scoreless second, working around a Casey Kotchman single and inducing a Reid Brignac lineout to end it. David Price returned to the mound for the third and immediately allowed a hard-hit double, putting the Yankees in position to add to their lead even more, but Price managed to strand Nick Swisher on the bases by retiring the side.
In the bottom of the third, Joe Girardi called on his bullpen, replacing Betances with some guy named George Kontos after Betances threw 44 pitches. Just 23 of those 44 pitches were strikes, so Betances wasn’t particularly good, but he was better than he was in his debut, and he kept the Rays off the board.
Kontos promptly walked Desmond Jennings, and after he retired the next two batters, Girardi replaced Kontos with southpaw Aaron Laffey to face lefty Matt Joyce with a runner in scoring position. Joyce popped out on the first pitch, and the inning was over.
Through three, the Yankees are on their third pitcher, but they still hold a 5-0 lead. There’s still a lot of time for the Rays, but they probably shouldn’t procrastinate.
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