Tensions reached an all-time high between the Yankees and the Rays on Sunday afternoon.
During the eighth inning of Sunday’s series finale between the two AL East rivals, the benches emptied not once, but twice. After Yankees pitcher Albert Abreu hit Rays star Randy Arozarena, words were exchanged and Arozarena took first base. This prompted the benches to clear between both teams, but no punches were thrown.
Later in the inning, the benches cleared again following another close pitch up and in by Abreu. Arozarena, who reached third base by this point, let Abreu know his feelings. This caused the benches to clear a second time, but once again, no punches were thrown. The runners ended up scoring to give Tampa Bay a 6-2 lead, which they would go on to hold.
“Looking at it in a different view, that’s a last-place team,” Rays infielder Brandon Lowe said following the game. “We don’t need to worry about it. We need to focus on what we need to do down the stretch. But if they lose a guy, it’s not going to be quite as big of a deal as when we lose one of our guys. We’re focused on the bigger-picture thing.”
Despite Lowe’s mocking of the Yankees through his aforementioned words, he was indeed correct. At this point, the Rays remain only two games out of first place in the AL East, after the Orioles lost to the lowly Rockies that night. Meanwhile, the Yankees remain 11 games out of the last American League Wild Card spot.
“If they want to come over here, they can come over here,” Yankees reliever Ian Hamilton said. “I wish we had another game against them. I think everyone in here wished we had another game against them.
This season, the Yankees have hit Rays batters twelve times, compared to two times the other way around. Either way, both teams will not play each other again this season and have moved on to their next respective series. The Yankees will take on the Tigers in Detroit for four games, while the Rays will play their cross-state rival Marlins for two.
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