N.Y. Yankees: Masahiro Tanaka Reminds Rays Who's Number One

From the desk of:  THE HOUSE THAT HAL INHERITED

AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST

SHOWDOWN

Tampa Bay Rays

vs.

New York Yankees

FROM

161st Street Grounds

Bombers Open Slim First Place Lead; Masahiro Tanaka Tosses Nine Inning Gem.

For the entirety of their existence Tampa has always been a regular season thorn in the Yankees side. In this latest episode they return to Bronx County a mere half-game behind the first place Yankees.  Toeing the rubber for Tampa is 25-year old right-hander Yonny Chirinos whom enters game one with a 7-3 record and 2.88 ERA.

None of which seems to matter much to the Yankees.  DJ LeMahieu's two run home run in the first, and Cameron Maybin's solo shot in the fifth are all the Bombers need as Masahiro Tanaka takes care of the rest.  Making his fifteenth start Tanaka tosses a complete game shut out allowing just two hits, no walks, and fanning ten en route to his fifth victory of the season.  He faces two batters over the minimum, throwing an economical 111 pitches with 76 (68%) going for strikes.

Monday's victory gives the Yankees a somewhat less precarious 1.5 game lead over second place Tampa.

This is a Fully Operational Death Star

Since taking two of three from the Red Sox, Brian Cashman has watched his team lose a series against a bad Toronto Blue Jays team; lose a second consecutive series against a fading Cleveland Indians team; split two games against the sub par Mets; then split four games against an equally pedestrian Chicago White Sox.

So what does he do?

Cashman trades for Edwin Encarnacion, whom presently leads the American League with 21 home runs.  The 36-year old has hit no less than 32 home runs in each of his last seven seasons and twice topped 40 home runs.  He's taken 401 career trips around the bases and owns an .851 career OPS.  In 2016 while with Toronto he hit a career high 42 home runs to go with a league leading 127 RBI.  He's also exceeded 100 RBI in each of the last four seasons and six times throughout his career.  Moreover, his rate of strikeouts isn't nearly as glaring as those of Gary Sanchez, Aaron Boone, and Giancarlo Stanton.