Tampa Bay Rays Evan Longoria reacts after a swing in the second inning against the New York Yankees. File photo by John Angelillo/UPI |
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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Evan Longoria and Logan Morrison each homered and drove in three runs as the Tampa Bay Rays opened the 2017 season with a 7-3 win Sunday over Masahiro Tanaka and the New York Yankees at Tropicana Field.
Chris Archer (1-0) threw seven solid innings for the Rays, who improved to 3-1 all-time in season openers against the Yankees. Tanaka (0-1) didn't make it out of the third inning for his shortest outing since his rookie year in 2014. Sunday's game drew a sellout crowd of 31,042, with Alex Colome closing out the final three outs for a save.
The Rays jumped out on Tanaka, tagging him for seven earned runs -- a career high in 76 MLB starts -- on eight hits in the first three innings, with three runs each driven in by Longoria and Morrison.
Corey Dickerson led off the Rays first with a single, then Kevin Kiermaier hit a hustle double, with Longoria bringing in the first run of the season on a sacrifice fly. After a single and walk to load the bases, Logan Morrison hit a two-run single up the middle for a 3-0 lead on Tanaka, who allowed a total of four first-inning runs in all of 2016.
The Yankees answered with two runs in the second, getting an RBI double from Aaron Judge and an RBI groundout from Nelson Torreyes to cut the lead to 3-2 against Rays starter Chris Archer. The Rays would extend the lead back to three runs in the second, as Kiermaier reached on a two-out walk and Longoria hit a home run that barely cleared the low wall in the left-field corner for the first home run of 2017.
Morrison would add a solo home run in the third for a 6-2 lead. Tim Beckham doubled down the left-field line, and Mallex Smith laid down a bunt for his first hit with the Rays, and Gary Sanchez' throw went wide to allow Beckham to score to make it 7-2.
Tanaka lasted only 2 2/3 innings -- his shortest outing since his rookie MLB season in 2014. He was pulled after 67 pitches, with reliever Tommy Layne taking over for the final out of the third.
Archer pitched well, but got into trouble in the seventh, with the bases loaded and two outs. The Rays let him stay in, and he got an inning-ending groundout on his 108th pitch of the day. The Yankees loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth, setting up a save opportunity for Colome, but the Yankees only managed a sacrifice fly by pinch-hitter Chris Carter.
NOTES: The Yankees' starting lineup included four players who are 24 years old -- C Gary Sanchez, 1B Greg Bird, SS Ronald Torreyes and OF Aaron Judge. It's only the third time in Yankees history that an Opening Day lineup had four players under 25 years old, and the first time since 1932. ... The Rays' Chris Archer and Yankees' Masahiro Tanaka are among eight MLB pitchers to start on Opening Day for the third year in a row. Neither had won in their previous two Opening Day starts.
