Pennant Chase Alert!
With one week left in the standings for season the pennant was on the line. The 1945 New York Yankees and the 2017 Tampa Bay Rays are both tied with 97 wins and six to play. The two clubs face off at Tropicana Field for three before they finish the last weekend of the season. Here is a day by day summary of the race.
Monday September 29
Chris Archer gets his 18th win of the season and the Rays defeat the Yankees 5-1 to take a game lead in the race. Logan Morrison hits his 40th home run of the season and the Yankees lose with their ace Joe Page on the mound.
Tampa Bay Leads By One Game
Tuesday September 30
Logan Morrison and Kevin Keirmaier break a scoreless tie in the 7th inning each hitting two run home runs as the Rays win again and extend their lead in the race by 2. Chase Whitley gets the win and the Yankees picked a terrible time to have their bats silenced.
Tampa Bay Leads By Two Games
Wednesday October 1
Tampa Bay completes the sweep of the Yankees as catcher Jesus Sucre hits only this third home run of the season but Alex Cobb has more then enough and Alex Colome saves the 4-2 victory. Now going into the last weekend of the season, the magic number for Tampa sits at one.
Tampa Bay Leads By Three Games
Thursday October 2
Off Day
Friday October 3
Tampa wins their 101st game to clinch the pennant with a convincing 8-1 lead against the 1915 Reds. Evan Longoria and Wilson Ramos go deep and even as New York won their game, the pennant is wrapped up.