Yankees Turn Tables On Tampa Bay With 17-Run Outburst
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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Jason Giambi hit his 30th homer and drove in five runs, helping the Yankees rout the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 17-3 last night to pull within 2 1/2 games of the Red Sox and also stay close to front-running Cleveland in the wild-card race.
“This is the fun time of the year,” said Giambi, who homered in his third straight game for the second time this season. “This is what you play the whole season for. … If you don’t play (well) in September, there’s no October.”
Hideki Matsui and Jorge Posada had four RBI apiece, and the Yankees climbed a season-high 19 games over .500. Jaret Wright (5-2) allowed three runs and five hits in seven innings, winning his third straight decision since coming off the disabled list August 15. He had no decisions in his previous three starts.
Giambi had a three-run homer in the first and a two-run single in the sixth, when New York scored seven runs and batted around for the third time in the game. After getting just 12 homers and 40 RBI during an illness-filled 2004 season, Giambi has reached 30 homers for the sixth time in his career and driven in 79 runs.
New York finished with 20 hits, 18 of them singles. Matsui went 4-for-4 with a two-run double and two-run single. Posada drew a bases-loaded walk in the first, then followed with a RBI single in the second and two-run single in the sixth.
Tampa Bay has been a troublesome opponent for the Yankees, winning 11 of 16 games between the teams before last night to put a crimp in New York’s bid for an eighth consecutive division title.
Manager Joe Torre tinkered with his batting order, moving Alex Rodriguez into the no. 2 hole, hitting Giambi third, and placing Gary Sheffield in the cleanup spot for the first time this year.
The moves paid immediate dividends as the Yankees scored five times in the first and added five more runs in the second, with the first seven batters reaching base in each inning against Doug Waechter (5-10) and Dewon Brazelton.
The big blow in the first was Giambi’s homer. He extended his hitting streak to a season-high nine games, raising his average to .286, and has nine homers and 26 RBI in his last 15 games.
Wright settled down after allowing a walk and three hits in the first, when Travis Lee had a two-run single. Lee’s two-out double in the fourth was Tampa Bay only hit over the next five innings.
Waechter allowed five runs and five hits and didn’t retire any of the seven batters he faced. Brazelton came on to get Tampa Bay out of the first, but then couldn’t get anybody out in the second. The two Devil Rays pitchers combined to throw 61 pitches, but only got three outs.