The first game of the Yankees’ David Justice era was about as underwhelming as the last month had been, with the Yankees having played a lot of average and losing baseball. They lost to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 6-4, putting them at third place in the American League East and just above the .500 mark, which is not an ideal spot for any team heading into the halfway point of the season, but they still had time before the All-Star break to make up some ground.
Heading into the second game of the series with the Devil Rays, the Yankees were looking to bounce back following the two-run loss to a Tampa Bay team that was 15 games under .500 at the time of the game. And, with the help of their bullpen (and some late insurance), they were able to showcase what needed to happen through the foreseeable future if they wanted to be in an advantageous position come the All-Star break.
July 1: Yankees 6, Devil Rays 1 (box score)
Record: 39-36 (2nd place in AL East, 2.0 games back)
Devil Rays starter Albie Lopez worked through the start of the Yankees’ lineup easily, setting them down in order. And despite a little bump in the road for Yankees starter Orlando “El Duque” Hernández in the form of a single, he finished the first inning with no harm done.
The Yankees found themselves in the lead after the top of the second, though. Bernie Williams led off the inning with a line drive single to left field. Justice in his first at-bat of the game lined out, but Jorge Posada made up for it with the Yankees’ second single of the inning. Tino Martinez flew out, but with two outs, Shane Spencer came through with Williams in scoring position, as a line drive single to center scored the speedy Yankees center fielder and put the visitors up 1-0.
El Duque worked a one-two-three bottom of the second, and the Yankees tacked on another run in the top of the third via the top of the order. José Vizcaíno doubled over the head of the Rays’ left fielder, Bubba Trammell, and after Derek Jeter struck out looking, Paul O’Neill smoked a double to deep center field and scored Vizcaíno to put the Yankees up 2-0.
The Rays tacked on their first (and only) run of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning after Lopez managed to calm things down against the Yankees’ lineup. With two outs in the bottom of the fourth, Bob Smith stepped up to the plate. On the first pitch of the at-bat, he sent a pop-up into foul territory on the first base side. But an error from Martinez kept Smith up at the plate instead of sending him back to the dugout and ending the inning. However, just two pitches later, Smith sent a ball over the fence and cut the Yankees’ lead to 2-1.
The fifth and sixth innings of this game at Tropicana Field were quiet in regard to offense, but the Yankees came back in the seventh and eighth innings and added four more runs, including a three-run seventh. After O’Neill and Williams got on base, and Posada was intentionally walked, Martinez hit a bases-clearing double to put the Yankees up 5-1.
The Yankees’ bullpen shut down the Rays’ offense, as Jeff Nelson, Mike Stanton, and Mariano Rivera all pitched a full inning out of the bullpen, with only Stanton being the one to have any men get on base. Nonetheless, the Yankees came off the field with a 6-1 victory.