The Tampa Bay Rays spanked the New York Yankees Saturday afternoon, tuning them up with a pair of long balls from 2B Reid Brignac. He went 3-for-5 in the matinee game, giving the Rays the 5-run margin on home runs in the second and fifth innings. Brignac’s first bomb came off Yankees starter A.J. Burnett with two outs and Jason Bartlett on second after being hit by a pitch and swiping a bag from the erratic right-hander. Burnett left the game in the top of the fourth due to “injury” so Brignac had to settle for shelling reliever Dustin Moseley for his third hit and second homer of the day with John Jaso and Bartlett already aboard. His 5 RBIs on the day helped Tampa Bay build a lead the Yankees would never come close to challenging and provided the margin of victory in a very satisfying win.
This article appears in Jul 15-21, 2010.