The Rays had improbably tied the game against closer Dellin Betances in the ninth inning. James Loney singled to left, and then Steven Souza Jr, who 0-for-his-last-25 with 15 strikeouts entering the game, homered to left on a 2-2 pitch. It was the first homer Betances had allowed this year, and the 15th for Souza, tops on the Rays. Betances then retired the next three batters to keep the game tied.
The Yankees had taken the lead in the first against Nathan Karns. Brett Gardner singled up the middle on the first pitch from Karns and Chase Headley hit a ground single into a right, putting runners at first and second. Alex Rodriguez followed with a bloop RBI hit to right, scoring Gardner as Headley moved to third. Mark Teixeira followed with a sac fly, capping the rally. Karns now has allowed 13 of his 37 runs in the first inning.
From there, Karns was tough,throwing six scoreless innings to finish his outing. He struck out 10, a season high, over seven innings, and gave up a total of five hits and two walks. Karns also held New York to 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Karns retired his final seven hitters. Brandon Gomes followed Karns and worked a perfect eighth inning.
Unfortunately, the Rays couldn’t take advantage of their limited opportunities against Michael Pineda, who struck out 10 and walked just one. The Rays went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position against Pineda (0-for-9 in the game), and had their best chance in the second. After Asdrubal Cabrera doubled to left and Kevin Kiermaier walked, Jake Elmore popped up a bunt attempt, Curt Casali struck out, and Grady Sizemore bounced to third. That began a string where Pineda retired 18 of 19. It was the third straight start where they didn’t score while Karns was on the mound.
Curt Casali doubled to start the eighth, chasing Pineda, but Justin Wilson struck out Brandon Guyer and Joey Butler, and then Betances got Evan Longoria to ground to third to end the frame, setting the stage for the ninth.
The Rays wrap up the series against the Yankees on Sunday as Erasmo Ramirez takes the mound opposite Ivan Nova. Coverage begins at 11:30 with This Week in Rays Baseball. The pregame show starts at 12:30 p.m. and Dave and Andy have the call at 1:05 p.m. Join us at Hooters in Port Richey for a Rays Watch Party.
You can purchase a subscription to the print version of Yankees Magazine by calling (800) GO-YANKS, and you can purchase a print or digital subscription by visiting http://yankees.com/publications.
Of all the stories I’ve put together, the piece I’m most proud of is in this edition of Yankees Magazine. In my Art of Sport Q&A feature with George W. Bush, the former President of the United States discusses his ceremonial first pitch at the old Yankee Stadium, as well as so many other baseball-related topics.
This edition also includes the feature that the most candid interview I’ve ever conducted produced. In my Art of Sport piece with Jimmy Johnson, the former football coach shares his feelings on everything from his wild experiences at the University of Miami, his rivalries with former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz and former Philadelphia Eagles coach Buddy Ryan, his well-publicized split from the Dallas Cowboys, and, of course, his three championships.
The subject of this month’s cover story is another Texas native. Starting pitcher Nathan Eovoldi sat down with editorial associate Hilary Giorgi and discussed his first five months with the Yankees (including spring training). Based on what Eovaldi has done thus far and especially in his last few starts, I believe he is going to have a big second half, and this story will enlighten you on what he’s all about.
Speaking of pitchers, my story on one of the greatest in team history can be found on the pages of the July issue. In advance of the dedication of a Monument Park plaque to Mel Stottlemyre, I sat down with the former Yankees pitcher and pitching coach in his home state of Washington for a long interview. In that interview, Stottlemyre spoke with me about his entire life in baseball, and my story concludes with what may be his proudest moment. That moment took place at Yankee Stadium when the team unveiled his well-deserved plaque.
–Alfred Santasiere III
I hate writing this one.
Hours after his manager told reporters he wouldn’t be part of the bullpen corps called on to protect a lead, and less than an hour after he’d been called on keep other Texas relievers from having to pitch in a game they trailed 8-1 after six, Neftali Feliz threw what could end up being his final two innings as a Ranger.
He didn’t finish the game, as he’d done 169 times in the regular season (including a dozen times early this year) and playoffs, and he didn’t start the game, as he’d done seven times in 2012 before he was shut down with an elbow injury. Feliz came to pitch the seventh inning of a game his team trailed by seven runs. And then was designated for assignment.
His final act as a Ranger, perhaps: Getting David Freese to ground into an inning-ending double play with a two-strike count.
There’s no need to say more about that, and I’m not sure I could summon it up, anyway.
Irony. Opening an old wound. Poetic injustice.
Call it what you want. It was a sports-sad moment of the most brutal proportions, only serving to feed the ignominy of the post-game DFA.
Feliz went from possibly the least-heralded piece coming to Texas in the July 2007 Mark Teixeira trade (Baseball America’s Braves prospect rankings before that season: Jarrod Saltalamacchia [1], Elvis Andrus [2], Matt Harrison [3], Beau Jones [14], Feliz [18]) — a 19-year-old with a mere 56.1 short-season innings stateside whom Rangers Senior Director of Baseball Operations Don Welke recalled scouting a year earlier for the Phillies — to a top 10 prospect in all of baseball less than a year and a half later.
On June 25, 2009, Texas made a decision that adrenalized a fan base, shifting Feliz from the AAA Oklahoma City rotation to the bullpen with an obvious purpose. Over the next five weeks, he held AAA opponents to a .169/.210/.322 clip, tripping triple digits as he fanned 20 hitters in 16.2 innings, walking three.
The Rangers purchased his contract on August 2, 2009. The announcement was made while Jon Daniels spoke to our group during the Newberg Report Night Q&A.
Feliz set Frankie Francisco up over the final two months, and was even deadlier against AL hitters than he had been in the Pacific Coast League. Over 31 innings, he punched out 39 and walked eight, limiting hitters to an embarrassing .124/.207/.210 slash line.
Days into the following season — the first World Series season — Feliz replaced Francisco as closer, and it seemed like Texas had its ninth inning figured out for the next hundred years.
A steady rise to dominance for a player, and his team, in virtual lockstep.
October 22, 2010: The best.
October 27, 2011: Not the best.
The Rangers made Feliz a starting pitcher in 2012, and it just didn’t seem like a great fit. People 1000 times closer to Feliz than I would ever be insist that he had the conviction needed to make the transition, even if the slumped-shoulders vibe he gave off seemed to raise that exact question. And then there was the breaking ball command and consistency.
It didn’t work, for whatever reason(s), and he got hurt.
He never really came back.
You look at Feliz’s 2014 numbers, when he posted a 1.99 ERA, held opponents to a .183/.256/.330 slash, and saved 13 games in 14 tries — even though he didn’t make his season debut until a year ago today — and I suppose there was reason to believe he was back to being an effective, dependable late reliever, even if the velocity hadn’t fully come back and the strikeout numbers were way down.
I’m not sure I really trusted him last summer, though, and I’ll admit those numbers shocked me when I looked them back up today.
Feliz started his 2015 Rangers season as the club’s closer. He finished it at the midpoint on the club’s schedule, classified as a reliever who wouldn’t be counted on to protect leads, and then dropped from the roster altogether.
The rules give Texas 10 days to trade Feliz, release him, or to place him on waivers and, if he clears, outright his contract to the minor leagues.
There are doubts as to whether another team would choose to assume the final $2 million on his 2015 contract (and then go to arbitration with Feliz this winter), but if at least one team is so interested and worries that there could be others, we could see Feliz traded. It sounds as if that’s the Rangers’ preference. If he were to hit the waiver wire and clear, I think he has enough service time to decline an outright assignment, but by doing so I wonder if he’d forfeit the balance of his 2015 contract.
A bunch of variables there, but the bottom line is it seems that Texas will attempt to trade Feliz in the next week or so.
He’s 27, the age when you start wondering about a tailback’s shelf life.
Not a relief pitcher’s.
Feliz’s departure won’t close the book on an era any more than his arrival ushered it in. While the rise of the pitcher and his team went seemingly hand in hand, nobody wants to equate the fall of one to the fall of the other, and nobody should. The team and organization are in good shape, though Feliz probably won’t be part of things going forward.
Texas decided that, in order to move forward, it was better off devoting Feliz’s roster spot to someone else, in this case Harrison, who arrived with him eight years ago from Atlanta and who will start for Texas on Tuesday.
The odds were long on Harrison coming back at all. There’s no telling yet whether his stuff, which hasn’t fully returned, will play up enough against big league hitters to complete the story happily.
The odds were better as far as Feliz’s return was concerned, and maybe he’ll regain form once again and pitch late in games on contending teams and be feared.
It just probably won’t be here.
I’m sad about that, but while we are given great moments by sports and devastating ones, too, there are also the anti-climactic moments that slump our shoulders, and this is one of them.
Neftali Feliz moves on, and so do the Rangers.
I can’t say it’s a shocking development, but it’s a really sad thing, and I hate that this had to be written.
]]>As part of the festivities, the first 1,000 fans in attendance for the June 30 game received a complimentary copy of the May Issue of Yankees Magazine. Additionally, the Thunder invited me and my 7-year-old son, Alfred, to toss ceremonial first pitches.
Even though I’ve had to opportunity to take the mound with Alfred in each of the last four seasons, the experience never gets old. It’s still very exciting and very special.
Unlike our previous experiences, Alfred led off this time around, firing a strike from about half way between the mound and the plate. Moments later, I followed with a strike pitch of my own.
During the Thunder game later that evening, my family and I spent some time with ESPN.com senior writer and New York Times Bestselling author Ian O’Connor in a suite. Like so many others in the ballpark, O’Connor took notice of Alfred’s pitch, and that made me proud.
“You’ve got great poise on the mound, Alfred,” O’Connor said. “You threw that ball as hard as you dad.”
–Alfred Santasiere III
…..
From my pal @Bongreatness…
All fans in attendance at today’s game will receive a MLB Network 2015 All-Star Game Tote Bag. Gates to the ballpark are scheduled to open at 5:15PM for Season Ticket Holders and 5:45PM for the general public. However, those gate opening times may be adjusted in accordance with Cincinnati Fire Code should the crowd size outside the gates dictate it so. Tonight’s game is scheduled to begin at 7:15PM as part of FOX Sports’ Baseball Night in America.
Today is the 5th Military Appreciate Day game of the 2015 season, presented by DAV & RetireMED iQ. Teams will be wearing MLB issues “Stars & Stripes” jerseys and hats during today’s game. Tonight we have a special Independence Day fireworks show, presented by the Missouri Department of Tourism. The fireworks show will being approximately 10 minutes after the conclusion of tonight’s game and will feature approximately 15 minutes of Rozzi’s Famous Fireworks set to an Independence Day soundtrack.
Some of our Independence Day salutes include:
• Honoring the United States Army Reserve 3-77th Military Police Company who are preparing to mobilize for a deployment overseas. Private First Class Daniel Piceno will offer up one of our ceremonial first pitches on behalf of this group tonight & Private First Class Jennifer Kuhn will serve as tonight’s Honorary Captain.
• Marine Corps veteran Clint Goethe will receive the Military Order of the Purple Heart in conjunction with Disabled American Veterans (DAV). Clint will also offer up one of our ceremonial first pitches tonight.
• Specialist Andrea Harding of the Army Reserves will lead us in the singing of our National Anthem.
• Lieutenant Colonel (retired) Robert White will perform God Bless America during the middle of the 7th inning break tonight.
Toeing the rubber for the Friars on the Fourth will be RHP Odrisamer Despaigne (3-6, 4.94 ERA), who will be pegged against RHP Carlos Martinez (9-3, 2.80 ERA). Despaigne hopes to build upon some of the success he has had against the National League Central this season, as he has posted a 1-2 record with a 3.15 ERA over 20.0 IP against NL Central opponents this year.
To get you ready for an exciting Fourth of July day game in St. Louis, here’s a look at some highlights from today’s game notes:
Related Stories:
Despaigne looking for better results on the road
Murphy talks about Middlebrooks, Thayer, the first homer by Tyson Ross
After tight battle, Padres top Cardinals
The Padres manager discussed Middlebrooks before each of the Padres’ first two games in St. Louis. Middlebrooks hadn’t started since rolling his ankle while stepping on a bat in the Arizona on-deck circle Sunday, although he has twice pinch-hit.
“We want to make sure Will is 100 percent good to go,” said Murphy. “When he is, he’ll be in there. You have something like that and you feel 80 percent, 85 percent and that can be dangerous. We’re keeping him fresh by getting an at-bat a night.”
Right-handed reliever Dale Thayer, who has been on the disabled list since June 18 with a shoulder strain, threw a bullpen Thursday and will pitch in a rehab outing with Double-A San Antonio at Springfield, Missouri on Saturday.
“It’s convenient, a few-hours (three) drive” said Murphy. “He’ll come back and rejoin us Sunday and we’ll reassess him. I’d like to see him face some hitters.”
Right-handed starter Brandon Morrow will throw a second bullpen Saturday in St. Louis. He might have a third bullpen early next week before a simulated game in front of a rehab assignment.
Other Murphy comments:
On Tyson Ross being the first Padres pitcher to hit a homer this season: “Based on history, James Shields is flat out a pretty good hitting pitcher… I thought it might be him. Based on power, I’d have to say Tyson had a shot… I’m not that surprised it was Tyson.”
On his earlier comment of Padres players not trusting their abilities: “I think inherent to high expectations, you come to the point where you’re squeezing it a little too tight,” said Murphy. “That’s probably what we’ve done. As the manager of the club, it’s on me. Guys are well aware of how to handle these situations. We have plenty of guys ready to send a message. We’re approaching it like a a game today and a game tomorrow… And not looking at the bigger picture. We’re prepared to play day-to-day-to-day with the right passion. Some guys are run down a little bit… But they’re professionals, they know how to get through it. My message has been short.”
Nathan Karns starts for the Rays while Michael Pineda is on the hill for New York. Logan Forsythe (1-for-20) is not starting for the first time since June 13th, and David Dejesus (2-for-31) is as not starting as well. Here’s the Rays lineup:
Sizemore DH
Butler LF
Longoria 3B
Loney 1B
Souza Jr RF
Cabrera SS
Kiermaier CF
Elmore 2B
Casali C
The Yankees will counter with this group as Brian McCann, who hit the game-winning homer, will not start for New York:
Gardner CF
Headley 3B
Rodriguez DH
Teixeira 1B
Jones RF
Flores LF
Murphy C
Gregorius SS
Drew 2B
Coverage on the Rays Radio Network begins at 12:30, with first pitch at 1:05 p.m. as Dave and Andy will have the call.