Rays romped by NYY; benches stir after HBPs

ST. PETERSBURG -- Tampa Bay had a chance to take the season series against American League East rival New York on Thursday. Unfortunately for the Rays, the Yankees' bats ended any suspense about the season's final accounting, claiming a 12-1 win at Tropicana Field.
The Yankees won the season series, 10-9, as the Rays fell to 88-71 entering their final series of the year, a three-game set against the Blue Jays beginning Friday night at Tropicana Field.
Miguel Andújar's 27th homer of the season -- a three-run shot off Rays "opener" Jaime Schultz, fueled a four-run Yankees first. New York added three in the fourth and four in the sixth, including back-to-back homers by Luke Voit and Giancarlo Stanton in the sixth. Stanton cracked a second homer in the ninth.

The rout turned chippy in the bottom of the sixth when CC Sabathia hit Jesús Sucre. Home-plate umpire Vic Carapazza immediately ejected Sabathia and Yankees manager Aaron Boone.
Sucre, the Rays' catcher, led off the inning after Tampa Bay right-hander Andrew Kittredge threw high and tight to Yankees catcher Austin Romine in the top of the inning, prompting Carapazza to warn both teams. Sabathia had also hit Jake Bauers in the fifth inning of Thursday's game.
"I don't want to talk about it,'' said Sucre when asked where he got hit. "You can go ask the manager or somebody else. You can go and ask the pitcher, he's the one that decided to do it.''

Kittredge said that it was "just baseball" and that he didn't have a comment, adding that he didn't do his job, referencing the four runs he surrendered.
"Obviously, [the pitch to Romine] was a high-and-tight pitch, and that's not a comfortable feeling for him," Kittredge said. "It is what it is, I guess."
Said Sabathia: "They threw the ball under his chin. That's never a good spot to throw at somebody. … I think we all took exception to that. Anytime you feel like your player's safety is in jeopardy. I think all guys take exception to that. We all do."

Tracing the lineage of the beanball "coincidences" during the four-game series, Rays pitchers hit three Yankees batters, while Yankees pitchers hit four Rays.
"There were a lot of guys who got hit this week," Kittredge said. "They had some guys that got hit, too. It's baseball."
CLOSER TO 30
C.J. Cron got the Rays on the board with his 29th home run of the season, hit off Luis Cessa to start the seventh. He is one homer shy of becoming the ninth player in franchise history with 30 in a single season.

"It's closer," Cron said. "At the end of the day, you usually just have to take it at-bat by at-bat and try to put together a game plan against whoever you are facing. Put a good swing on the ball. That's all you can control."
ONE STREAK ENDS, ANOTHER CONTINUES
Tommy Pham went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts to snap a 10-game hitting streak, but he walked in the ninth inning to extend his on-base streak to 29 games, the longest by a Ray since Evan Longoria (34) from Sept. 19, 2012-April 23, 2013.

HE SAID IT
"I think it was probably a bunch of people protecting teammates more than anything. There's not a ton to say. It looked like there was some intent there, but that's not for me to decide." -- Rays manager Kevin Cash, on the sixth inning
UP NEXT
Tyler Glasnow will get the nod Friday night when the Rays begin a three-game series with the Blue Jays in a 7:10 ET contest at Tropicana Field. Glasnow has recorded quality starts in four of his past five outings. Left-hander Thomas Pannone will start for Toronto.