iStock_000084127593_Full.jpg

BASEBALL

Masahiro Tanaka, Blake Snell Matchup As New York And Tampa Bay Look To Bounce Back In The Opener In St. Petersburg Florida

New York and Tampa Bay are both coming off losses their previous games will begin their four game series in St. Petersburg Florida on Friday night.

New York lost to Philadelphia on Thursday.

How?

Jordan Montgomery recently returned to the starting rotation for New York after recovering from Tommy John Surgery.

What is Tommy John Surgery?

It’s where they repair the ulnar collateral ligament -- the band connecting your upper arm bone to your forearm bone (which, as you might imagine, gets pulled and stretched each time you throw a baseball). But as he took a look inside, he realized something: After years of wear, John didn't have any UCL left to repair.

So Jobe got creative: He harvested a ligament from John’s right wrist and used it as a UCL substitute. It was a fairly common procedure on wrists and hands, but it had never been tried with an elbow -- much less the elbow of a Major League pitcher. When John woke up, he found himself in the middle of history. Since no one had ever had this surgery before, no one knew how to rehab from it. But John set to work, exercising seven days a week, and eventually the results began to show: By June of 1975 he’d regained feeling in his fingers, and by July he was throwing batting practice again (the full 60 feet this time). By the winter, he was pitching to real, live hitters again, which meant that there was only one more hurdle to clear: Against all odds, John was set to become a Major League pitcher again.But John didn’t just make it back to the big leagues. He looked … well, like Tommy John. He threw 207 solid innings in 1976, then finished second in NL Cy Young voting in 1977. Naturally, word spread: He was a medical marvel, the man who’d come back from a place that no pitcher had managed to make it back from, and soon enough stars from Tom Candiotti to Paul Molitor sought out Dr. Jobe.John himself, meanwhile, kept on pitching until age 46, and while his elbow stayed sturdy, his defense did slip a bit:It’s hard to overstate the impact John and Jobe have had on the game. As of 2019, more than 500 Major League players have undergone Tommy John surgery, plus countless more in the Minor Leagues. It’s extended some legendary careers and allowed others to blossom. Without it, we might never have heard the name Jacob deGrom, who underwent TJ (as it's now colloquially called) in 2010 while in rookie ball. We might never have gotten the Flu Game from Stephen Strasburg, who went under the knife after just 12 electrifying MLB starts.And as the procedure has spread, its prognosis has improved dramatically. While John was essentially flying blind during his rehab, never knowing if he'd ever even pick up a ball again, these days there's a fairly standard recovery process: Pitchers still miss a significant chunk of time, but most are expected to return without much, if any, loss of velocity or stuff. So while we hope no pitcher ever needs it, it's nice to know the days of career-ending "sore arms" are behind us -- and we've got John to thank. “according to an article by Chris Landers on mlb.com

On Thursday Jordan Montgomery suffered his first loss since returning to the rotation.

Where?

In Philadelphia Pennsylvania verses Philadelphia.

Why?

Jordan Montgomery struggled in his second start of the season, charged with five runs on six hits through four innings. Montgomery seemed able to get ahead of hitters but had difficulty completing at-bats, which Boone attributed to inconsistency with his changeup. “according to an article by Bryan Hoch on mlb.com

“We were battling out there tonight,” Sánchez said. “I think it was just a couple pitches that were left in the zone. They were able to take advantage of those.”according to an article by Bryan Hoch on mlb.com

J.T. Realmuto cracked a three-run homer in the first inning, and Phil Gosselin stroked a two-run double in the third off Montgomery, who tossed 95 pitches (63 for strikes).according to an article by Bryan Hoch on mlb.com

New York meanwhile lost the finale and also suffered their third loss of the season where Gary Sanchez Sánchez launched a two-run homer in the seventh inning off Nick Pivetta, marking the catcher’s third hit in 30 at-bats. The Yankees have mashed 24 homers through their first dozen games, with 45 of the club’s 65 runs thus far being scored via the long ball. While DJ LeMahieu delivered a pinch-hit single and Mike Tauchman continued to stake his claim for increased playing time with a clean single to left field, but Neris recovered to get Luke Voit to fly out to deep center field. “according to an article by Bryan Hoch on mlb.com

While Tampa Bay lost to Boston who like them and New York are a member of the American League East How?

Boston had eight hit balls off Ryan Yarbrourgh but that wasn’t the only issue for Tampa Bay as they went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position on Wednesday, and it was unable to capitalize on the leadoff hitter reaching base in five of the first six innings.”according to

In the opening game of the four game series both New York and Tampa Bay will look to bounce back from their losses last time out.

New York comes into the opening game of the four game series with a record of 9-3 and is in first place in the American League East while Tampa comes into the opening game of the four series with a record of 5-7 tied for second place with Baltimore as they’re 4.0 games back of New York who is leading the American League East. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/standings

Masahiro Tanaka will start the opening game for New York.

The Japanese right hander comes into the game with a record of 0-0. with a 3.38 earn run average. Tanaka is building stamina after sustaining a concussion on July 4. He tossed 51 pitches in his season debut, allowing two runs (one earned) in 2 2/3 innings to the Red Sox on Saturday. Tanaka should be in the 65-to-70 pitch range for this start.He will oppose Tampa Bay left hander Blake Snell who like Masahiro Tanaka comes into the game with a record of 0-0 but unlike him comes into the game with an earn run average of 5.40. Snell continues to build up after three-plus innings against the Orioles, in which he allowed three runs. He is 3-6 with a 4.41 ERA in 16 career starts against the Yankees.

First is set for 6:40pm from Tropicana Field. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Sun, Major League Baseball Network and Yes.