It was throwback Devil Rays tropical shirt giveaway night on Saturday for my return to Tropicana Field, and as I was handed one at the entrance I said to my husband, “I don’t think I’ll ever wear this.”

The Yanks had won on Friday night behind a pretty good performance by German, but I approached Saturday night with trepidation. My record at the Trop isn’t good. I honestly think the Yanks have lost every single time I’ve been there. Still, I was hopeful with CC on the mound and Gio Urshela hitting like crazy.

Sadly, we couldn’t rev up our offense and a reliever named Nestor Cortes (???) coughed up runs late in the game that cost us. The result was another “L” for me. Not that I didn’t enjoy seeing the boys or the game. We had good seats. There’s a new restaurant this year that offers the Impossible Burger, the non-meat patty that’s all the rage with those of us who avoid red meat. And the Rays fans are always happy when their stadium is packed – even if it’s because the Yanks or Red Sox are in town.

I wasn’t there yesterday for the finale, and I’m glad. I watched on TV and that power outage lasted waaaay too long. The Yanks busted out and scored 7 runs and Tanaka was stellar in getting the win, but do the Rays ever need a new stadium. It’s sad. They deserve one. They’re a very good team and I expect we’ll be battling them all season.

After taking three of four games from the Mariners at the Stadium, the Yanks will begin a weekend series in St. Pete at the Trop. I’m always excited when they come here, even if this time I won’t recognize all the players (Urshela, Ottavino, Maybin, etc.). I’ll be at the game Saturday night so look for me behind the visitor’s dugout.

The Rays are in the first place – by a mere game-and-a-half – and have been playing well. This will be an important series for many reasons, not the least of which is the Yankees need to prove they can beat the top-tier teams. Therefore, beating the Rays will matter. I was hoping to see Happ pitch, but since he was on the mound last night, that’s not happening. Is Paxton coming off the IL  for the series? That would be nice. CC? Tanaka? German? Whoever is pitching Saturday night needs to bring his “A” game because I don’t want to watch in misery. Some run support would be nice, too.

Will post pics after my Saturday night adventure.

The Trop wasn’t a house of horrors this time as the Yanks ended up taking two of three from the Rays. The hitting is still pretty anemic, but Jeter had a huge clutch hit yesterday that seemed to get everybody fired up, including the fans at the game. Prado is emerging as a player of interest, both offensively and defensively, and the pitching was superb for this series. McCarthy, once again, deserved better and Greene could have/should have gotten a win, but at least Kuroda finally notched one.

This team is trying to hang in, they really are. The question is can they? Do they have the talent to not only hang in but go on a tear and leapfrog over the teams in front of them? They’re a recently cobbled together group who haven’t had time to gel or develop real chemistry. Does it matter? I don’t know. It’s the middle of August – not too many games left to make a move. But at least when they win it’s more fun to watch them. There’s that.