Latest news with #SteinbrennerField
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Dodgers manufacture enough offense to slip past Tampa Bay Rays
Scoring runs at Steinbrenner Field should not be as hard as the Dodgers made it look this weekend. The spring training ballpark, which is doubling as the Tampa Bay Rays' temporary home this season after Tropicana Field was shredded in an offseason hurricane, has small Yankee Stadium-inspired dimensions that played even shorter in this weekend's sweltering Florida summer heat. Yet, for 18 innings from late Friday night to midway through Sunday afternoon, the Dodgers put nothing but zeros on the scoreboard. They couldn't capitalize on the short porch in right field. They didn't run into any cheap home runs amid conditions that should have helped the ball fly. During a 3-0 win over the Rays on Sunday, the Dodgers manufactured offense in different kinds of ways. In the top of the sixth, third base coach Dino Ebel decided to wave his arm on an aggressive send of Freddie Freeman, who went chugging around third base to score just ahead of a tag at home on Andy Pages' RBI single to left. In the seventh, they needed a swinging-bunt single from Shohei Ohtani, a one-out walk from Mookie Betts and a double-steal from both players to set up Freeman for another RBI single. And in the ninth, they extended their lead with a sacrifice fly from Betts at the end of a 10-pitch battle for a key insurance run. Such results will do little to quell the concerns about the Dodgers' slumping lineup, which has seen a brutal performance in July (when they scored the third-fewest runs in the majors) continue into the early days of August. But on a day Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivered 5 ⅔ scoreless innings and the Dodgers' bullpen completed a second shutout of the Rays in this weekend's series victory — despite a bases-loaded scare in the bottom of the ninth — it was nonetheless enough to ensure the team returned home from this nine-game road trip with a winning 5-4 record. The Dodgers' ongoing search for offense included another twist on Sunday morning. Two weeks after flipping Ohtani and Betts at the top of the batting order, manager Dave Roberts reversed course by returning Ohtani to the top spot and dropping Betts — who has remained mired in his season-long slump — into the two-hole. Early on, the results weren't promising. Read more: From a day off to the leadoff spot, Dodgers try unraveling mystery of Mookie Betts' slump Betts grounded into a double-play in the first inning, immediately after Ohtani had led off with a walk. In the fifth, the Rays intentionally walked Ohtani to put two aboard in front of Betts. But he flied out to center to end the inning, extending his recent hitless streak to 16 at-bats. 'It's kind of just trying to figure out what's best short term,' Roberts said of the lineup adjustment, while remaining undecided on how the batting order will look in the coming days. 'With [Teoscar Hernández, who got an off day] not being in there, this was the best lineup for today.' Roberts hinted that more tinkering could happen once Max Muncy returns from the injured list, which could happen as soon as Monday — especially after infielder Tommy Edman left Sunday's game early with a sprained right ankle, aggravating his lingering ankle injury while rounding first base on a single in the fifth. Read more: With a little help from a Coldplay meme, Freddie Freeman stays hot in Dodgers' win Roberts also left open the possibility of Betts, who saw his season batting average dip to .233 despite his seventh-inning walk and ninth-inning sacrifice fly, dropping further down the batting order at some point, as he continues to search for answers to his faltering swing. "I've thought about it,' Roberts said. 'I think it's a totally fair question. I'm just trying to figure out what would be best for him, for the team. But yeah, I've thought about it.' For now, however, the Dodgers are clinging to what positives they can. Ohtani entered Sunday in a recent skid that included 20 strikeouts in his last 10 games, but managed to reach base four total times to go along with two steals. Freeman stayed hot with his second three-hit performance of the trip, raising his batting average (which had slipped to .292 just a week ago) up to .306. And by the end of the day, even Betts had pitched in, following up his seventh-inning walk by staying alive against reliever Griffin Jax for his sacrifice fly in the ninth. Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
New York Times
15-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Rays will remain at Steinbrenner Field if they host playoff games, commissioner Rob Manfred says
If the Tampa Bay Rays end up hosting any playoff games this fall, they will be at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla., MLB commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed to reporters on Tuesday afternoon prior to the All-Star Game in Atlanta. Three weeks ago, The Athletic reported that MLB and the Rays had engaged in preliminary conversations about where the team would play home games if it makes the playoffs. The Rays' temporary home of Steinbrenner Field, where the team is playing after Hurricane Milton damaged Tropicana Field, has a capacity of 10,046. Playing at Steinbrenner Field would cause a number of logistical issues if the Rays advanced to the American League Championship Series and World Series, primarily the need for the league to make thousands of tickets available for various stakeholders, diminished gate receipts from a smaller park and challenges for broadcast partners. Manfred acknowledged those concerns on Tuesday, but ultimately said that the potential benefits of moving to a larger, neutral site would not outweigh the potential impact of forcing to Rays to relinquish a potential homefield advantage. 'Our rule has always been that people play in their home stadiums during the World Series. And I'm not of a mind to change that rule,' Manfred told the Tampa Bay Times. 'I understand it's a unique situation. It's different, but that's where they're playing. That's where they're going to play their games.' Advertisement Manfred also told the Tampa Bay Times that there will be discussions about potentially adding seats to expand capacity should the need arise. At the moment, the Rays would not be a playoff team at all. They currently sit a game and a half out of the final AL wild-card spot behind the Seattle Mariners and are in fourth place in the AL East, five and a half games behind the Toronto Blue Jays. Barring any unforeseen delays, the Rays will return to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla., next season.
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Heriberto Hernandez's solo home run (3)
Brent Rooker blasts first-inning solo home run to put Athletics on top vs. Rays Athletics designated hitter Brent Rooker hit a solo home run in the top of the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday at Steinbrenner Rooker blasts first-inning solo home run to put Athletics on top vs. Rays originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area 0:27 Now Playing Paused Ad Playing
New York Times
25-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Rays and MLB have held preliminary talks about possible home playoff locations: Sources
As the regular season nears the halfway point, the question of whether the Tampa Bay Rays could host postseason games at cozy Steinbrenner Field in Tampa no longer can be ignored. Major League Baseball and Rays have engaged in preliminary conversations about where the team would play home games if it makes the playoffs, according to officials briefed on the discussions. Advertisement Steinbrenner Field, with its 10,046-seat capacity, could be viable for the wild-card round and Division Series. But logistical concerns might force a move to a larger stadium if the Rays advanced to the American League Championship Series and World Series. Those concerns would include: * The need for the league to make thousands of tickets available to a variety of participants and stakeholders; * The diminished gate receipts from playing in a smaller park, resulting in players receiving reduced postseason shares; * The challenges broadcast partners would face in attempting to pull off their typical postseason productions. The Rays, naturally, would not want to be put at a competitive disadvantage by playing home postseason games at a neutral site – say, Miami's loanDepot park or Atlanta's Truist Park. Steinbrenner Field is scheduled to be their home park only for this season. But since a hurricane last October ripped the roof off Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, the Rays have made it their own. Entering Wednesday, the Rays held the top wild-card position in the American League and trailed the New York Yankees by only one game in the AL East. Their 28-14 record since May 8 was the best in the majors. And one of their weakest offensive positions should grow stronger when shortstop Ha-Seong Kim makes his expected return from right labrum surgery in July. The Rays' surge is not certain to continue. The league front-loaded their home schedule to help the them avoid the summer heat and rain in Florida. To this point, they have played the most home games of any major-league club. Fifty-two of their final 83 games will be on the road. The Rays, though, already have demonstrated they can adjust to changing circumstances, going 16-5 at Steinbrenner since May 19 after an 11-18 start at their temporary home. Their .586 winning percentage on the road entering Wednesday also was higher than their .557 overall mark, which ranked as the fourth best in the AL. Advertisement For the Rays, then, a sixth playoff appearance in seven years is hardly a distant dream. And if they earn home playoff games by winning the AL East or finishing as the top AL wild card, they surely would want to play in front of their home fans at Steinbrenner, where they have sold out 42 of their 50 games. Steinbrenner might be sufficient for the early rounds, even though the league would need to utilize outdoor seating for media it cannot squeeze into a press box that seats only 29. But in later rounds the media contingent would grow larger, and a 10,046-seat park simply would not be big enough for the league to fulfill all of its other obligations. For World Series games, the league sets aside approximately 7,500 tickets for players, umpires, visiting teams, sponsors, broadcast partners, media and others, an MLB source said. The number of tickets the league requires for League Championship Series games is lower, but still could be significant enough to make Steinbrenner Field impractical. Gate receipts, and their impact on players' postseason shares, would be a separate discussion, one that likely would involve the Major League Baseball Players Association. The players' pool includes 60 percent of the gate receipts from postseason games guaranteed to be played – the first two of each wild-card series, the first three of the Division Series and first four of the LCS and World Series. Travel expenses of up to $100,000 per club are deducted for each visiting team in the wild-card round. Members of the World Series champions receive the largest shares. Losers in the wild-card series get the smallest. The gate from postseason games at Steinbrenner Field obviously would be smaller than it would be at a typical major-league park, reducing the size of the players' shares. Then again, Rays home postseason games almost always result in the players receiving less money. Advertisement The main exception was in 2008, the only time the Rays appeared in the ALCS and World Series in front of fans. Their attendance at Tropicana Field that year for each of their final four playoff games was more than 40,000. But in their last postseason appearance at the Trop in 2023, their two wild-card round losses to the Texas Rangers attracted crowds of only 19,704 and 20,198. Neutral-site postseason games might result in higher attendance. But from the players' perspective, any potential bump in the gate might be negated by the increased travel costs for their families, not to mention the loss of home-field advantage the Rays earned. The television broadcasts seemingly would be less of an issue. Fans already are accustomed to watching Yankees spring-training games and Rays regular-season games from Steinbrenner Field. Network productions for the postseason broadcasts, however, are more elaborate. Reaching the standard number of camera positions might require a network to build platforms, run cable for connectivity and yes, purchase seats. Even then, the look would not be the same. The high home camera, the main source of coverage when the ball is play, is quite low at a one-deck stadium like Steinbrenner Field. The netting covers much and at times all of the TV screen. It also features a number of vertical cables that create additional obstructions. Maybe the Rays will fail to make the postseason, and none of these issues will come to pass. Even if they do, the situation likely will be a one-off. The Rays' lease at Tropicana Field runs through 2028, and owner Stuart Sternberg has entered 'exclusive discussions' about a possible sale of the franchise to a group including Jacksonville-based real estate developer Patrick Zalupski. Any new owner almost certainly would push for a new park. For now though, the league and the Rays must deal with the reality created by a natural disaster – the possibility of the postseason games taking place at a spring-training park. Before the season began, Tampa Bay's playoff odds were 37.7 percent. Entering Wednesday, they were 71.2 percent. Come October, a team known for disrupting the sport might provide its craziest wrinkle yet. A public-address announcer bellowing, 'Welcome to the 2025 postseason at Steinbrenner Field!' (Top photo of Steinbrenner Field:)
Associated Press
20-06-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Rays pitcher carted off field after foul ball strikes him in dugout
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Hunter Bigge was carted off the field in a frightening scene Thursday night after he was struck by a foul ball in the dugout. In the top of the seventh inning, Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman fouled a pitch into the Rays' dugout and it hit Bigge, a 27-year-old right-hander currently on the injured list. Emergency medical personnel quickly arrived to attend to Bigge. After several quiet minutes as Rays players knelt in the field, Bigge was placed on a backboard and carted off. Bigge, on the 15-day injured list with a lat strain, gave a thumbs-up gesture as the Steinbrenner Field crowd rose for a standing ovation. The game resumed after an eight-minute delay with Baltimore leading 4-1. ___ AP MLB:
