My First Visit to the Trop
With the Rays hosting the Yankees and Mets in back-to-back series -- and the Blue Jays about to welcome the Phillies to their temporary home in Dunedin -- there couldn't be a better time to make my first regular season visit to the Tampa area.
While you're probably familiar with the inside look of the Trop, what you see on your way in is a close cousin of the 1970s concrete bowl school architecture.
Add to that, a chance to watch Gerrit Cole face the club that beat him back in April. Everything lined up perfectly.
Cole was in top form, striking out 12 in eight innings -- while waiting for a shred of support from the Yankees hot-and-cold offense. That support finally arrived in the top of the 7th, when Aaron Judge, who had three hits on the night, scored on Aaron Hicks' sacrifice fly. Cole and Aroldis Chapman made that skinniest of leads hold up, for a 1 - 0 victory.
Symbolizing what an ace does, Cole has stuck out 78 batters this season as opposed to three walks.
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