(07-13-2015 12:42 PM)stever20 Wrote:  The thing is when you score a ton of runs, it makes things so much easier for the pitchers. Tampa has had 18 games so far this year where they've scored 0-1 runs. 16 more with just 2 runs. Yankees have had only 14 0-1 run games, and 11 more with just 2 runs. So 9 fewer games so far- out of about 90- with less than 3 runs scored- for the Yanks.

Also, the Yanks have a pretty darn good pen where if they have you after 6 innings, it's close to over. The best pen guy for the Rays is Xavier Cedeno, who has a 2.91 ERA/4.18 FIP. He would be #5 in the Yankees bullpen.

Obviously the Yankees pen is far better. And the Yankees are obviously the better team (superior talent and payroll will tend to do that for you). My whole point was that the Rays have done pretty well considering the talent. In fact they're 2 games better than their Pythagorean record and the Yankees are one game better. Not that that's some kind of definitive stat, but it shows that they have outperformed their expected record.

Take a look at the names on the Rays roster and tell me how they've managed to stay afloat. I'd say it's pretty impressive. Of course the same could be said for the Twins (their #3 hitter has a 98 OPS+).