TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 The New York Yankees were winners as visitors in their spring training home for the first time.<\/p>\n
New York was back at Steinbrenner Field for a four-game series against the displaced Tampa Bay Rays, who are using their AL East rival\u2019s ballpark for their home games this season.<\/p>\n
Ben Rice had his first big league four-hit game and drove in two runs, Oswaldo Cabrera hit a solo homer and New York rallied to beat the Rays 6-3.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a great environment,\u201d Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. \u201cObviously, a ton of Yankees fans. I think the Yankees and Rays have done a great job of getting this ready but I didn\u2019t like my seat. … All of it was weird.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Rays needed a rental stadium after Hurricane Milton tore off the roof panels at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg on Oct 9. The ballpark couldn\u2019t be repaired quickly and the Rays made a deal with the Yankees to use their open-air 11,026-capacity spring training facility across the bay in Tampa.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this was for the good of baseball, for the good of the Rays,\u201d Boone said. \u201cI know their organization, our organization worked very well together in making it viable and it\u2019s just the right thing to do on all fronts. When something like that storm happens, it\u2019s bigger than obviously we compete hard against each other, they\u2019re one of our main rivals but to do the right thing always feels good.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Yankees\u2019 generosity meant Aaron Judge, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and the rest of New York\u2019s roster are spending four days in a cramped clubhouse while the Rays enjoy palatial surroundings. The visiting team dining area is usually the media cafe during spring training.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only weird part was being on the other side of the field,\u201d said Ben Rice, who had his first four-hit game. \u201cThe game itself is the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
New York last winter completed a major renovation of the clubhouse, doubling player and staff space to 50,000 square feet. There is a two-story weight room with floor-to-ceiling windows and garage door, indoor and outdoor stretching areas, a Ping-Pong table, a barbershop, eight beds in a trainers area, massage rooms and a SwimEx along with hot and cold tubs with TVs at water level, a sauna red-light therapy and four batting cages. Each player locker has a safe along with USB and USB-C ports. There is a 70-seat meeting room, six private offices and 12 desks for additional staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst of all, it is amazing to have that as our spring training home, now is really awesome, and guys really took advantage of it this year,\u201d Boone said. \u201cBut your mind switches to once you leave, like we know we\u2019re in the season, we know it was expected, so I don\u2019t even really let myself go there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Boone had left a note for Rays manager Kevin Cash before the Yankees went up north in March. He meant to leave a bottle of tequila with the note but forgot so he sent it over before the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust kind of my housewarming gift,\u201d Boone said.<\/p>\n
What kind of tequila?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe good stuff,\u201d Boone said with a smile.<\/p>\n
However, he didn\u2019t like his view from the third-base dugout and the line of sight to third-base coach Luis Rojas.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt kind of sucks, actually,\u201d he said. \u201cI got to move to a place that I\u2019m not usually with my signs to Luis. … I like the other side better.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New York was back at Steinbrenner Field for a four-game series against the displaced Tampa Bay Rays, who are using their AL East rival\u2019s ballpark for their home games this season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":49141,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n