NEW YORK – Despite general unfamiliarity with Jordan Montgomery, the Yankees’ left-hander who made his major league debut on Wednesday, Rays first baseman Rickie Weeks Jr. revisited his Spring Training memory bank to great success early in yesterday’s game.
The 24-year-old struck out the first two Rays batters he faced (Steven Souza Jr., Kevin Kiermaier), becoming the first Yankees starter to punchout his first two opposing batters since Mariano Rivera on May 23, 1995. He quickly got ahead of Evan Longoria 0-2 but then threw him four straight balls for his first big league walk. Then the same thing happened with Weeks: two quick strikes and failure to put a veteran slugger away.