Category: Baseball

ST. PETERSBURG, FL – Ryan McMahon is one of the best defensive third basemen in baseball. The first ball hit to him in Game 2 shot up and got away, and the New York Yankees spent the rest of the night chasing it.

New York made four errors Monday, three on the first four batters, and lost 5-2 to the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. The Rays lead the best-of-five AL Division Series 2-0.

The Yankees dug this hole with their own gloves and bats.  

Three of the Rays' five runs were unearned. Cam Schlittler, the presumptive AL Cy Young winner, got 13 outs, the shortest postseason start of his career, and spent most of his night pitching with runners his defense put on base.

In the quiet Yankees clubhouse after the loss, Schlittler took responsibility.

"Obviously it starts with me," Schlittler said. "I'll be the first one to say that I didn't do my job, but it didn't seem like we really showed up today."

The offense without Aaron Judge on the roster because of a strained calf isn't bailing anybody out. The Yankees have scored two runs in two games and both of them were solo home runs by Ben Rice.

McMahon's error on Yandy Díaz started the unraveling Monday night.

Jonathan Aranda singled. Junior Caminero grounded to shortstop George Lombard Jr., who backhanded a flip to second for the force, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. tried to force the double play and threw it wide of first base. Díaz scored. Then the Rays challenged a missed catcher's interference call on Austin Wells and won.

"I'd probably still throw it, honestly," Chisholm said. "The play that was trying to be made (was the right one). I feel like I could've made an even better throw."

Four batters, three errors, one run.

Aaron Boone said he didn't necessarily have a problem with Chisholm going for two.

"We've got to play catch," Boone said. "It's the big leagues."

Oops! ... They did it again. And again. And again. And again.

The New York Yankees committed four errors in their 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 2 of the American League Divisional Series. Three of the errors came in the first inning of the matchup on Monday, Oct. 5 at Tropicana Field.

The first culprit was third baseman Ryan McMahon. Yandy Díaz tapped the ball and sent it McMahon's way, but it bounced and the defender couldn't grab it, committing the first error.

Two batters later, Junior Caminero hit a dribbler for a ground out that got out Jonathan Aranda. Jazz Chisholm Jr. attempted a quick turn to first base and overthrew Luis García Jr. for the second error.

Then, Liam Hicks was up to bat. When he swung at a pitch, catcher Austin Wells stuck his mitt out too far forward. Hicks' bat grazed the top of his mitt and Wells was called for catcher interference.

Yankees committed three errors, and almost a fourth, in the first inning tonight.

It's the first time in franchise history committing three errors in one inning of a postseason game. pic.twitter.com/jydGJrDBjP

— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) October 6, 2026

And that's not all!

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Jonny DeLuca made contact and sent the ball into left field, where George Lombard Jr. scooped it up. The rookie threw the ball toward first base and it was his turn to overthrow García Jr. It was the fourth error of the game.

There was nearly another error earlier in the inning involving Lombard Jr., but it was ruled a fielder's choice.

George Lombard Jr. is the fourth Yankee to make an error tonight pic.twitter.com/jW6tkbN0i9

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) October 6, 2026

Ben Rice scored both of the Yankees' runs with two solo home runs. He hit one each in the fourth and eighth innings.

New York is now down 2-0 in the series and is on the brink of playoff elimination.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: See all 4 Yankees errors from Game 2 ALDS loss to Rays

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Aaron Boone kept the lineup intact from Game 1 — most notably keeping a struggling Ryan McMahon at third base — in part because he wanted “to prioritize the defense,” the Yankees manager said a couple of hours before Monday’s first pitch. 

It took two pitches from Cam Schlittler for that decision to backfire. 

McMahon made the first error, a drip that became a flood, in an embarrassing 5-2 loss in Game 2 to the Rays in which the Yankees defense was charged with four errors and probably should have been charged with more. 

“Not great. Not how you draw it up,” McMahon said of a first inning in which he booted a ball, Jazz Chisholm Jr. made an unwise decision to throw to first (which bounced past Luis García Jr.) after recording an out at second and Austin Wells was called for catcher’s interference, which added up to the first unearned run. 

The problems started on the second pitch Rays leadoff hitter Yandy Díaz saw, chopping a grounder toward McMahon. The normally sure-handed veteran, perhaps misjudging the springs on the Tropicana Field turf or an infield dirt that played fast, simply missed on his backhand attempt. 

“Just kicked up on me a little bit,” said McMahon, who watched the ball skitter past him and then raised his palms wondering what had just happened. 

McMahon did not make a second mistake in the field, but he also did not atone at the plate. He popped out in the third inning, managed a walk (that did not lead to a run) in the fifth and then was subbed out for pinch hitter Paul Goldschmidt in the eighth. 

In four postseason games, McMahon is 1-for-7 — the lone hit an infield single — with two walks and played despite entering the night 1-for-14 with three walks in his career against Tampa Bay starter Freddy Peralta. 

Asked about sticking with McMahon, Boone indicated that he considered starting Anthony Volpe at third base, but he didn’t want his second career start at the spot to be on the bouncy turf in a playoff game. Boone also insisted José Caballero was “very much in play” — and has been every day of the playoffs, he said — “but I just like his versatility and presence off the bench, too.” 

Caballero, a spark plug who had appeared in only one game this postseason before Monday (as a defensive replacement in Game 2 of the wild-card series), played the role of good soldier. 

“Everyone wants to be in there, but that’s why we have a manager and he’s the one making decisions,” Caballero said before entering as a defensive replacement at third base. “Just waiting on my time and trying to stay active and prepare for the moment that I get the call and try to help the team.” 

The Rays plan to start righty Nick Martinez in Game 3, which normally would mean the lefty-hitting McMahon would get the nod. 

Boone has another decision to make. 

“Frustration. Maybe a little bit of anger in there,” McMahon said about the mood of the team. “But … the series isn’t over yet.”

The Yankees' backs are against the wall after Monday's 5-2 ALDS Game 2 loss at the Tampa Bay Rays.

"We didn't get it done," said left fielder Cody Bellinger, whose bases-loaded flyout to deep center field ended the fifth inning and kept the game tied at 1-1. "We had opportunities."

New York committed four errors while ace right-hander Cam Schlittler did not have his best stuff.

"These guys work their asses off all year to get to a position like today," said Schlittler, who allowed four runs (two earned) on six hits while striking out two and walking one in 4.1 innings pitched. "We expect a lot out of each other. It's been great all year, but we just didn't play our brand of baseball and I know we can play better baseball than that and that starts with me on the mound. We've got to flush it and get ready for Wednesday."

The best-of-five series heads to Yankee Stadium for Wednesday's 8 p.m. Game 3 with left-hander Max Fried set as the Yankees' starting pitcher.

"An opportunity to do something great," said New York manager Aaron Boone. "But it starts one play, one inning at a time. We can't play like that and expect to win, so we've got to come out Wednesday night -- everything's on the line, it's obviously all hands on deck and we've got to try and get one and then go from there.

"We're capable of doing it. This team has been really good at picking themselves up all year. We've faced some really tough moments. Talked about them having a lot of grit -- they've had that all year. We need to find it right now."

Third baseman Ryan McMahon echoed Boone's message as the Yankees exit Tropicana Field in an 0-2 hole.

"It hasn't been won yet," McMahon said. "We'll see that. We'll regroup, respect the loss. Everybody here is a little pissed off, a little upset, but we're where we're at and there's still some games left."

A team has not come back from down 0-2 and won a best-of-five series since the Yankees in the 2017 ALDS when they lost their first two games at the Cleveland Guardians but won the next three to reach the ALCS.

"Definitely going to be a challenge," said designated hitter Ben Rice, whose two solo home runs Monday were New York's only source of offense. "Going down 2-0 doesn't feel good. It's on us to find our way out of it."

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — There might not be a more confident pitcher than Cam Schlittler, who does not doubt himself and did not doubt himself before Game 2. 

Sure, he knew that he was about to face a lineup that excels at placing bat on ball. But he also knew he was tied for the third-most strikeouts in the majors this season. 

“I feel like if I need to get one,” he said Saturday, “I’m going to be able to do that.” 

Schlittler’s prediction was off the mark because Tampa Bay’s bats were constantly on the mark. 

The Yankees ace of aces was not to blame for Monday’s 5-2 loss to the Rays in the division series at Tropicana Field, but he also was not able to play hero as he had in Game 1 of the wild-card series against the Red Sox. 

“All I can do is assess my outing and realize that it needs to be better than that,” said Schlittler, who blamed himself after a night he needed the help of his defense, which let him down repeatedly. 

After dominating Boston through 6 ¹/₃ scoreless, 10-strikeout innings, Schlittler only punched out two Rays while allowing four runs (two earned) on six hits and a walk in 4 ¹/₃ innings. 

It started immediately, with the aggressive Rays swinging early in counts and making consistent, often loud contact in the first inning. Errors by Ryan McMahon (on a chopper) and Jazz Chisholm Jr. (an ill-advised throw to first after recording an out at second) scored one run, but Schlittler did well to limit the damage. 

The game changed, though, in a four-run fifth inning during which the flame-throwing righty needed to throw pitches by Rays bats and could not. 

A single by Jonathan Aranda (played conservatively by Spencer Jones, who might have had a chance at a diving catch) and a double from Junior Caminero put runners on second and third without an out in a game that was then tied 1-1. 

Schlittler needed one of those strikeouts. Unlike the Rays, he whiffed. 

Liam Hicks managed to make contact — the softest imaginable, a tapper that traveled 5 feet in the air — but the slow roller to Chisholm was good enough to score the go-ahead run. 

Next it was Chandler Simpson who fell behind 1-2 but kept fighting, eventually grazing a 3-2 sinker for a swinging bunt that went 4 feet in the air toward George Lombard Jr. The rookie shortstop had a play at the plate and knew it, his eyes toward Austin Wells instead of the ball as he booted it on a backhand attempt to let in another run. 

“That’s what they do,” Schlittler said of the Rays. “I let up runs like that in April against them — just choppers in the infield — but that’s what they do. They put pressure on you, and they find a way to get those runs across.” 

Schlittler said he “just didn’t have my stuff today,” his velocity up a tick from the regular season but down from his Red Sox start. 

More notably, he did not have any help. Appropriately enough, Brent Headrick entered in the fifth and allowed two inherited runners to score.

Both the Milwaukee Brewers and San Diego Padres continue to troll one another.

While the Brewers were practicing on the field at Petco Park on Monday, the stadium had the cool, calm sound of elevator music blasting from the speakers.

Back Milwaukee, when the Padres were taking batting practice on Saturday, American Family Field was blasting “monotonous” music off the speakers.

San Diego did their best to attempt to drown out the music, as they had a Bluetooth speaker playing music next to their batting cage.

But for the Padres, the attempt to drown out the sound didn’t work as they found themselves down 2-0 in the NLDS.

In both games, the Padres lost in heartbreaking fashion.

On Saturday, San Diego blew a 2-2 lead in the seventh inning from a solo Wilson Contreras home run.

In the ninth inning of that game, Ty France thought he had a go-ahead two-run homer, until the ball bounced off the roof of the stadium and landed in Dustin Harris’ glove.

On Sunday, superstar closing pitcher Mason Miller took the mound with a 3-2 lead in the eighth, in an attempt to make a two-inning save.

Miller would give up two walks in the ninth, and then gave up a go-ahead two-run single to Jackson Chourio, resulting in the Padres falling 4-3.

After the game was over, speculation arose that Miller was tipping his pitches. On Monday, his manager, Craig Stammen, denied any possibility of his closer being predictable.

Game 3 of the NLDS is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. PT when Nick Pivetta faces off against Dustin May.

I went to game two of the ALDS today by myself.

I am a Guardians Season Ticket Holder, but in my 10-12 games a year, I always take 1-2 of our kids (ages 7, 6, almost 4, and 2). So, today was different. I got a scorecard because keeping score controls my emotions and competitive anxiety. I sat down and started talking to the older gentleman on my left who tolerated my various insights into the game very kindly.

On my right, I allowed a White Sox fan to sit in my assigned seat so he could sit next to his friends. White Sox fan person (a “boss” of some sort) was not profane or abusive. But, he very clearly had only started paying attention the past two weeks, at most. Yet, there he was, standing and screaming in joy as the team I live and die with daily failed to secure a crucial victory. His joy did not appear to be any less than mine would have been despite my significantly superior emotional investment. So… why am I bothering?

At some level, it has to be that I get joy from this. Seeing Anthony Kay spike a throw and allow two runs was joyous. 11 strikeouts from Gavin Williams was a thrill of hope for a weary world to rejoice in. Jo Adell gave me an electric moment where I thought he had deposited one in the bleachers. I do truly revel in the feelings these events produce.

But, at another level, it’s a longing to be part of something bigger and to succeed. Is Cleveland going to be a good place for me and my family to live? That’s a group project. Are we going to survive the threats of A.I., climate change, resurgent fascism, persistent totalitarianism, biological warfare and the billionaire oligarchs that profit from it all as a society? That’s a group project. I’m rooting for us. Watching my baseball team win gives me just a little glimmer of hope that winning the actual important games is possible. It makes me a believe a collection of wildly diverse people with their own special talents and roles can do impossible things when the Guardians beat the Angels on a Wednesday night.

But, the Guardians did not win tonight. The baseball Sabrowski threw to a hitter with a 19 wRC+ vs LHP caught an inch too much of the plate and landed just 36 inches fair. The ball Kwan hit to left field was almost misplayed by Antonacci and landed just inches within his glove. The ball that seemingly hit Jose was just half an inch from being obviously a hit and resulting in two runs when Adell hit his smash… glorious victory just inches away… leaving me with crushing defeat.

When I got home, our three-year old, Zalee, asked me if the Guardians won. I said, “No, but Onion won the hot dog race!” And she squealed in delight. Her primary interest in the game is if Onion wins the hot dog race. When we go to games, she is as disappointed if Onion loses as I am if the Guardians Lose.

In the big scheme of things, is my joy really that much more significant than hers? Is my disappointment more crushing? If I had to guess, I’d assume the opposite is true. Seeing her felt-covered hero of condiment fame triumph is a more significant epochal milestone for her than a World Series title would be in my 43 years on this globe.

But, I suppose I will be successful in teaching her to love this wonderful, awful, joyous, soul-crushing sport like I do (if the aformentioned billionaires let us watch it again next season, of course). Someday, Zalee will cheer, cry, thrill, deflate, and scream like I do. And, the reason that’s ok is that it will be something that reminds her and me that we are in this thing together. That we don’t win without the other feeling joy and pride, and we don’t lose without the other feeling pain and humiliation. And, that’s life. And that’s humanity.

The Guardians didn’t win today. But, Onion did. She swung her purse at the last second and broke the finish line by inches before Ketchup. So, rejoice, Zalee. It’s a good night, after all.

I hate Tropicana Field. I know many of you do too. If you are not a Yankees fan and are doing what I am also guilty of doing—reading the reactions of salty fans after playoff losses—grab your popcorn. This is the good stuff you’re probably looking for.

It blows my mind that baseball games in 2026 are played at places like this. It honestly blows my mind even more that this place was destroyed by an act of God two years ago, was rebuilt despite plans to replace it in the near future, and is being used for big playoff games. The roof is baseball-colored; there is statistical proof that teams other than the Rays struggle defensively here due to a lack of experience; the turf leads to weird hops that cause more errors to be committed against the Rays than any other team in baseball. It’s the strangest home-field advantage in baseball, and one that the Rays ran roughshod over to take advantage of a Yankees team that was just not focused from the jump tonight—and one that, to be clear, absolutely deserved this atrocious loss, even if it was played in the baseball version of Elysian Fields.

Alright, enough of my anger-filled soapbox. The Yankees set the tone for this one with three brutal first-inning errors, played shoddy defense the rest of the night, and just got Rays’d. Any opportunity they had to use their speed or slap hitting, they used it. The Yankees were not prepared. Aside from two home runs from Ben Rice and an oh-so-close deep flyout from Cody Bellinger with the bases juiced, the offense was dead again in a 5-2 loss that puts the season on the brink.

When you get no-hit for nearly eight innings the game before, you desperately want to get the monkey off your back early the next night. The quality of contact was good in that first inning against Freddy Peralta, with a Ben Rice warning-track flyout and a scorched lineout from Cody Bellinger, but the Yankees went quietly in the first before the utter chaos of the bottom half.

On just Cam Schlittler’s second pitch of the game, Yandy Diaz hit a soft Trop chopper to Ryan McMahon, which he promptly booted after misreading the hop. Jonathan Aranda then lined a single up the middle for the one real hit in the inning. Needing a double play, Schlittler got Junior Caminero to spike a ball into the turf that was snared by George Lombard Jr. for a brilliant flip for a forceout. Unfortunately, Jazz Chisholm Jr. decided to throw the ball into the dugout with no chance to turn two, giving the Rays the early lead.

The defensive inning from hell continued when a three-pitch strikeout from Liam Hicks was overturned into a catcher’s interference. Awarding a batter a base for a check-swing catcher’s interference is dumb, and I will forever believe that. The speedy Chandler Simpson ripped a ball to second for what looked like a tailor-made double play, but an awful throw from Chisholm pulled Lombard off the bag. The rookie shortstop somehow managed to tap the bag after to avoid a fourth error in the inning, and Cam survived the inning from hell with only one run allowed.

We got more Trop shenanigans when Spencer Jones hit a ball a mile high off the C-ring in center field, which was caught by Victor Mesa Jr. Objectively, almost every other team drops that ball because of their lack of experience reading fly balls here, but the Rays caught it, naturally. Two more quick outs had Peralta rolling through two.

Jonny DeLuca golfed an 0-2 curveball in the dirt for a leadoff double in the second, but was stranded on a trio of groundouts surrounding a two-out walk. The bottom of the order went down quietly as well, giving Peralta a perfect game through three innings just one night after Rasmussen’s brilliance. At this point, I’m not sure the vibes could get much worse.

Schlittler continued to grind through the third, allowing singles to Caminero and Simpson, but got out of a jam after a 108.5 mph scorched grounder from DeLuca was fielded cleanly by Lombard to end the threat. Just one batter later, with the Yankees entering their 13th inning of the series with just one hit, Rice allowed everyone on the team and in the fanbase to breathe for a second, smashing a leadoff home run in the fourth to tie the game at one.

Bellinger followed with a single, but was stranded by the next three hitters. Schlittler responded to the desperate gasp for a shutdown inning, retiring the Rays in order with help from a surprisingly solid play by Trent Grisham in center field. Peralta seemed to be cruising again after retiring the first two in the fifth, but things got interesting after a bullet double by Austin Wells and a gritty walk by Ryan McMahon. The ever-aggressive Kevin Cash pulled him for Cam Booser, betting on his lefty specialist to neutralize the best hitters on the team.

He walked Rice on five pitches to bring up Bellinger with the bases loaded. This was the moment. This was where the Yankees could show who they were. For a brief second, it seemed like they would. The All-Star left fielder absolutely pummeled a bad 0-2 fastball to deep center field. 102.9 mph, 405 feet. In 12 ballparks, it’s a grand slam. In some others, it’s off the wall. Unfortunately, as has happened all too many times in the postseason in the Judge era, the big hit fell just a few inches short, landing harmlessly in the glove of DeLuca.

It’s the type of gut punch that takes the air out of a fan, and maybe it took the air out of the team. It’s not how baseball works, but maybe it is. Schlittler allowed a bullet single (that Jones maybe should’ve caught?) and a bullet double from Caminero to set up second and third with nobody out. Usually, a team’s cleanup and five-hole hitters wouldn’t be conducive to 55 and 65 mph choppers that bounce two feet in front of home plate in RBI opportunities, but these are the Rays. Both runs scored on back-to-back Baltimore chops that the Yankees had no chance of getting an out at the plate on, even if Lombard had defended the latter cleanly. That gave the Rays a 3-1 lead.

The frustration didn’t end there. After Brent Headrick entered and struck out Mesa, we got another Trop chop grounder to Lombard. Due to the bounce the ball took and the speed of DeLuca, he had to rush the throw, which forced a long stretch from Luis García Jr. If the play was made cleanly, DeLuca would’ve been out by an eyelash, which tells you how perfect they had to be, but García couldn’t squeeze the throw, and everyone was safe. Another error. One batter later, Richie Palacios hit a two-run single to effectively ice this one, making it 5-1 Rays.

We then hit a weird point in the game. Ian Seymour came in for the Rays as a lefty bulk reliever, but Aaron Boone elected to keep his righties in the dugout. As a fan who was resigned to the outcome after the Palacios single, it seems like nothing, but damn, that’s pretty rough of your manager to be so apathetic in this spot. The lineup had no pulse against him in some rough matchups.

Playing out the string, John Schreiber tossed a scoreless sixth, Ryan Weathers and Paul Blackburn combined for the seventh, and Blackburn and David Bednar combined for the ninth. For the offense, all they had left was another home run for Rice, who continues to have a postseason to remember while his teammates give him no help, like 2018 LeBron.

Bryan Baker got the save in the ninth, 1-2-3, to solidify Game 2 for the Rays. If the Yankees want to win this series and get to the ALCS, they must win three straight against a team they’ve struggled against all year and win a game at Tropicana Field on Saturday after going 2-7 there to start this season, Bleak, I know.

There will be baseball played on Wednesday. After that, it’s up to the Yankees to decide. Game 3 will be at Yankee Stadium at 8 pm EDT. It’s Max Fried (pending the birth of his child) against a pitcher to be determined, but it will likely be Nick Martinez.

Box Score

Heroes, zeros and the inside pitch from the Yankees’ 5-2 loss to the Rays in Game 2 of the ALDS in St. Petersburg, Fla:  

Hero

Old-school baseball. Baseball’s best team at putting the ball in play struck out just four times total in a game started by Cam Schlittler, putting constant pressure on a Yankees defense that wilted.

Zero

The entire Yankees defense. Misplays, four of which were scored as errors, from (in order) Ryan McMahon, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Austin Wells, Spencer Jones, George Lombard Jr., Lombard again and Luis García Jr. led to three unearned runs and one of the ugliest playoff performances you will see.

Unsung Hero

Brooklyn’s Richie Palacios knocked a two-run single in the fifth inning that created far too much distance for a Yankees lineup that has not solved Rays pitching (apart from Ben Rice).

Key Stat

4: Errors by the Yankees — and they probably should have been charged with five — which tied with the second most in franchise postseason history

Quote

“It’s going to be a rough ride back, but you’ve got to find out what you’re made of. It’s gut-check time.”

—Aaron Boone

For the second time in three years, the Yankees had a disastrous defensive game in the postseason and it cost them again, this time in a 5-2 loss to the Rays Monday night in Game 2 of the AL Division Series.

The Yanks made four errors in the loss, leading to three unearned runs, and they now teeter on the brink of elimination, down two games to none in the best-of-five series. Game 3 is set for Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium.

Two years ago, the Yankee defense collapsed in Game 5 of the World Series against the Dodgers and they were eliminated. But even that game only featured three Yankee errors – in the box score, anyway. 

Monday’s debacle was only the fifth time the Yankees have made four errors in a single postseason game. The last time was in the 2019 ALCS against the Astros. 

The Yankees have scored only twice so far in the series, on two solo home runs by Ben Rice Monday night. No Aaron Judge, who is out with a calf injury, certainly doesn’t help.

Here are the main takeaways...

-- Yankee starter Cam Schlittler was not nearly as brilliant as he’s been in his previous postseason outings. He lasted just 4.1 innings and allowed seven hits and four runs (only two earned). He struck out just two and didn’t have a strikeout until the fourth inning and got only seven swings-and-misses. He also walked one. His career postseason ERA rose from 0.87 to 1.44. 

-- The Yankees defensive implosion started in the very first inning and set a dubious club record for errors in a single postseason frame – three. The Yankees had never had three errors in one October inning and this is the 61st postseason appearance in the Yankees’ existence. The Yanks last committed three errors in an inning in any game on Aug. 21, 2025 against the Red Sox. The last time it happened in any postseason game was Game 5 of the 2015 ALDS when the Rangers did it in a loss to the Blue Jays. 

-- Ryan McMahon, who has a fine defensive reputation, though he has not had his best season with the glove, made the first miscue when the leadoff hitter, Yandy Díaz, hit a topspin bouncer to him that McMahon muffed. Jonathan Aranda followed with a single and then Junior Caminero hit what could’ve been a double-play grounder to short. George Lombard Jr. made a not-that-graceful flip to the bag and Jazz Chisholm Jr. grabbed it and threw wildly to first. Díaz scored and Caminero went to second. 

Then it seemed like Schlittler had Hicks struck out, but, upon replay review, Austin Wells was called for catcher’s interference – his mitt was clearly in the path of Hicks’ bat. That was the third error of the inning. They nearly had a fourth – Chisholm fielded Simpson’s grounder but threw high to second base, pulling Lombard off the bag. But Lombard got back in time for a force out. Schlittler got a grounder from Victor Mesa to mercifully end the inning. The Yankees only allowed one run, but all the gaffes forced Schlittler to endure some tense moments and extra pitches.

-- The Rays scored four runs in the fifth inning and knocked out Schlittler. They got some weak contact and used their speed to exploit it. Poor Yankee defense helped, too. Aranda started the inning with a single and Caminero followed with a ringing double. With the infield mostly in – Chisholm was further back than the rest of the infielders – Liam Hicks hit a grounder that was slow enough to allow Aranda to score. 

Chandler Simpson later hit a soft grounder to short that Lombard couldn’t backhand and another run scored. The scoring on that play was changed several times, but it was ultimately scored a fielder's choice. But Lombard then made a throwing error to further prolong the inning and Richie Palacios added a single after an eight-pitch bout with reliever Brent Headrick that scored two more runs. 

-- The Yanks went nine up, nine down the first time through their batting order as Rays starter Freddy Peralta looked sharp. But Rice tied the score at 1 with a 372-foot drive over the right-field fence. Rice connected on the fourth of four consecutive changeups from Peralta. Rice also homered in the eighth inning, giving him four home runs in four games this postseason.

-- In the fifth, the Yanks had a big chance with two outs, but could not cash in. Wells lashed a double into the right-field corner that looked a lot like the ball he hit in Game 1 and got thrown out trying to stretch into a triple. He wisely stopped at second this time. McMahon then worked a walk in a tough, seven-pitch at-bat. He was the last batter that Peralta faced. He came out with Rice coming up to the plate. 

Rice worked another walk against southpaw Cam Booser, which brought up Cody Bellinger, who was 11th in MLB this season with a .340 average with runners in scoring position. Bellinger hit a deep fly ball to the warning track in center that held some hope, but it was caught. 

-- Peralta, the former Met who got his pitching together in Tampa Bay, lasted 4.2 innings and allowed one run and three hits. He struck out three and walked one. The outing lowered his career postseason ERA from 4.32 to 4.03. 

Highlights

BEN RICE! The Yankees finally have their first run of the ALDS! https://t.co/b7uVHF7PeQ

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) October 6, 2026

Trent Grisham makes the catch on the run! https://t.co/vrbDPqfkGp

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) October 6, 2026

Ben Rice’s second homer of ALDS Game 2 cuts it to 5-2 https://t.co/uH1lw1LAes

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) October 6, 2026

What's next

The Yankees return home to New York with Game 3 of the ALDS against the Rays on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m.

How important is the second game in a five-game series? Sarah Langs from MLB.com reminds us that winning the first two games of a five-game series is a significant leg up:

New York apparently did not get the memo the way they booted and threw the ball around for several innings in this contest. The bottom of the first inning saw three errors made on the infield with Ryan McMahon booting a routine hopper from Yandy Diaz to lead off the game followed shortly by a throwning error by Jazz Chisholm Jr and one more still when Austin Wells interfered with a swing by Liam Hicks. Despite the extra outs and the traffic on the bases, the sole run came on the errant throw allowing Diaz to score:

The second and third inning for the Rays was more traffic on the bases, but Cam Schlittler once again buckled down and stranded everyone. Through those first three innings, the Rays were 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position in this game and 0 for 13 in the series. Ben Rice made the Rays regret the lack of production with a homer to lead off 4th inning on a poorly located changeup:

That home was quickly followed up by a line drive single by Cody Bellinger just past a diving Taylor Walls, but Peralta buckled down to strand him getting Spencer Jones (more on him shortly) and inducing an infield flyout to George Lombard Jr. The Rays went down somewhat quietly in the 4th with both Palacios and Walls striking out before Yandy Diaz scalded a baseball to the right center gap that Trent Grisham gracefully ran down. That batted ball was 103 off the bat with a .540 expected batting average, but more importantly, it was the loud contact that had mostly been absent in this contest the first two times through the batting order.

The fifth inning was the key moment of this contest, for both teams. In the top of the fifth, the Yankees mounted a two-out rally when Austin Wells hit nearly the same type of ball he did in Game 1, but did not have the same delusions of grandeur. That double was followed by walks to Ryan McMahon and Ben Rice before Cody Bellinger came very close to a grand slam. His 405-foot flyball would have been a home run in 12 parks, but Tropicana Field was just big enough to hold it in:

The Yankees would need about five minutes to regret how the top of that inning played out. The inning would begin with Aranda singling on a ball hit 109.1 MPH with a .650 expected batting average, but also looked very catchable in the moment by Spencer Jones. As it turns out, the data agreed as Jones had a terrible jump on the ball and let it play him rather than making the aggressive play like we saw Chandler Simpson do in his moment of game 1:

That hard hit was followed by a harder 112.4 MPH double to the right-center gap by Junior Caminero giving the Rays three consecutive 100+ batted ball events off Schlittler, but it would be the softest hit of the night that would drive in the first run of the inning. Liam Hicks would get absolutely tied up by a cutter, but the 55.1 MPH ground ball to second was perfect for the contact play with Aranda running because Chisholm Jr was the only infielder not up on the infield seam:

That event was followed by a fielder’s choice contact play by Simpson driving in Caminero. That would chase a frustrated Schlittler for the evening birnging in Brent Hendrick to strike out Victor Mesa Jr before the fourth error of the game by the Yankees extended the inning allowing the Rays to plate two more runners after both Simpson and DeLuca stole second base around the Mesa Jr strikeout on a Richie Palacios single that came after him swinging at ball 4 in a 3-0 count:

That would be the last hit with a runner in scoring position on the evening as the only other run in the contest would come on Ben Rice’s second solo home run of the evening.

Kevin Cash employed four pitchers on the evening: Freddy Peralta, Cam Booser, Ian Seymour, and Bryan Baker and it could be said Seymour was the best one of the evening. Peralta fought through 4.2 innings of work despite not having his best changeup. Peralta had 12 whiffs on the evening, but just three of those came off his changeup. Cash made the decision to pull Peralta at 66 pitches rather than allow him to face Rice a third time. Booser ended up walking Rice before getting the close-call from Bellinger before giving way to Seymour. The starter turne reliever worked three innings striking out 4, walking none, and the second Rice solo shot was the only blemish and baserunner of the appearance. Baker then came in for the 9th to secure the save with a 1-2-3 appearance.

Cam Schlitter came into this game talking about how games at Tropicana Field feeling like a home game because theRays don’t have a strong home atmosphere. For one inning, Schlitter’s statements were validated as that top of the 5th was quite loud on the broadcast but the air fell out of the visiting fans just as Bellinger’s flyball fell short of the wall. Aaron Boone needed to use five relievers behind Schlitter, whose defense did him no favors asking the young pitcher to throw more stressful pitches earlier than he or the pundits expected before the contest. Yankee fans have the thousand yard stare wondering how their road field advantage slipped through their fingers heading back to The Bronx with as many runs as they have losses to show for their efforts in Tropicana Field in this series.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Game 5 of the 2024 World Series, you now have company. 

The stakes were not quite as high Monday, but the Yankees turned in an even bigger defensive abomination to put themselves in a 2-0 hole in the ALDS. 

Three errors in the first inning somehow did not kill them, but it did set the tone for the night before another error in the fifth helped provide the dagger, sinking the Yankees in an embarrassing 5-2 loss to the Rays in Game 2 of the ALDS witnessed by a raucous sellout crowd of 40,226 at Tropicana Field. 

“Obviously, tonight was just not good enough for us and certainly not good enough to beat that club,” manager Aaron Boone said. “We’ve got to get over it, and playing for our lives [Wednesday] night.” 

The Yankees flew home licking their wounds with their season on life support, needing to clean up their act behind Max Fried in Game 3 and Carlos Rodón if they can get to Game 4 to have any chance of returning to Tropicana Field. Of course, they will also have to find a way to score runs, which they have only done twice in 18 innings of this best-of-five series — on a pair of solo shots from Ben Rice on Monday after suffering a one-hit shutout in Game 1. 

In a recurring theme of too many postseasons past, the Yankees melted from the Rays’ ability to put the ball in play and wreak havoc, even with Cam Schlittler on the mound, resulting in four errors — one shy of their franchise record for a single postseason game. 

“It didn’t seem like we really showed up today,” Schlittler said. “That’s what happens.” 

After Schlittler had been dominant against the Red Sox in Game 1 of the wild-card series, racking up a career-high 24 whiffs and 10 strikeouts across 6 ¹/₃ shutout innings, he generated just seven whiffs and tied a career low with two strikeouts across 4 ¹/₃ innings. He gave up four runs, only two of which were earned, but the damage was done nonetheless. 

Of course, Schlittler was the reason the Yankees survived a three-error bottom of the first — a new franchise record for the most in one inning of a playoff game — before Rice homered off Freddy Peralta in the fourth inning to give the Yankees their first signs of offensive life in the series. But after they left the bases loaded in the top of the fifth — Cody Bellinger’s fly ball to center landed a few feet short of a grand slam — they lost the game in the bottom of the frame. 

The Rays put runners on second and third for Liam Hicks, with the Yankees playing in on the turf except for Jazz Chisholm Jr., who said he was told to be a few steps onto the dirt at second base because Hicks typically pulls the ball hard that way. Instead, the catcher hit a weak tapper to Chisholm, who looked at home before taking the out at first as the Rays went up 2-1. 

The infield was in again when the speedy Chandler Simpson hit a chopper to shortstop, where George Lombard Jr. tried to backhand it and come home, except the ball got past him, allowing another run to score. 

“Against a good team like that, you can’t afford to make as many mistakes as we did,” Lombard said. 

That led Boone to pull Schlittler, who looked stunned, for Brent Headrick, who got a strikeout before generating a ground ball to shortstop that Lombard fielded and fired slightly off-target to first, where Luis García Jr. dropped it, putting runners on the corners. 

Brooklyn’s Richie Palacios came up next and delivered the big swing, a two-run single to center field that put the Rays ahead 5-1. 

“I feel like we beat ourselves today, in a lot of ways,” Chisholm said. 

The Yankees played a bottom of the first that was just about disastrous as it could possibly be, except by some miracle, Schlittler made sure it only resulted in a 1-0 deficit. 

It began with third baseman Ryan McMahon — in the lineup because Boone said he wanted to “prioritize the defense” — whiffing on Yandy Díaz’s chopper to lead off the frame. Then with runners on first and second, Junior Caminero hit a grounder up the middle that Lombard ranged to and flipped to second base for the out. But Chisholm tried an off-balance, ill-advised throw to first for the double play, which instead bounced past the bag, allowing Díaz to score for the 1-0 lead. 

“Honestly, I’d probably still throw it [if I could do it again], in the play that was trying to be made,” Chisholm said. “I feel like I could have tried to make an even better throw. I’d try to throw it a little closer to the base. My back was turned, so.” 

The third error was a catcher’s interference by Austin Wells, wiping out a strikeout, and Chisholm also had a high throw to second base that Lombard saved him on but wiped out a potential inning-ending double play. 

“These guys worked their asses off all year to get to a position like today.” Schlittler said. “We expect a lot out of each other. It’s been great all year, but we just didn’t play our brand of baseball.”

After it was all said and done, following the San Diego Padres’ questionable decision to have Mason Miller come out and pitch in the eighth and ninth innings, speculation arose that he was tipping his pitches.

For the Padres, who find themselves in a 2-0 hole against the Milwaukee Brewers, manager Craig Stammen begs to differ over his two-time All-Star closing pitcher being predictable.

Before the Padres were set to begin a team workout at Petco Park, a day before Game 3 of the NLDS, ESPN baseball reporter Alden Gonzalez wrote that Stammen said, “I think we’ve seen some of that from Mason, and it mostly happens in the appearances where he goes more than one inning.

“I think that’s definitely something strategy-wise that we were very comfortable with going into the game, but something going forward that we may have to adjust as the playoffs go.”

For Miller, he’s built a reputation as being one of the best closers in baseball, holding a 1.67 ERA and leading the National League in 38 saves last season.

In 66 games during the regular season, Miller threw 70 innings. In nine of them, he pitched above a single inning. In seven of those games, he didn’t give up a run.

Perhaps Stammen could be right that Miller wasn’t tipping his pitches. But Sunday night was the worst time for him to not be able to close out the game, as the Padres are on the verge of elimination.

While Miller was six of seven in save opportunities in September, his production trended downward, as he’s given up six runs, five earned, and has been hit nine times while giving up six walks.

Gonzalez reported that Stammen said Miller is still learning how to “keep the same adrenaline in one inning and bringing it to the second inning.”

During his ninth-inning meltdown on Sunday, Miller was in charge of preserving a 3-2 lead but wouldn’t be able to hold up his end of the bargain as he would give up two walks and would throw his 40th pitch of the outing by giving up a two-RBI single to Jackson Chourio to make it a 4-3 loss to the Brewers.

Aside from Stammen not believing Miller is tipping his pitches, Gonzalez reported that 12-year veteran catcher Gary Sanchez wasn’t aware if he was tipping pitches.

“I think even if he was and we were aware of it, hitting 104 is not easy by any means,” Sanchez told Gonzalez.

The Padres and Braves are set to play at 6:30 p.m. in Game 3 on Tuesday as Nick Pivetta will get the start for San Diego.