Over the last several seasons, the Yankees have attempted a teambuilding approach that is less reliant on pure power and more resilient against the kinds of teams which have given them fits: speedy teams that put the ball in play and cover ground in the field. A team like, say, the Tampa Bay Rays. And yet despite their greatest efforts, every season has at least a few series where Tampa crushes their souls by simply getting runners on, over, and in — while doing just enough to keep the Yankee offense at bay. They continued their futility in close games with a 5-4 loss to cap off a weekend from hell at Tropicana Field. The Yankees have lost five consecutive games, nearly eradicating their 8-2 start and destroying their early lead in the AL East.
After the Yankees built and squandered early leads the previous two nights, I suppose they were thinking differently this time around. The top of the order went down easily against Drew Rasmussen, then back-to-back singles off Cam Schlittler set the table for a Yandy Diaz RBI groundout to immediately put the Rays ahead. A leadoff double in reply from Jazz Chisholm Jr. was wasted when Randal Grichuk and J.C. Escarra, who had a combined zero hits entering action, both failed to scratch one across.
Tampa didn’t see what was so hard about it. Cedric Mullins led off the home second with a triple, then sprinted home on a Richie Palacios grounder. Annoyingly, the Yankees had pulled the infield in to cut down Mullins at the plate, but José Caballero failed to handle the transfer cleanly, allowing the former Oriole to score without a play.
The torment continued. Eternal pest Taylor Walls slapped a single, then stole second, continuing a theme of the Rays running roughshod on New York all series. That meant all Chandler Simpson had to do was flip a ball to the opposite field, scoring Walls ahead of Cody Bellinger’s throw. As ever, the Rays’ offense was agile, maneuverable, and at its best with opportunities to score baserunners. The Yankee offense continued sleepwalking, waiting for a perfect pitch that never came.
The top of the fourth was a perfect example of their malaise. Ben Rice and Aaron Judge worked full counts against Rasmussen, only to both go down looking on the payoff delivery. Rice even volunteered an extremely ill-advised challenge in a vain attempt to earn a walk, burning the Yankees’ first ABS review and giving them no margin for error the rest of the way. If we weighed this team on the sliding scale between aggression and passivity, the scale would be tilted all the way to the right.
Chisholm’s double was the Yankees’ only hit until a home run from — who else — Ben Rice finally got the Yankees on the board. Well, that’s what I would say, but following a review, the home run was reverted to a double. Thankfully, the loud sound off Rice’s bat finally woke the Yanks up. After Judge walked, Cody Bellinger plated the run which was promised with a base hit to left. A productive out from Jazz put the tying run in scoring position.
Kevin Cash made the call to relieve righty Cole Sulser with lefty Kevin Kelly, at which point Aaron Boone responded by pinch-hitting Giancarlo Stanton in Grichuk’s spot. While he didn’t bring the thunder, his grounder to second was sufficient to score Judge and bring the Yanks back within one. Austin Wells drew in for Escarra and nearly tied the game with another opposite field knock, but Simpson, the villain du jour, tracked it down to retire the side. He immediately led off the following half-inning with a triple. Junior Caminero followed with a sac fly. It really is as simple as that.
You’ll never believe what happened in the eighth. The Rays got a runner on, advanced him into scoring position, then scored him on a bunt single… sorry, what? You’re telling me that’s exactly what you expected? You’re telling me that you could not have pictured a more typical possible occurrence in a Yankees-Rays game? Well… fair enough. But you deserve to know it happened. The scoreboard read 5-2 after Brent Headrick finally got himself out with a double play.
That insurance run loomed large in the ninth, when Aaron Judge took his frustrations out on a Mason Englert fastball. Judge’s fourth home run of the season snuck over the right field wall — just about exactly where Rice’s non-homer landed, except beyond the fence. There was even a runner on base when he did it, but because of that Caminero sac fly, the Yankees still trailed 5-4.
Jazz was robbed of a hit by second baseman Ben Williamson to bring the Bombers down to their final out. Then Amed Rosario, bless his heart, doubled to center to give the Yankees a pulse. That was where the fun ended. Another of this team’s consistent killers, the bottom of the order, came home to roost yet again. Ryan McMahon took a mighty hack at the first pitch. The ball trickled easily to second base, and the Yankees lost. No wonder.
Tomorrow, the Yankees return to the Bronx to host the Angels. Will leaving the house of horrors known as Tropicana Field break them out of this funk? The Yanks will give the ball to Will Warren against veteran lefty Yusei Kikuchi. First pitch is due for 7:05 pm on YES.
