If this is how the Yankees put together a “Welcome Home” party, then count us out on the next invitation. New York dropped their third consecutive game to a division rival on Friday, losing a late 1-0 lead to fall 4-2 to the first-place Rays despite an impressive season debut from their ace, Gerrit Cole.
The Yankees are now 30-22 and trail the Rays in the AL East by 5.5 games. They will need to return to their winning ways over the weekend if they want to get even somewhat close to the current division
leaders, who have already swept them once this year.
The offense will need to be much better, though. After scoring just once in the last two games against the Jays, the Yankees’ lineup didn’t really do much against the Rays in the opener. They did log 11 hits against Nick Martinez and company, but producing with runners in scoring position was a problem, as they finished 2-for-12 in those situations.
Cole was the primary reason why the Yankees were even in the game tonight. He gave his team six strong, scoreless innings in his season debut after spending over a year on the shelf while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. He surrendered just two hits, topped out at 98.6 mph, and even though he walked three, the Rays didn’t stand a chance against him. Cole struck out two, inducing a whole bunch of weak contact and popups on the first second pitch, needing just 72 to get through six.
Cole’s batterymate was responsible for his slim 1-0 lead, too.
Struggling catcher Austin Wells got to Martinez in the fifth inning for a long solo homer that traveled 392 feet and left his bat at 106 mph. It was his fourth long ball of the season, a bright spot in an otherwise rough year for him at the dish.
Brent Headrick got into some issues in the seventh frame with Cole gone from the ballgame, but Fernando Cruz bailed him out with two huge strikeouts that protected the Yankees’ one-run lead at the time. Too bad it didn’t last much longer.
Just when it looked like the Yanks had the game in control, the Rays’ offense got to work in the eighth frame against Tim Hill. José Caballero, fresh off the injured list, committed a costly error to open the inning that put the speedy Chandler Simpson on base.
Then, Junior Caminero singled to put runners in the corners, and Jonathan Aranda tied the game with a double. Hill intentionally walked Yandy Díaz, but allowed a crushing and somewhat lucky two-run single to Richie Palacios that narrowly missed Hill’s glove, giving Tampa a 3-1 lead. At that point, manager Aaron Boone mercifully removed the lefty from the game, but put in the inconsistent Camilo Doval.
The righty did well to limit the damage, immediately surrendering a sac fly to Ryan Vilade but otherwise keeping the Rays in check and getting out of the inning. The damage was done, however. Hill was saddled with the loss after failing to register an out, conceding four runs (three earned) on three hits and a walk in the process. Cole’s brilliant outing was wasted.
New York didn’t go down without a fight. With one out in the bottom of the eighth, Cody Bellinger hit a two-bagger that preceded Paul Goldschmidt’s strikeout to give away the second out of the inning. Jazz Chisholm Jr. tripled with the help of Tampa Bay’s outfielders to bring Bellinger home with the second run of the night for New York. It’s a good reminder that it’s not as though the Rays played a perfectly pristine game; indeed, they had a runner picked off at second base on two separate occasions on this night. Regrettably, the Yankees couldn’t capitalize enough on their own opporunities to take advantage.
The Yankees couldn’t put any additional runs on the scoreboard. Although they had a shot in the ninth when Bryan Baker walked Wells to bring Trent Grisham and Aaron Judge to the plate as the tying runs, Grisham hit a slow groundout and Judge’s 396-foot drive died at the left-center-field wall.
If the nasty weather stays away, the Yankees will try to stop their three-game skid on Saturday afternoon. They will send Ryan Weathers (2-2, 3.58) to the mound against Drew Rasmussen (4-1, 3.19) starting at 1:35 pm ET.
