The Yankees have found themselves in an all-too-familiar situation once again and will fight for survival as they return to the Bronx to face the Rays in an elimination game.
Who’s to blame? Well, let’s look at the facts. The Yankees’ pitching rotation isn’t first on the list, with both Gerrit Cole and Cam Schlittler allowing two or fewer earned runs, but the offense appears to be on life support. Ben Rice is one of the few saving graces for this team, but the infield’s inability to execute has put
the whole squad in a distressing situation.
Starting Ryan McMahon at third backfired for the Yankees almost immediately in the first inning, when the third baseman fumbled a routine ground ball that allowed Yandy Díaz to reach safely instead of throwing him out at first. It would be astounding to see him start again on Wednesday night over José Caballero or Anthony Volpe.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. also made an egregious error worth noting in Game 2, completely misfiring his throw to Luis García Jr., which gave Tampa Bay their first run of the evening. His response to the errorwas even more shocking following the game, when the second baseman admitted that he’d still make the throw despite having his back turned to properly execute it. Chisholm Jr. remains hitless in this series and has yet to make an impact on either side of the ball.
Gerrit Cole battled through a solid five innings in the first game of the series, striking out five batters and giving up only one run. Jonathan Aranda’s long ball was the only scoring on either side, and I’d say that the Yankees’ offense was far more at fault for the 1-0 loss in Game 1.
Cam Schlittler got through 4.1 innings, striking out two and allowing two earned runs in 76 pitches during Game 2, and held back the Rays’ offense long enough for the Yankees’ infield to throw away any hopes of evening the series for their return to the Bronx.
The offense is lifeless in the ALDS
Despite coming off two electric wins scoring a combined 18 runs in the Wild Card Series, the Yankees’ offense was no match for Rays’ ace Drew Rasmussen, who completely dominated the Yankees with 10 strikeouts and a no-hitter through 7.2 innings in Game 1.
Spencer Jones, Trent Grisham, and Cody Bellinger all struck out twice in the first meeting of the ALDS, and the Yankees’ only hit of the night came from Austin Wells with a double in the eighth inning. He unfortunately made the poor decision to ignore coach Luis Rojas’ stop sign and go for the triple, and was tagged out at third by Rays’ third baseman Junior Caminero following an elite play from shortstop Taylor Walls.
Taking a deeper dive into the Pinstripes’ offense, Ben Rice has been one of the only players in the lineup who’s shown up in this series, with a game-tying home run in the fourth of Game 2 and another late home run that cut the deficit. Bellinger was one of two other Yankees who got a hit on Monday night with a single following Rice’s first homer, and gave fans a sliver of hope that this offense might come alive. He also crushed one deep into center, which would’ve been a grand slam in 12 of the 30 ballparks, but it flew into the glove of Jonny DeLuca to send the game into the bottom of the fifth.
Wells got the only other hit of the night, redemption from his erroneous decision-making that was one of the reasons preventing the Yankees from making any headway in Game 1.
It’s clear that the depleted Yankees’ offense and egregious errors cost them their shot at evening the series. This is not an unfamiliar situation, as they’ve started several series on the road down 2-0 in the last five years. The last team in franchise history to erase the 2-0 deficit in a Division Series was the 2017 Yankees, who defeated the Guardians in five and later fell short in the ALCS to the Astros in seven.
Aaron Boone, after sending out an unchanged lineup for most of the postseason so far, must take the heat for failing to lead this team down a different path this time. They’ve been down this grueling road before, but there is little change from each postseason run that ends in the same demoralizing fate year after year. The Yankees ended the 2025 season, notably including a healthy Aaron Judge on the roster, with a four-game ALDS loss and were outscored by the Blue Jays in a combined total of 37-16.
Right now, it’s obvious that this team is completely depleted of offensive momentum, and it’s about time to shuffle the order as the Yankees go into survival mode.
Down 2-0 in the series with a looming return to the Bronx, the Yankees have their work cut out for them to continue this postseason run.
