NY Post | Greg Joyce: The Yankees were off on Sunday, but those who wanted to stay sharp didn’t go to Tropicana Field. Instead, they went to their own spring training facility, George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. Some pitchers reportedly threw there, and some position players also used the team’s facilities to work out ahead of Game 2.
“You’ve got a full facility, our training stuff, modalities, things like that, plenty of fields to get whatever space you need,” manager Aaron Boone said on a video
call Sunday. “We’ve got Trajekt for guys who want to get on that. And staying in Tampa, it’s a quick, easier back and forth.”
NY Post | Mark Suleymanov: The Yankees dropped Game 1 of the ALDS on Saturday. While they won’t take the field on Monday with the season on the line, it certainly feels like it – losing Game 2 would leave them in a 0-2 hole. “It’s a must-win [game],” former captain Derek Jeter asserted during Fox Sports’ postgame coverage. Tying the series behind Cam Schlittler would certainly give New York the kind of boost they need ahead of two (hopefully) key games in the Bronx.
SNY | Anthony McCarron: Yes, Saturday’s 1-0 loss hurt. However, according to McCarron, the quality pitching showing on the Yankees’ side in the series opener plus “the looming spectre of Cam Schlittler in Game 2 (and Game 5) are all evidence that this ALDS is far from over.” Drew Rasmussen being up one more time is certainly a problem, but the Yanks have the arms to match the Rays. They do need their hitters to, well, hit.
The Athletic | Chris Kirschner: Austin Wells committed what could be a ‘season-altering’ baserunning blunder in Game 1. He hit a double off Rasmussen, the Yankees’ first hit of the night, and thought he had a chance to go for the triple. Kirschner described the moment in the words of the catcher himself.
“I put my head down and went for it,” Wells said. Wells, for a moment, loved his chances. There was one point during his race, however, that he knew he would be tagged out. “This was the chance I was going to take with the game on the line,” he said. “I thought it kicked pretty favorably in my way.”
