The bottom of the Yankees lineup has caught a lot of flack for being automatic outs in the early going this season. Naturally, on a night when the 6-9 hitters drove in four runs and Max Fried threw eight innings of three-run ball … the Yankees still lost. Why, you ask? Take away José Caballero’s two (!!) hits with runners in scoring position and the Yanks were 0-for-10 in those situations. Meanwhile, for as good as he was, every single time the Yankees scored for him, Fried immediately gave the runs back. Add it all up and you have the recipe for the usual despicable Yankee loss at the Trop.
I noted in the game preview that one of Rays starter Nick Martinez’s calling cards early has been a lack of walks. So, of course he put Trent Grisham on with four pitches leading off. I also noted he has not been striking guys out. So, of course he whiffed Aaron Judge. Cody Bellinger, who has been scuffling of late, turned on a cutter in the middle of the plate and singled down the right field line and later stole second, putting two runners in scoring position.
A golden opportunity for an offense that desperately needs to score runs. Alas, Ben Rice struck out looking on middle-middle heat and Giancarlo Stanton drove an absolute missile directly at the left fielder. Opportunity squandered.
Austin Wells came into today hitting .152 with neither a home run nor an RBI on the young season. He rectified that in the top of the second, turning on an inside fastball and driving a ball out down the right-field line.
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No cheapie, it would be a dinger in all 30 parks. And speaking of guys who have been brutally struggling, Ryan McMahon managed a single later in the frame, boosting his average to half a Mendoza Line (.100). It was no home run, but anything the bottom of the lineup can do that isn’t an uncompetitive at-bat is a pleasure to see.
With the offense semi-somnolent, it was absolutely incumbent on Yankee ace Max Fried to hold the Rays down, and he did so in the first. Unfortunately, Fried coughed the run support back up in the second. Junior Caminero doubled and moved to third on a groundball. One dunk single into right field later, Caminero was home and the game was tied. Given the offense’s struggles, it felt like Fried had already ceded his margin of error.
The bottom of the lineup was back doing their nonsense in the fourth. Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit his second weak fly ball of the game, having seen a total of three pitches total to that point. I will not harp on Wells’s swinging strikeout considering he was the sole reason the Yankees were in the run column. I will pick on Caballero who, after yet another uncompetitive at-bat, was now 1 for his last 28. I found myself really missing Anthony Volpe right about then.
The Yanks had a golden opportunity to break the game open in the top of the fifth. A pair of walks, to Grisham and Rice, and a Bellinger single, loaded the bases and sent Martinez to the shower. In came righty Kevin Kelly to face Big G, with the sacks juiced and two out. Stanton, with a .325 career average with the bases loaded, promptly whiffed. Opportunity squandered.
Back to the bottom of the lineup in the sixth and Chisholm continued his skid, making him 2 for his last 24. After Wells hit a hard groundball out to second, Caballero struck out. Literally the entire Yankee lineup, other than Rice and to an extent Stanton, was ice-cold simultaneously.
Max Fried retired 11 in a row after giving up that second inning RBI, then ran into trouble in the sixth. Who, you ask, broke that streak? There can be only one. Taylor bleeping Walls. Walls came into today with a career OPS 135 points higher against the Yanks than his overall mark. So, of course he singled to start the home sixth. Fried then had Yandy Díaz take him for a ride to left. Luckily, Bellinger flashed some leather for the first out or the frame could have gotten out of hand.
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Another single put runners on the corners and Jonathan Aranda, unlike the Yankees, made his opportunity count. His sac fly to left gave the Rays their second run and the 2-1 lead. You would be forgiven for assuming you could put this game in the loss column, considering the Yankees’ grand total of six runs in their last 3.5 games.
With Fried’s pitch count in great shape (74 through six), Aaron Boone sent his ace back out for the seventh. The star southpaw made Boonie look like a genius, retiring the Rays in order.
The Yankees put themselves in position for a big inning in the eighth. After Stanton walked, Randal Grichuk came in to pinch-run. Then Chisholm, who needed a hit the way a man dying of thirst in the desert needs water, hit a chopper down the first base line that ended in a double. That gave Wells a chance to tie the game without a hit. He failed. A bad at-bat ended in a fly ball too shallow to score the run. All of that meant it was Caballero Redemption Season. And the Yankee shortstop came through. His double to left scored a pair and gave the Yanks a 3-2 lead.
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Fried returned for the eighth, with Boonie opting to roll with his ace. This time, it did not work out as well as he surrendered a leadoff double. A bunt moved the tying run to third and turned the lineup over again for Diaz. And Diaz did his job. His infield single tied the game, though Fried escaped without any further damage.
With one out in the ninth, Judge walked for the second time and immediately stole second, putting the go-ahead run in scoring position for the heart of the order. But the Rays retired Bellinger and intentionally walked Rice, leaving the Yankees’ hopes resting on Grichuk. He came into the at-bat hitless as a Yankee. He left the at-bat hitless as a Yankee.
Fernando Cruz and Tim Hill combined to hold the Rays scoreless in the ninth and send the game to extras. Grichuk started on second as The Manfred Man, advancing to third but with two out. Luckily, Caballero was at the dish. His second hit with runners in scoring position plated the go-ahead run and gave Cabby three ribbies on the night.
The bottom of the 10th quickly became a nightmare. Chandler Simpson, who entered late as a pinch-runner, bunted off David Bednar to put runners on the corners with no one out then immediately stole second. Walls then bunted and brought the ghost runner in to tie the game, leaving runners on the corners still with no one out.
Boone opted to walk the bases loaded rather than face Diaz. It worked at first but a weak Aranda chopper scored the winning run. The ball never left the infield and it didn’t matter.
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Game over. And for anyone who’s watched the Yankees in extra innings on the road the past couple of years, there should be zero surprise. It’s like clockwork. They fail to do the little things, and they lose.
The Yankees try to avoid the sweep tomorrow in the series finale. Join us for all the coverage. First pitch is at 1:40pm Eastern and you better have your Schlitt together because super sophomore Cam Schlitter gets the start.
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