The New York Yankees‘ offense has been malnourished the past few games, scoring two runs on Friday and a whopping one on Saturday afternoon with Gerrit Cole on the mound. Injuries have plagued the unit, and despite the return of DJ LeMahieu to the lineup, they weren’t able to get much going against Corey Kluber.
The Bombers had taken the first two games of the series against Tampa, but their latest defeat has showcased a serious liability — a lack of scoring production.
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Good news and bad news as Yankees’ offense struggles in loss to Tampa:
On the afternoon, the Yankees posted just four hits, striking out nine times and producing one run. The only batters to get on base were DJ LeMahieu, Aaron Judge, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Joey Gallo. The team didn’t record a single walk, allowing Kluber to go 6.0 innings in just 80 pitches.
The Yankees tested Kluber early in the 1st inning, with DJ leading off with a double to right field. Judge slapped a single to left, moving DJ to 3rd base. After Anthony Rizzo drove into a run with a pop-fly, Gleyber Torres lined out to 1st base, doubling up Judge, who was leaning. After that spark of action, the Yanks failed to get anything going the rest of the way.
Wasting a solid pitching performance from Gerrit Cole wasn’t ideal, as he carried the team 6.0 innings, allowing just one run. The bullpen didn’t fare well after Cole was pulled, tossing 105 pitches. Lucas Luetge and Michael King gave up two runs over the final 3.0 innings. King has struggled during his past few outings, giving up six runs in the last 2.2 innings pitched.
The Yankees will look to bounce back in the finale game of a four-game series on Sunday at 1:40 PM with Luis Severino on the mound against Shane McClanahan.