The New York Yankees met up with the Tampa Bay Rays for game 2 of a three-game set at Tropicana Field last night. They entered the game 1-9 at Tropicana Field and left the game 1-10 after losing another game to the nemesis Rays. The fact that starter Domingo German didn’t help the situation is a minor story because the Yankees hitting has been awol at the beginning of this season. The Yankees are now scoring 2.1 runs per game early in the season.
This game has led the Yankees to dig out of a hole that has them 1.5 games behind the lowly Boston Red Sox and losing two games to the 2020 East winner Tampa Bay Rays. As close as the season is supposed to be between the Yankees, Jays, and Rays, these early games are important, and the Yankees are losing them. Meanwhile, Yankee manager Aaron Boone continues to paint a rosy picture of how the Yankees are doing early this season.
Yankee hitting is awol again
As a New York Yankee writer and fan, I would like to write about Yankees hitting, pitching, and winning; instead, I have to write about how most industry professionals have previously said the Yankee lineup is one of the best in baseball, but so far in the first eight games on the 2021 season is anything but.
In the past two years, the Yankee has suffered greatly with a multitude of injuries. This year the team, for the most part, is healthy and should be operating on all cylinders, but it’s not. Hitting for 6 out of 8 games has been silent. To win games, you need to have successful back-to-back hitting to win games. So far in this season, the Yankees don’t have enough hitting to think about back-to-back hitting. In yesterdays game against the Rays, they could only muster up 5 hits in nine innings of play. The result, they were shut out by their East rivals.
The bottom line here is that if they can not win against the Tampa Bay Rays, they will not win the East division, as they also have to contend with the Toronto Blue Jays that they are also behind. The New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays will meet up 19 times in this 162 game season. They must win the majority of those games. To do that, they are now going to have to dig themselves out of a hole.
Domingo German bombs again
The Yankees’ best pitcher in spring training, Domingo German, has now bombed out in two starts in a row. In German’s first game in the second inning, he allowed a home run to Baltimore’s Vlad Guerrero Jr., then Grichuk hit another homer off German and had to be replaced by Michael King. Yesterday German in the first inning, gave up a homer to Austin Meadows. Home runs, even when he is pitching well, have always dogged German. In his second inning, he allowed a single and another two runs scored. In the third inning, he allowed a home run to Randy Arozarena, ending his day on the mound. The New York Yankees were shut out in the game, losing 4-0.
The silver lining
If there is a silver lining to this game and the season in general, it’s that the Yankee bullpen has been outstanding. In Yesterday’s game after German, the bullpen did not allow a run. Justin Wilson, Jonathan Loaisiga, and Luis Cessa combined for 5 innings of scoreless baseball. The problem with this is that the starters are not going deep into games, thus overusing the bullpen. If this continues, the bullpen will burn out. It’s a 162 game season. The Yankee rotation must step up and pitch more innings, or there will be a burned-out bullpen should they reach the postseason.
Game preview
The New York Yankees will meet the Tampa Bay Rays again today for the final game of a three-game set at Tropicana Field. With Jordan Montgomery on the mound, the Yankees will hope to at least win one game of the series. Montgomery was totally dominant in his first start of the season. He will face Brent Honeywell Jr. making his major league debut after not pitching for 3 and a half years due to multiple surgeries. The New York Yankees should be able to win this game if the Yankee hitters cooperate. The 1:10 pm game will be televised on Bally Sports Sun in Florida and the New York area on the YES Network.