The New York Yankees lost for the second consecutive time in the ALDS against the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday.
In what started off as a close contest tied 1-1 in the third inning quickly became a blowout. With Aaron Judge hitting a sacrifice fly to right field, driving in Brett Gardner, shortly after, the Rays responded with a three-run home rub off the bat of Kevin Kiermaier.
The pitching for the Yankees was once again a trip tonight, failing to contain the Ray’s and Randy Arozarena. This loss puts the Yankees in a problematic position, as they must win game four and hope that Gerrit Cole is able to pitch in game five.
FINAL SCORE: 8-4
Good news and bad news for the New York Yankees:
GOOD NEWS:
There wasn’t much good news in the loss to Tampa, aside from one impressive statistic. Slugger Giancarlo Stanton hit a home run for the fifth consecutive game.
Stanton now owns the record for the most consecutive games with a homer in postseason history. The last player to reach five was Juan Gonzalez in 1996 and Ken Griffey Jr. in 1995.
Offensively, the Yankees were unable to get anything going striking out nine times and recording seven hits. Stanton has been on a tear, but the remainder of the lineup was tumultuous.
BAD NEWS:
The Yankees pitching was disastrous in game three, with starter Masahiro Tanaka allowing five and runs over four innings. He currently has an 11.25 ERA this postseason.
Normally, Tanaka is a fantastic option during exhibition games, but the Yankees are going to have to rethink their strategy going to 2021, as their starting pitching has not gotten the job done.
Moving onto their bullpen, Chad Green allowed two earned runs over one inning. His tough season continues and his 9.00 ERA only attests to that. The remainder of the bullpen gave up one run and two hits over four innings, but the Yankees were unable to get anything going offensively to spark a comeback.
One of the biggest negatives from the contest was the lack of consistency from the umpire. Just before Kiermaier hit a three-run home run in the fourth inning, the home plate umpire missed two obvious balls that would have walked in a run and put Giancarlo Stanton at the plate. That was a changing point in the game and essentially could have determined the outcome.
Tanaka stated following the game:
“It comes down to not executing when I really needed to.”Â
With Jordan Montgomery taking the mound in game four, the Yankees’ offense will need to be well and alive.