The New York Yankees on Monday went into a 4 game series against their nemesis Tampa Bay Rays. Over the past two years, the Yankees have had a losing record against the Rays, and this year has been no different. They went into Monday’s game 2-6 against them this season. Unfortunately, the Rays won Monday’s game 3-1. But the Yankees have managed to take the last two games, opening up the possibility of taking the second series in a row from the Rays. Back on May 13th, the Yankees won their first series against the Rays in the last two years. If they can do that again, it will be the first time they have accomplished that in the last four years.
In the first inning, with Gerrit Cole on the mound, he faced Randy Arozarena to start the game; he flew out to Andujar in left. Yandy Diaz hit into a force out at second. Austin Meadows tapped back to Cole for the final out of the half, bringing up the Yankees. DJ LeMahieu faced Ryan Yarbrough and singled to right field. Gleyber Torres had a sac push bunt moving LeMahieu to second. Aaron Judge flew out to right. Gio Urshela, with two out and one on, went down looking, stranding LeMahieu. No score.
The second inning was led off by Manuel Margot, who flew out to Gardner in right-center. Joey Wendle flew out to Andujar in left. Mike Zunino went down on strikes to end the half. At the bottom, Rougie Odor ground out to first. Clint Frazier struck out. Miguel Andujar towered out to center for the final out. No Score.
Taylor Walls led off the top of the third inning by striking out. Kevin Kiermaier ground back to Cole but beat him to the bag for the out. Arozarena flew out to Gardner. Kyle Higashioka ground out to third. Gardner hit a homer to right. LeMahieu ground out to short. Torres flew out to center to end the inning, but the Yankees got on the board with Gardner’s first home run of the season. New York Yankees 1 Rays 0.
At the top of the fourth inning, Brandon Lowe walked. Diaz went down looking. Meadows got a two-run homer into the Yankee bullpen as the Rays pulled ahead of the Yankees. Margot popped out to second. Wendle struck out to end the half. At the bottom, Judge got a base hit to center. Urshela lined to left for a double, moving Judge to third base to set up the Yankees in the fourth with no outs. Odor flew out to foul territory in right, holding the runners. Frazier, with one out and two on, went down looking. Andujar struck out stranding two. Tampa Bay Rays 2 Yankees 1.
Mike Zunino led off the top of the fifth inning by walking. I seldom say this, but it seems that Cole is not getting the benefit of the calls afforded to Yarbrough. Walls went down looking. Kiermairer running to first went outside the baseline to avoid a tag but was still called safe. Arozarena went down swinging. Lowe doubled driving in Zunino. Diaz singled, driving in two more runs. Meadows flew out to left, but the Rays tacked on 3 more runs. At the bottom, Higashioka popped out to second. Brett Gardner, who has scored the only Yankees run, doubled. LeMahieu was tagged out going to first with Gardner moving to third with two outs. Torres ground out to short stranding Gardner. Tampa 5 Yankees 1.
With Nick Nelson on the mound at the top of the sixth, Margot ground out. Wendle went down on strikes. Zunino was plunked by a pitch and advanced to first. Walls struck out swinging to end the top. At the bottom, with Yarbrough still pitching, Aaron Judge flew out to right. Urshela chopped out to third. Odor popped out to third. Tampa 5 Yankees 1.
With Nelson still on the mound in the seventh, he struck out Kiermaier. Arozarena hit a single off Nelson that bounced into the outfield. Arozarena stole second. Lowe walked. Diaz walked to load the bases with Rays. Meadows hit a bases-clearing double. Margot ground out to Urshela. Wendle singled driving in Meadows. That was Nelson’s day replaced by Luis Cessa got the final out. At the bottom, ground out to short. Andujar homered into the left-field stands. Higashioka flew out to far left. Gardner hit it on screws directly to Lowe for the final out. Tampa Bay Rays 9 Yankees 2. Aaron Boone was thrown out of the game when he pointed back at the home plate umpire when he returned to the dugout after replacing Nelson.
In the eighth inning, with Cessa on the mound, he got to Walls to fly out to center. Kiermaier ground out to second. Phillips got a two-out double. Lowe flew out to the left-field was with an excellently executed catch by Andujar. Yarbrough, with 92 pitches, was still on the mound, and he struck out LeMahieu on a questionable call causing LeMahieu to slam his helmet on the floor of the dugout. Torres flew out. Judge popped out to first. Tampa Bay 9 New York Yankees 2.
Brooks Kriske took the mound for the Yankees in the ninth and got Brosseau to ground out to Urshela. Meadows ground out. Margot reached on a tip off the glove of Odor. Wendle ground out to end the half. With last licks on the line for the Yankees and with Yarbrough still on the mound with 103 pitches, Gio Urshela took to the plate and struck out. Odor flew out to the right field warning track. Frazier flew out to left to end the game.
The New York Yankees split the four-game series. The final score was the Tampa Bay Rays 9 and the New York Yankees 2. The losing pitcher was Gerrit Cole and the winning Ryan Yarbrough with a 113 pitch complete game.