Andres Chavez
The New York Yankees dropped their fourth game in a row on Saturday night, as the Tampa Bay Rays earned a hard-fought 5-4 victory at Tropicana Field, playing some small ball and taking advantage of the Yanks’ defensive blunders.
The box score will tell you that New York committed no errors, but their defense cost them at various instances. In the final play in the bottom of the tenth, for example, Jazz Chisholm Jr. could’ve tagged Yandy Diaz, who was running from first to second, and thrown to first for the inning-ending double play. Instead, he bobbled the ball, and the Rays walked things off.
Nick Martinez became the latest starting pitcher to dominate the Yankees, and the second one from the Rays after Steven Matz did it on Friday. Martinez allowed eight baserunners (five hits, three walks) but held the Bombers to one run in 4.2 innings of work.
Fried’s Eight Innings Weren’t Enough
The Yankees got a strong outing from Max Fried, who gave them eight quality innings in which he surrendered three runs, six hits, and no walks. He fanned six, and his ERA for the season is now at 1.93. It wasn’t enough, though.
The Yankees were actually the ones striking first. In the top of the second, catcher Austin Wells launched his first home run of the year, a 105.5 mph drive that cleared the right field.
Jonny DeLuca tied the score in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single to right that sent Junior Caminero, who had doubled, home. Jonathan Aranda hit a sac fly in the bottom of the sixth against Fried to give his team a 2-1 lead.
The Yankees would flip the score in the top of the eighth, in the unlikeliest of ways. Jose Caballero, who entered the game hitting a meager .125 in 43 plate appearances, hit a two-run double that drove in Randal Grichuk and Chisholm.
Tampa would knot the score again in the bottom of the eighth, though. Yankees manager Aaron Boone decided to leave Fried in the game with one out and a runner at third, and the left-hander conceded a game-tying single to Diaz.
Caballero Did His Best To Bring The Yankees Back To Life
After Chisholm and Wells failed to bring the ghost runner home, Caballero did it with another RBI knock, a single, to give the Yankees a brief 4-3 lead in the top of the tenth.
The Rays, however, went full small ball mode in the bottom of the tenth and won the game with bunts. Chandler Simpson laid down a perfect one to reach base and send the ghost runner to third, and the latter scored on a safety squeeze executed by Taylor Walls.
With the bases loaded, closer David Bednar allowed the chopper to second base that Chisholm couldn’t quite field cleanly, ending the game with the fifth and final run.
The Yankees and Rays will wrap up their three-game set at Tropicana Field on Sunday, at 1:40 pm ET. Cam Schlittler (2-0, 1.62) will take the ball for the Bombers, facing the solid Drew Rasmussen (0-0, 1.80).
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