On any given day, the New York Yankees‘ offense could disappear for a full game, but when they’re on, they are unstoppable. The Yankees demolished the Tampa Bay Rays 9–1 on Monday afternoon, with every player aside from leadoff man Ben Rice picking up a hit. Rice struck out three times over five at-bats, lowering his season averages to .200 with a .297 OBP. He’s regressing to the mean as a rookie, but the rest of the batting order got involved in a fun day.
The Yankees’ Offensive Dominated
Star slugger Juan Soto contributed three hits and two home runs, including four RBIs (one of his home runs hit the Suite level, traveling 424 feet).
Aaron Judge collected two hits, and cleanup hitter Austin Wells posted three hits with a solo homer in the second inning. Even Anthony Volpe got on the board with two hits and a solo home run immediately after Wells. The Yankees collected 15 total hits with three walks and 10 strikeouts, with the bottom half of the order contributing heavily as well. Struggling infielder DJ LeMahieu posted his first home run of the season but struck out twice in the outing.
A Crucial Series Split
Altogether, this was a complete performance from the Bombers, who desperately needed to answer the Rays, who had taken two of three games ahead of the series finale. The Yankees split the series with Tampa and will now look forward to facing the New York Mets, who host a 50–48 record this season and have lost two of the first three games against the Miami Marlins following the All-Star break.
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Pitching Prowess
As for the Yankees’ pitching, Carlos Rodon delivered a gem, tossing seven innings of one-run baseball. He struck out 10 batters, with the only run coming via a Jose Siri shot in the 5th inning when the Rays were already down 4-0.
Rodon utilized his fastball prominently and finally was able to locate it, tossing 101 pitches with 67 strikes. The bullpen did their job as well, with Tommy Kahnle and Jake Cousins allowing just one combined hit over two innings to finish things off. The Yankees needed a dominant performance like this to regain some confidence ahead of the trade deadline next week.