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The Yankees made this game difficult for themselves by not scoring in innings two through eight. Pitching, for the most part, did all that could be asked for. But on a night when Boston and Toronto both won (Seattle’s result won’t be known until later), the power outage for most of the game doomed the Bombers. As such, the Yankees haven’t reduced the magic number, the pressure on New York continues to grow as the Rays continue to love nothing more than killing the Yankees’ playoff chances.
The Rays took an early lead in this one. After Nasty Néstor Cortes Jr. knocked out AL Rookie of the Year nominee Randy Arozarena and caused a weak flying ball from prodigy Wander Franco, the timeless Nelson Cruz put down a Cortes offer in the left-field seats. The score was 1-0 before many fans crossed the concession line.
Gleyber Torres did his part to bring the Yankees back to par in a rare lead start. He snatched a fastball in the left corner of the field for a first double bagging. Table? Adjust. Big boppers? Who looms. Rays starter Shane McClanahan managed to sail with Anthony Rizzo and Aaron Judge to secure the first two strikeouts. But Giancarlo Stanton pulled it off (as usual) and tore a 112 mph single to right field, scoring Torres and putting the game on a level playing field.
The top of the second featured more of the same, unfortunately, as the Rays regained the lead. A pair of one-out singles sandwiched a Joey Gallo web gem that kept the round from getting even worse. With two away, Kevin Kiermaier netted a shallow left field single that marked the second inning of the Rays game. Gallo made his second great defensive play of the round to nail Francisco Mejía to third place for the final withdrawal. Too bad, however.
After the second inning, the game settled into an uneventful pace, marked by the Rays and Yankees mowing down hitters, and Hall of Fame and GOAT closest, Mariano Rivera, joining Michael Kay and Ken Singleton in the YES stand for several rounds.
The Rays went to the bullpen to start the end of the fourth inning. Right-hander Pete Fairbanks relieved McClanahan after the latter pitched three innings of one-run. Aside from a single infield from Gio Urshela, the Rays reliever has been through the set. Cortes also appeared to be in the lead of fifth. But with two strikeouts, he ceded a triple to Kiermaier, who was building a resume for the biggest pain in the back of that game.
Aaron Boone then decided it was time for a change. Clay Holmes came in relief from The Nasty One. Holmes surrendered his skipper’s faith and hit Arozarena looking to keep the game 2-1. The Yankees obediently fell in the fifth inning, however, and suddenly Stanton’s 112mph RBI single from earlier seemed to have taken place a lifetime ago. Up to five, data has confirmed this, with the Yankees’ balls in play up to this point with an xBA of .185. This is not what you want.
With two outs early in the sixth and one man following a Holmes walk, Boone slipped back into the mound again. This time, the task of keeping the Rays down fell to Wandy Peralta. He too made Boone look like a genius, removing Ji-Man Choi to send the game to the bottom of the stanza.
The judge came home late in the sixth and threw a ball into shallow right field. No bike ride record on that one, but it did give the Yankees a baserunner and caused a “Let’s Go Yankees” chant from a crowd that had been almost catatonic for previous rounds. Alas, it was for nothing. A strikeout from Stanton and a Gallo rocket to right field later… seventh with the Yankees down 2-1.
The top of the seventh started innocently enough as Peralta recorded two quick strikeouts. Unfortunately, these were followed by a single and a BPH. In the enclosure! To escape this jam, with two sur and Arozarena looming, Boone enlisted the help of recently returned Jonathan Loáisiga.
Just to make things more tense, I’m sure Johnny Lasagna accompanied Arozarena to load the basics of the Wander Franco phenomenon. Not tense at all. What followed was one hell of a strike from Franco, but on the 8th toss to batting, on a 2-2 count, Franco couldn’t put his bat on a 100mph ballast painted and away. Crisis averted.
The start of the eighth inning saw the return of a familiar face. Domingo Germán took the mound for the Yankees for the first time since July 31. The choice to insert him into a high-leverage situation in a game-winning match for his first appearance in over two months was curious of Boone’s part, but it worked. It got a little squirrely for a while. In the end, Germán blocked the only runner he allowed, with strikeouts from Choi and Margot.
Germán came back for the ninth and after pulling one out, started walking back to back Rays. Boone summoned … Albert Abreu to face the top of the order of the Rays in a virtual game impossible to circumvent. Considering the first eight innings of this match, another innings heralded misfortune. Abreu, who has admittedly been quite good, is an interesting decision with Aroldis Chapman and Chad Green still in the box. Hopefully someone gets an answer * from Boone on the thought process there.
Update: Not a lot of a response.
Of course, the Rays made the Yankees pay. Wander Franco, with runners in the second and third and two outs, hit a full count offering the middle for a two-run single. 4-1 spokes.
Late in the ninth, however, the Yankees woke up. After a Groundout from Aaron Judge, Stanton snatched a ball down the left center and took second place on a wild pitch into the infield. He quickly took the third base after the Rays placed four defensive players in the outfield. With the Rays in an extreme turn, Gallo quickly pushed Stanton back to 4-2. Gio followed this up with a single. Two above. An outside. Energy in the stadium.
Gritty Gutty Brett Gardner continued his scorching second half with an RBI single to score Gallo. 4-3 Rays and build more electricity at Yankee Stadium.
Gary Sánchez then headed for the flat as a pinch hitter, but he hit on three pitches, leaving the game in the hands of Rougned Odor. Unfortunately, he too went on strike. And the fact that he knocked in that place does not bode well for the health of DJ LeMahieu, who was unavailable; 4-3, ray final. The return is short. Now all Yankees fans can do tonight is put down roots against the Mariners.
Tune in tomorrow at 1:05 p.m. EDT for Game 2 in the Bronx. Jordan Montgomery takes the hill for the Yankees, facing Shane Baz.
The score of the box
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