The New York Yankees now trail 2-0 in the American League Division Series after falling to the Tampa Bay Rays 5-2 on Monday night at Tropicana Field, a loss built in large part on defensive mistakes.
Three first-inning errors by New York allowed Tampa Bay to grab an early 1-0 lead when Junior Caminero hit into a fielder’s choice against Yankees starter Cam Schlittler. It was the fifth time in Yankees postseason history that the team has committed four or more errors in a single game.
New York answered in the fourth inning when Ben Rice hit a solo home run off Rays starter Freddy Peralta to tie the score. The Yankees had a chance to take the lead in the fifth after loading the bases, but Cody Bellinger flew out to the warning track against reliever Cam Booser, stranding all three runners.
Tampa Bay capitalized immediately in the bottom of the fifth. An RBI groundout from Liam Hicks, an RBI infield hit from Chandler Simpson and a two-run single from Richie Palacios turned a tied game into a 5-1 Rays advantage.
Rice provided the only real offensive spark for New York the rest of the way, hitting his second home run of the night in the eighth inning to cut the deficit to 5-2. The Yankees’ frustration was compounded when a fly ball off the bat of Spencer Jones struck the Tropicana Field catwalk and was ruled an out under the ballpark’s live-play rules, a scenario that echoed a similar play involving Ty France at American Family Field on Saturday.
Tampa Bay’s win follows an eight-inning no-hit performance by Drew Rasmussen in Game 1, a game the Yankees also lost after Austin Wells was thrown out at third base while trying to break up the no-hitter.
With their season now on the line, the Yankees return home to the Bronx for Game 3. New York will send ace Max Fried to the mound against Nick Martinez, a 15-game winner for the Rays this season, as the team tries to stay alive in the series.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login