About Last Night: Rays 5, Yankees 1

About Last Night: Rays 5, Yankees 1

By Derek McAdam

August 1, 2023

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The New York Yankees dropped the first of three games against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium, losing by a score of 5-1, and dropping to a record of 55-51.

Quick Stats: W: Tyler Glasnow (5-3): 7 IP. 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K

L: Jhony Brito (4-5): 4 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 4 K

Domingo German: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

Big Story: In a game that may ultimately determine if the Yankees decide to sell a few players before today’s Trade Deadline, the Yankees found themselves down early in the 1st, as Brandon Lowe launched a two-run home run to give the Rays an early lead. However, in the bottom of the 2nd, Jake Bauers put the Yankees on the board with his 9th home run of the season, cutting the Rays’ lead in half at 2-1. This would ultimately be the Yankees only run of the night.

In the 3rd, Wander Franco launched his 13th home run of the season into the second deck in right field to give the Rays a 3-1 lead. In the 4th, Isaac Paredes hit his 21st home run of the season to make the Rays’ lead 4-1. Josh Lowe followed up with his 14th home run of the season to extend the Rays’ lead to 5-1.

The Yankees had several opportunities to get some runs across the plate throughout the game, but failed to hit with runners on base, specifically Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton.

In one of the most bizarre situations in recent times, Domingo German was scratched from his start just a few hours before the game. It seemed as if he had some discomfort in his armpit, but the Yankees did not want to take any risks, so he was scratched. Brito was called up from Scranton, while Ron Marinaccio was sent down. It ended up working out well for the Yankees, since they could allow Brito to start.

However, German was warming up in the bullpen during the 4th inning. He would then come in during the 5th and throw five shutout innings for the Yankees, which kept the Yankees in the game as close as possible and saved the bullpen.

Player of the Game: Glasnow absolutely shut down the Yankees, plain and simple. He walked Aaron Judge a couple of times, which is a smart move considering how the next two players after Judge are hitting.

Notable Performances: German does deserve some credit for a fine-pitched game. When he first came into the game, his delivery looked a little off, but he recovered well and ended up finishing the game for the Yankees. Yandy Diaz and Parades also had multi-hit games for the Rays, and the Rays’ bullpen was able to shut down the Yankee offense, as well.

Better to Forget: The entire Yankee team would love to forget last night’s game. Over the previous two games, the Yankees have struck out a combined 30 times! You read that right, 30! It’s absolutely inexcusable and shows how bad this team really is.

My Take: It was another horrific offensive performance from the Yankees last night, and one that may likely will result in several players being traded, including the likes of Harrison Bader, Wandy Peralta and Isiah Kiner-Falefa. I would never cheer for the Yankees to lose, but this was a game that I wouldn’t be upset over if they did lose. If the Yankees would’ve won, who knows if Brian Cashman would have been aggressive today. All we know now is that it won’t happen.

The middle of the lineup continues to hurt the Yankees, specifically Stanton and Rizzo. For whatever reason, Aaron Boone continues to put these two players in these spots in the lineup, even though Stanton is now hitting below the Mendoza line for the entire season, while Rizzo has been hitting below the line since his neck injury in late May. They both need to be dropped in the lineup order. Who will replace them? It can literally be anybody.

It’s clear that the pitchers are afraid to pitch to Judge, and decide that the best idea is to walk him and instead face the next two batters. The old saying goes, “Work smarter, not harder,” and this is not a bad philosophy to use if Stanton and Rizzo continue to hit behind Judge.

But let’s discuss these strikeouts. Thirty strikeouts over two games is absolutely abysmal. The Yankees were just taking horrific hacks at the ball time and time again, swinging for the fences and coming up miserably short. There’s absolutely no excuse for this many strikeouts, and who knows if it will get any better.

I was also listening to the Yankees’ radio broadcast from time-to-time, and Suzyn Waldman mentioned that it was the 27th time this season that an opposing pitcher went at least seven innings against the Yankees, which was six more times than any other team in the league. It’s another mind-blowing statistic that just shows how bad this Yankee offense has been this year. They don’t work counts and they don’t create any rallies. It’s a boring team to watch that is absolutely lifeless.

Changes have to be made, but it seems, at least for today, that the wrong players are going to be sent away from the Bronx. I understand that the Yankees cannot just trade a Stanton or a Rizzo or a DJ LeMahieu, but the problems may just continue to get worse as the season goes on.

What’s Next?: The Yankees will host the Rays again tonight for the second game of the series at Yankee Stadium. Zach Eflin is scheduled to start for the Rays, while Carlos Rodon is scheduled to start for the Yankees. First pitch is scheduled for a 7:05 p.m. EST first pitch, and will be broadcast on TBS.

NOTE - We will have a trade rumor thread beginning this morning and going up until the Game Thread tonight.