About Last Night: Rays 5, Yankees 3

About Last Night: Rays 5, Yankees 3

by Derek McAdam

July 10, 2024

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The New York Yankees lost yet another game to an AL East opponent last night after the Tampa Bay Rays won by a 5-3 score. Here’s a quick recap of the game.

Quick Stats: W: Ryan Pepiot (5-5): 5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K

                     L: Carlos Rodon (9-7): 4 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K

                     S: Pete Fairbanks (15): 1 IP, 1 H, 1 K

HRs: NYY: Ben Rice (5). TB: Isaac Parades (15)

The Big Story: After losing yet another series over the weekend to the Boston Red Sox, the Yankees were hoping to start off the series against the Rays with a victory. In the 1st, with runners on the corner, Gleyber Torres lined a single into left field to put the Yankees on the board with a 1-0 lead. It was also Torres’ first game back in the lineup since he was pulled from last Friday’s game with an injury.

However, the tone quickly shifted in the bottom of the inning when Carlos Rodon took the mound. With a runner on first base, Randy Arozarena hit an RBI double down the left field line to tie the game at 1-1. After an Amed Rosario single, Isaac Paredes hit a three-run home run into the left field seats to give the Rays a 4-1 lead, still with no one out. However, Rodon was able to finish the inning, and his portion of the game, without any further damage done.

It was another game where the Yankees failed to capitalize with runners on base, until Ben Rice stepped to the plate in the 7th and hit a two-run home run into the right field seats to cut the Rays’ lead to 4-3. Rice is second on the team in RBIs since he made his MLB debut on June 18, only trailing Aaron Judge.

However, the Yankees allowed Tampa to push another run across the plate after Jonny DeLuca served an RBI double into right field to score Jose Siri from first base, making the new score 5-3 Rays.

Pete Fairbanks came on in the 9th to close out the game. DJ LeMahieu hit a single into right field, with Oswaldo Cabrera coming on to pinch run. With two outs, Juan Soto gave the ball a ride to deep left-center field, but Siri caught it just before the warning track to end the game.

Player of the Game: I’m never big on giving this award to an opposing player, but Parades’ home run sealed the Rays’ victory early on in the game.

Notable Performances: Jake Cousins had a couple of good innings in relief for the Yankees, striking out five in the process. LeMahieu also had a couple of hits, which raised his batting average to .206. Sure, it seems ridiculous, but the Yankees could desperately use some bats in the bottom of the order to start hitting.

Better to Forget: It was no doubt one to forget for Rodon. First innings have not been kind to him this year, as he carries a 9.50 ERA in that inning.

My Take: The frustrations just continue to grow for this Yankee team. There is not much offense that is pushing runs across the plate and the starting pitching continues to be an issue.

First, I’ll briefly discuss Rodon. I’m getting some very similar vibes about Rodon as I did Jordon Montgomery in 2022, meaning that Montgomery was also a pitcher that struggled in the first inning but would settle down afterwards. I’m not sure if it’s nerves for Rodon or whether he is just not completely settled in, but the first inning just continues to eat him alive.

What makes this situation even worse is that the Yankees’ offense is absolutely brutal to watch right now. Just six weeks ago, if the Yankees were down 3-0 or 4-0 in a game, they wouldn’t necessarily be counted out of the game. Nowadays, specifically after the 1st inning last night, I didn’t have much faith that this team would come back to win, let alone tie the game.

With regards to the offense, it was once again another dreadful performance. The Yankees were able to get runners on the basepaths, but simply cannot get them across the plate. The “swing for the fence” mentality seems to be in full display, and it is simply not working, which has been a common theme for a very long time.

This streak of baseball that the Yankees are playing is simply not a cold streak, but an absolute collapse. A bad streak of baseball may consist of a week to 10 days of winning two or three games out of 10. But the Yankees have won six games since June 14. Nothing seems to be clicking for this team whatsoever. The Yankees are 13-17 against the AL East this season, which is yet another issue that this team is repeating yet again from seasons past.

The Yankees need to regroup and simply focus on tonight’s game and force a rubber game matchup tomorrow.

What’s Next?: These two teams will be back in action tonight, with a 6:50 p.m. EST. First pitch. Marcus Stroman is scheduled to take the mound for the Yankees, while Zach Eflin is scheduled to go for the Rays.