About Yesterday: Yankees 4, Rays 0

By Derek McAdam

April 21, 2025

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The New York Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Rays by a score of 4-0 on Easter Sunday, securing a series victory and improving to 14-8 on the season. Here’s a recap of yesterday’s game.

Quick Stats:

W: Max Fried (4-0): 7.2 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 2 K

L: Ryan Pepiot (1-3): 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 K

HRs: Trent Grisham (6), Cody Bellinger (2), Austin Wells (4)

The Big Story:

The Yankees were looking to brush off Saturday’s terrible loss and go for the series win on Sunday. And they wasted no time on Sunday getting off to a good start. Leading off for the first time this season, Trent Grisham hit a solo home run into the right field seats, his 6th home run of the season. It was also his first leadoff home run since 2021, when he was with the San Diego Padres.

With runners on the corners in the top of the 3rd, Bellinger, who has been struggling so far this season, grounded into a fielder’s choice to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead and bring his RBI total to 11 on the young season.

Although Oswaldo Cabrera made a couple of errors in the field, the Yankees did have a couple of inning-ending defensive plays that were spectacular to see. In the 4th, Fried picked Christopher Morel off second base following a Cabrera error. In the 5th, Grisham made a spectacular diving catch and then doubled up Danny Jansen, who was attempting to tag up from first base and was tagged out at second.

In the 6th, Bellinger sent his 2nd home run of the season into the right field seats to extend the Yankees’ lead to 3-0.

While the Yankees made a couple of solid defensive plays earlier, they continued in the 7th. With Fried’s no-hitter still in tact, Jazz Chisholm Jr. made a diving catch with one out in the bottom of the 7th. Fried hit the next batter, but ended up working out of trouble still without giving up a hit through seven.

In the 8th, Aaron Judge hit a rocket down the left field line that was ruled foul by the umpires. The call was questioned multiple times by the YES Network broadcasters and even reviewed by the umpires, who upheld the call. Judge then struck out looking on a borderline pitch, which resulted in frustrations from both Judge and Aaron Boone, the latter of whom was then ejected for the first time this season.

Going into the bottom of the 8th, Fried’s no-hitter was taken away…but not quite for the reason you may think. In the 6th, Chandler Simpson beat out a ground ball, but the official scorer called an error on Paul Goldschmidt. Yes, it was the wrong call, but it was not even changed within a reasonable time. However, Fried would give up a hit to lead off the bottom of the inning, so the talks of the bad call could now be settled.

Fried was taken out of the game after 7.2 IP, and Fernando Cruz was called on to get a four-out save. 

However, in the 9th, Wells hit an opposite field home run to give the Yankees a 4-0 lead and a helpful insurance run. The home run was his fourth of the season. But it was not going to be a simple end to the game for the Yankees for the second straight day in a row.

Cruz walked the first two batters in the bottom of the 9th, putting the tying run on deck. However, after striking out a batter, he got Jansen to ground into a double play to end the game and secure a victory for the Yankees.

Player of the Game:

There is no doubt in my mind that Fried deserves this award. He was able to help the Yankees preserve their bullpen and gave them yet another stunning performance.

Notable Performances:

Bellinger was in need of a good offensive performance, and he definitely had a couple of solid at-bats yesterday. Anthony Volpe was another player who could have used some good at-bats, and he definitely did have a couple of them.

Better to Forget:

Following Saturday’s loss in which he committed a crucial error, Cabrera could have used a solid start, defensively, at third base. And yet he followed it up with two more errors.

My Take:

Saturday’s loss was painful to watch, but the Yankees came back on Sunday and put that right behind them. This was a victory that carries a lot of weight early on in the young season, as they will now head to their next destination fresh off a four-game series victory.

It is still early, but Fried has been a fantastic pickup by Brian Cashman. Not only has he improved with each start, but he has taken on the role of the rotational ace in wake of Gerrit Cole’s absence.

The one big point I wanted to discuss was the missed call in the 6th inning. I thought instantly Simpson had himself an infield single to beat out Fried to first base, but was surprised when it was ruled an error. But when the call was changed right before the bottom of the 8th inning, I was even more surprised that it took so long to change. However, I think YES Network went a bit overboard with the reaction.

Michael Kay seemed to continuously beat a dead horse with his point that the official scorer should not have made the change at that time. Yes, I agree with Kay, but he needed to give it a rest. After Fried gave up a leadoff single in the same inning, Kay continued to go on about the missed call. It even came to a point where YES Network gave the official scorer a name plate and continued to pan a camera to him. I thought this was simply too much.

And then there was Judge’s home run that just missed…or so they say. This was a scenario in which if the umpires called it a home run, it would have stood as a home run. It was also unfortunate that these games took place at Steinbrenner Field, where the foul poles are shorter and there is not many definitive reference points to use. If it was at Tropicana Field, it would have likely been a much easier call to make.

Nonetheless, it was a much needed win for the Yankees to take with them up north, where the weather is going to be much cooler than the four warm/hot days in Tampa.

What’s Next?

The Yankees will head to Cleveland for a three-game series against the Guardians that will begin tonight. Clarke Schmidt is scheduled to start for the Yankees, while Gavin Williams is set to take the mound for the Guardians. First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 p.m. EST from Progressive Field.