Name it a message in a bumble.
Get all those conditions out of the way: just one game on Friday at Tropicana Field. Only seven games behind in the season. The Yankees remain robust, mathematically alive to capture the championship in 2021.
But if a Yankee tries to tell you that the club didn’t want to open this season series with a haymaker to the Rays, after all that happened last year, hook that person up for a lie detector test. Instead, it was Aaron Boone’s platoon, without Aaron Judge again, that took mighty blows to the tune of a 10-5 defeat the day the Rays raised their flag as defending champions of the American League.
“We always want to send a message. We always want you to know who you’re playing against, ”Boone said after this stinker. “But the message is sent all year round, as far as we play, and we have to play [consistently] and play well. When we do that, we will be the team we expect to be. “
The Yankees, who, as you know, lost eight out of ten regular season fights and then the AL Division Series to the 2020 Rays, certainly didn’t present themselves as some sort of challenger on this day. Rather, they served as an ointment to the Rays, who opened their home schedule as owners of a 2-4 record, underperformance, and injuries that defined their first week. Tampa Bay third baseman Joey Wendle said, “Kind of a special game, and fun. It was generally one that I think we’ll remember.
Strong throwing, shaky punch and defense, and another health headache from the Judge defined the Yankees’ first week as they went 3-3 out of the gate on their homestand, and The Trop didn’t cure anything that plagued them.
Corey Kluber, who also chased the Rays last winter when the Yankees landed him for a surprising $ 11 million, did poorly in his second start as Yankee and failed to make it into the third inning when he took his team’s lone lead (a fourth at the top of third place the visitors, 4-2) and handed it back and then some in the bottom of the frame. In the spirit of spreading the blame, Kluber didn’t get much help from his defense as DJ LeMahieu’s second inning throwing error on Yandy Diaz’s groundball led to third place – LeMahieu switched to the hot corner as Gio Urshela suffered from side effects of the coronavirus vaccine – started a two-run demonstration. In the next play of that rally, LeMahieu’s keystone replacement, Tyler Wade, couldn’t stop a Wendle-grounder from reaching rightfield.
The game-turning third inning rally began after beleaguered Yankees shortstop Gleyber Torres failed to snare Yoshi Tsutsugo’s erroneous pop to the left after a long run; with another chance, Tsutsugo singled to the right. While the official goalscorer was rightly not accusing Torres of a mistake given the difficulty of the game, you couldn’t help but wonder if a more adept short stop would have made the catch.
“It’s a very difficult game,” said Boone. “Clearly, [that and the LeMahieu miscue are] the ones we expect to make. “
The Yankees offense continued its hot and cold nature by putting together a beautiful rally with two outs off Rays-starter Rich Hill in the top of the third inning: Wade single, LeMahieu double, Giancarlo Stanton two-run single and Aaron Hicks two-run homer. But when the Rays hit straight back, the Yankees didn’t get back into favor, and Nick Nelson – who like almost everyone else in the team’s bullpen threw through the homestand exceptionally – let the game get out of hand with a fourth run of four. The Yankees were to four baserunners in the last six innings, including a solo homer by LeMahieu.
Throw in another Judge’s Did Not Play, due to his mysterious left side injury, and the Yankees found few silver linings in the office. No reasons to shake the Rays from their reintroduction.
“We passed,” said Tampa Bay second baseman Brandon Lowe of last year’s chippy Yankees-Rays rivalry. ‘What happened has happened. It is over. We go on. “
Still wobbly, the Yankees blew their first shot to move on the Rays. For such a talented group, they’ve certainly sent an inviting message so far.