
Despite a strong start, injuries and poor performance have hindered the Yankees. It just keeps getting worse and worse for the team.
It has not been fun for the New York Yankees given the ways things have been going recently. They were just handed another series loss from a Tampa Bay Rays team that’s been below .500 in the AL East for most of the first half of the season. New York hasn’t won a series since June 10-13. Lately, New York has shown a lot of urgency that would help them get out of the slump. But it doesn’t get any easier. The team now travels to Baltimore to face the first-place Orioles.
Carlos Rodon First Inning Struggles Continues
After such a strong start to the season, things have not been going well for SP Carlos Rodon. The Yankees thought he would be the ace they were expecting, but they were wrong. Over his last three starts now, Rodon has allowed 15 runs over 14.1 innings pitched. That is not good. Despite the offense giving him an early lead, the southpaw surrendered four runs in the opening frame. It all began with an RBI double from OF Randy Arozarena and an OF Alex Verdugo error, pushing across the tying run before 3B Isaac Paredes would crush a three-run homer to make it 4-1.
Rodon did eventually settle down for the next four innings. He finished the night throwing 95 pitches (55 strikes) over his four innings, giving up four runs on five hits and two walks while striking out five. The bullpen then took care of business. The only run allowed was charged to RHP Michael Tonkin, who had surrendered an RBI double to OF Jonny DeLuca. Still, they were very effective nonetheless.
As for the offense, there wasn’t much to see from it. They scored first but were then held scoreless until the top of the seventh inning. 1B Ben Rice, hot since his Triple-A call up, helped the team inch closer. With a man on base, Rice would launch a two-run homer to right-field to cut the Tampa Bay Rays deficit within one. The Rays would eventually answer back with another run on a DeLuca double.
The Bullpen Leads the Way
Wednesday’s game showed a better pitching performance coming from the Yankees. On the mound for New York was RHP Marcus Stroman. Lately, he has been solid even through their recent slump. He pitched through four-and-one-third solid innings, but it wasn’t deep enough to earn him a win. After giving up back-to-back hits and a force out, Tampa Bay left manager Aaron Boone no choice but to take him out. Stroman was at 84 pitches already. So changing pitchers was the necessary move to make.
Coming in to relieve Stroman was LHP Tim Hill. The plan to bring him in worked. He would strike out OF Josh Lowe before getting Arozarena to line out, eventually escaping the jam for the team. The bullpen was solid despite them getting into trouble multiple times throughout the game. The Yankees pitching staff held the Rays to 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranded 12 runners.
Speaking of the offense, not much happened in this entire game. The two runs came from OF Trent Grisham, who surprisingly is starting to hit despite his early struggles. He also made a great catch in the eighth inning that saved the game from blowing out of proportion for the team.
Nestor Cortes’s Road Woes Continues
It has been clear that LHP Nestor Cortes isn’t the same pitcher when he’s pitching on the road. Tampa Bay wasted no time getting to him early in the first inning. It started by a misjudgment from Grisham, who lost track of 1B Yandy Diaz’s fly ball resulting in a double. Arozarena then crushed a two-run homer to put Tampa Bay up 2-0 early.
The Yankees did answer back to erase the Rays’ lead. Homers by both C Austin Wells and OF Juan Soto gave the offense some life. Unfortunately for the Yanks, it did not last long. Cortes would surrender three more runs in the bottom of the third inning. 2B Brandon Lowe gave the team the lead on an RBI single, which saw Alex Verdugo make an offline throw to the plate. An RBI by SS Ahmed Rosario followed by a sac fly from OF Jose Siri brought in two more runs.
Those runs would eventually end Cortes’s night. He finished through 4.1 innings pitched, allowing five runs and struck out just four.
As for the Yankees offense, they weren’t done just yet. They would bring home another run on a sac fly by Rice. The damaged was stopped there as New York struggled to keep the inning going. The team did make some noise late in the eighth inning, but they failed to score with the bases loaded. The tying and go-ahead runs were left stranded. Pitching coach Matt Blake was ejected on a 3-2 pitch that should’ve been ball four to pinch-hitter C Jose Trevino.
