The day after Aaron Boone’s strict conversation with the Yankees, they come up empty again.
The Yankees cleared their defense and even left it offensive, but the end result was still the same: they lost a fourth straight game and fell 6-3 against the Rays at Yankee Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The game barely eased the frustrations that arose Friday night when the Yankees made three mistakes and once again had a quiet game offensively in an 8-2 loss. Boone addressed his team after the game, and although his players said he conveyed his message, it did not lead to immediate dividends on Saturday as the Yankees fell to 5-9 on the season and had the weakest record in the American league.
The radiation axis, Tyler Glasnow, did not have the order early on, but the Yankees could not take advantage and scored just one run before ending up in a ditch. The Yankees tried to make a comeback in the seventh inning, behind Rougned Odor’s solo home run and Aaron Judge’s RBI doubles that made it 5-3, but Aaron Hicks and Giancarlo Stanton ended the threat.
Jordan Montgomery gave the Yankees a solid start, with four runs over six plus overs, while providing much-needed rest to a recently taxed bull. He allowed only two shots, but both were home runs. He was charged for the fourth run in the seventh innings when Manuel Margot kicked off Joey Wendle’s knockout, Jonathan Loaisiga, from two runs.
The Yankees had their chance to attack immediately against Glasnow, who were on the road early on with his stands but could not take advantage. They loaded the dogs twice in the first inning, but Brett Gardner put an end to the threat.
Glasnow ran two more batsmen to lead the second innings, leading to DJ LeMahieu’s RBI single that tied the game. But Judge strikes and Hicks leads to beach two more runners.
Francisco Mejia gave the Rays a lead at the top of the second inning with a solo run to the short sidewalk in the right field. After the Yankees tied the game, the Rays turned to the long ball again to take the lead again in the fourth inning.
Eventually, Glasnow settled down and retired eight straight before LeMahieu started the fifth. However, the right hand of the Rays ended his day strongly, with the result of Judge and Stanton helping him to get through the innings with the lead of two runs.
The Yankees lost Gary Sanchez in the fifth innings after the catcher took a nasty tip from his bare right hand in the top of the fourth innings. However, X-rays were negative, and the Yankees described Sanchez as day-to-day with his right and middle fingers.
The Rays added an assurance in the ninth inning when Mejia rallied Justin Wilson with an RBI double.