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Series Recap
·5 min read

Series Recap: Yankees drop two at Trop

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The New York Yankees’ trip to Tampa to face the Tampa Bay Rays was a mixed bag. There were quite a lot of positives to come out of a series in which New York dropped two of three. Giancarlo Stanton and Masahiro Tanaka were superb, Luis Cessa solid and Gleyber Torres back in the lineup. Off the field, the club acquired Zach Britton to bolster the bullpen. On the flip side though, Gary Sanchez went back on the disabled list after an inauspicious performance in the first game. Luis Severino was spotty. Plus, the Yankees bats didn’t overwhelm the Rays with power with runners in scoring position.

GAME 1

There was plenty to unpack from the Yankees 7-6 loss to the Rays. From the greatness of Stanton to a spotty start by Severino, a questionable late bunt and plenty of controversy surrounding Sanchez and his effort level.

GIMPING GARY

As it would turn out the Yankees would place Sanchez back on the 10-day disabled list after re-aggravating a groin injury. Even so, it wasn’t a pretty night for the New York backstop. With two down in the first, a passed ball and lack of hustle to track it down enabled Jake Bauers to score all the way around from second base.

During the ninth, with two outs and the bases loaded, Sanchez hit a ball hard to short, Aaron Hicks was able to beat out the force at second but Sanchez, who didn’t bust it out of the box until it was too late, was thrown out at first base to end the game. Clearly, the Yankees didn’t want Sanchez to bust it and to his credit, he didn’t use the injury as an excuse.

One positive was Sanchez’s RBI-single to left in the sixth.

SPOTTY SEVY

One can’t help but wonder if Severino needs to alter his pattern of pitches. While his eight strikeouts were solid, 11 hits and seven runs allowed (six earned) and two home runs yielded in five frames was not great. Bauers touched him up on a three-run jolt to right in the fifth and Daniel Robertson effectively ended his evening with a solo shot to right-center in the sixth.

On the plus side, Severino recorded career strikeout No. 500.

STANTON SCORCHING

When you’re hot, you’re hot. Stanton had himself a 4-for-4 performance with an intentional walk, two-RBI and two runs scored. His night started with a pop-up double to right-center which the Rays lost in their catwalk ridden dome. Stanton also knocked in a pair with a single to center in the seventh, pulling the Yankees to within one, at 7-6.

ROUND NUMBER ALERT

On an RBI-single to center in the second which squared the game at one, Miguel Andujar recorded career hit No. 100. The rookie third baseman reached the feat in 92 games, tied with Sanchez as the third fastest to do so in franchise history.

FECKLESS BUNT

You don’t have to be in love with analytics to know the sacrifice bunt is a low percentage play. Hence, it was puzzling as to why the Yankees had Didi Gregorius bunt in the ninth.

With runners at first and second and zero outs, the Yankees shortstop laid down a sacrifice bunt and moved both runners up a base. Yet, not only did this take the bat out of Gregorius’ hands, it also took the bat out of the hands of the locked in Stanton, who was intentionally walked with first base open. As we all know by now, the Yankees did not score in the ninth.

GAME 2

The second game saw the Yankees settle in and ride the wave of Tanaka, earning a tidy 4-0 victory.

MASA MOVEMENT MAKES MAGIC

Tanaka was well rested and it showed. His double hamstring injury looks far behind him, as he was bouncing off the mound and fielding his position with ease. On the bump, Tanaka’s splitter and slider were causing serious problems for the Rays bats. While Brian Cashman gave the Yankees bullpen Zach Britton, Tanaka gave them the night off, spinning a three-hit shutout with nine K’s. No cheap home runs, just sheer brilliance from Tanaka.

YANKEES CREATE MANUFACTURING JOBS

The New York offense put the ball in play and it did the trick.

Consecutive singles by Brett Gardner and Aaron Judge in the first, coupled with a wild pitch, set up an RBI chopper groundout by Gregorius, for a 1-0 advantage.

During the fifth, “Mr. Hustle” Austin Romine, grounded out to third against Yonny Chirinos, plating the lightning-quick Tyler Wade, who was pinch running for Brandon Drury, who was hit by a pitch.

MIGGY GETS ‘EM GOING

Andujar set the table in the seventh with a single to left. Bird would follow with a double to left, with Andujar hustling into third. After Wade fanned and Neil Walker was intentionally walked, Romine lifted a sacrifice fly RBI to right, plating Andujar.

In the ninth, Andujar smoked a lead-off double to left off Chih-Wei Hu. With two out, Walker lashed an RBI-double to left, scoring Andujar.

GAME 3

The Yankees got Torres back and had an early lead but what started out as a nice outing for Cessa would unravel in the sixth, in a 3-2 loss to the Rays.

EARLY START

An early start coupled with a change in the opposing starter, with Tampa shipping Nathan Eovaldi to Boston, the Yankees were able to scratch out a run in the second. After leading off the frame with a walk, Torres came around to score from third on a sacrifice fly to left by Walker.

LUIS LUIS

For the second consecutive outing, Cessa provided New York with some length, navigating through the Tampa lineup until a rough spot in the sixth. Heck, one could argue he was the best Yankee starter named “Luis” in this series. In that sixth, however, Cessa surrendered a two-run shot to Kevin Kiermaier to right, giving the Rays a 2-1 lead. Cessa would go 5.1 innings, allowing two runs on four hits, striking out three.

Later in the frame, Jonathan Holder yielded a solo home run to C.J. Cron to center, which proved to be the difference maker.

CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR

In the eighth, Gardner set the table with a walk and advanced to third on a single to right by Gregorius. A Stanton sacrifice fly to center brought the Yankees within one run. Yet, Torres, who flashed the leather all afternoon, fanned to end the threat.

During the ninth, the Yankees were able to get two runners on after Andujar singled and Hicks reached on an error with one out. Yet, Romine would pop out to first and Gardner would strike out to end the game.

ON DECK

At 64-36, the Yankees return home to Yankee Stadium and will play the Kansas City Royals in a four-game series starting Thursday evening.

Pitching probables, Jakob Junis vs. Sonny Gray, Brad Keller vs. CC Sabathia, Heath Fillmyer vs. Luis Severino, Burch Smith vs. Masahiro Tanaka.