Yankees Game 117: Baby Bombers homer but pitching struggles in loss

Aaron Judge makes it two games and two home runs but Luis Severino and the New York Yankees pitching struggles in the blowout loss.

Tampa Bay Rays 12 – New York Yankees 3

Looking to complete the sweep of the Rays, Luis Severino made his emergency return to the rotation.

In the first inning, Yankee Killer Evan Longoria came up with a run-scoring double to put the Rays ahead by one early. Severino surrendered a solo home run to Logan Forsythe in the third inning as well, to put the Rays ahead by two. The game remained 2-0 until Aaron Judge made an impact in the third inning. Leading off the inning, Judge made it two home runs in two games with a solo home run to right field.

Aaron Judge is the second player since in Yankees history since Joe Lefebvre in 1980 to hit home runs in the first two games of his career.

Looking to hold the Rays to two, Severino came out for the fourth inning but could not stifle the Rays. With one out, Matt Duffy hit a single and Nick Franklin got into scoring position with a double but Corey Dickerson made it irrelevant what base they were on when he hit a three-run home run to left field. After a pair of singles by Steven Souza and Bobby Wilson, Severino struck out Forsythe but was removed from a struggle of a game. Luis Cessa came on in relief and walked the bases loaded before a bases-clearing double to right past a diving Judge made it a six-run fourth inning that put the Rays ahead by seven.

In just 3 2/3 innings, Luis Severino allowed seven runs on eight hits with one walk and seven strikeouts.

Gary Sanchez added two runs for the Yankees when he hit a two-out, two-run no doubt home run into left field to bring the Yankees within six. Luis Cessa pitched two scoreless innings of relief but the third inning on the mound was costly.

In the seventh inning, Evan Longoria and Brad Miller reached base with one-out singles and Longoria scored on the single by Matt Duffy. Nick Franklin extended the Rays lead with a three-run home run to put the Rays ahead by nine. Blake Parker pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Cessa. Chasen Shreve added an inning of relief but the Yankees could not muster any additional offense to overcome the steep deficit that snapped a four-game winning streak.

Win – Jake Odorizzi (7-5)

Loss – Luis Severino (1-8)

Notables

Rays

*Evan Longoria – 3 for 4, R, 2 2B, 4 RBI (70)

*Nick Franklin – 3 for 5, 2 R, 2 2B, Three-run home run (3) in the 7th, 3 RBI (20)

Yankees

*Gary Sanchez – 1 for 4, R, Two-run home run (2) in the 4th, 2 RBI (6)

*Aaron Judge – 1 for 3, R, BB, Solo home run (2) in the 3rd, RBI (2)

Current Yankees Record: 60-57