This has been a bad week for the Yankees.
They lost Aaron Judge, DJ LeMahieu and Zack Britton to the injured list last week, dropped five straight games to the Rays – including Thursday’s 10-5 defeat to close out a three-game game at home – and dropped out first place in the AL East.
As if that wasn’t enough, star shortstop Gleyber Torres left Thursday’s game in the third inning with tightness from left hamstring and starting pitcher James Paxton in the fifth frame with injuries to his forearm and elbow. It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post.
What happened Thursday was a summary of everything the Yankees have gone wrong with in the past two weeks – in which they also lost three of four in Tampa and put Giancarlo Stanton on the injured list – and a recap of how easily things fell apart can fall for a World Series favorite in a season 60 with.
Of course, things may be much less for New York than they are now. Between the two series against the Rays, the Yankees beat the Braves twice and took all three games against the Red Sox in the Bronx. Judge is expected to be released from the injured list as soon as Saturday. Gary Sánchez comes out of his rough offensive funk to start the season and plays much better defense. Luke Voit has a straight 10-game streak and a straight four-game straight, and he bakes .405 with six home games in that span.
But the Yankees need not worry about Boston or Atlanta going through to their first World Series since 2009. If it had not already been, it is now clear that their biggest threat this season is Tampa Bay. The Rays have the pitching to smother New York’s clubs, especially if the Yankees are without a third of their starting lineup due to injury, and they’ve got the depth on to plague and ball the Yankees’ rotation if they don’t. best have goods and / or are not at full power.
“It’s definitely a little frustrating to hit so thoroughly,” said reliever Adam Ottavino, who allowed three of the five runs in Tampa’s sixth. All four of this year’s Ottavino came in in the 2 2/3 innings (three games) he placed against the Rays. They are also the only team to score deserved runes from Britton, which saves the league by eight. (He gave up an unearned run to the Red Sox on Sunday night.)
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It’s not just the Yankees either. The Rays went 9-1 over their 10-game roadtrip through Boston, Buffalo and the Bronx, their only loss coming Friday to the Blue Jays. Since floating through Baltimore, which got off to a surprisingly hot start, Tampa has won 13 of its last 16 games. Per Stats LLC, the Rays are the first team in 30 years to sweep series of three-plus games at Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium on the same road trip. Only five teams have ever done that.
“We have a lot of challenges ahead of us, but you don’t have a lot of road trips like we just had,” said manager Kevin Cash.
That next challenge comes this weekend with a series of four games against the Blue Jays at Tropicana Field. Toronto rides a winning streak of five games of its own after the Orioles soar and then takes on both of Thursday’s double-header games against the Phillies. Would a third team participate in the race in the AL East division?
The season is not half over yet, and the Yankees remain the most talented team in the American League, if not in all baseball. They have three more games against the Rays, at home, beginning Monday of the week. In the meantime, they have two weekend series against the Mets – assuming the Subway Series can continue after some positive COVID-19 testing in the Mets organization – and another set of two games against Atlanta.
The Yankees are 15-3 against all non-Tampa teams. They are in no danger of missing the postseason, especially not in this year’s expanded 16-team format.
But it’s not enough for the Yankees to make it just until October. With the signing of Gerrit Cole, a ball that contained four deep shots and a roster of clean walks, they built a team to win the World Series. If they do not, it will not be because of tight hamstrings, shoulder strains like the Houston Astros.
No, it will be because of the Rays.
Quick Hits:
Do not charge the bases against the Padres. Eric Hosmer shook a grand slam in the fifth inning Thursday against the Rangers, San Diego’s fourth straight game with a grand slam, an MLB record.
• The Cardinals won their first nine-inning game since returning from the coronavirus outbreak that forced them to go 16 days without playing.
Yadier Molina hit 4-2 in the ninth with no one out and loaded the bases, hitting an RBI infield single around St. Louis. To bring Louis back within a run in his first game since recovering from COVID-19. Reds closer Raisel Iglesias then baled the track home and let the other two rounds go ahead. After an exit, Kolten Wong lifts a walk-off single to deep right-center field.
• Must be another reason why Fernando Tatís jr. Was right to swing at a 3-0 fastball with his team up 7-0? See what happened to the Phillies in Thursday’s double header second game. Philadelphia scored seven runs in the top of the first inning and had a nice lead until the bottom of the sixth, when it was Toronto’s turn to score seven runs, giving the Blue Jays a two-run lead in their 9-8 win. The only thing less than the unwritten rules is the Phillies’ bullpen.
• The Astros completed a sweep of four games from the Rockies in Colorado on Thursday, giving them eight straight wins. They go for No. 9 without Alex Bregman, who was placed on the 10-day injured list on Thursday. Houston had already played without Yordan Álvarez and Justin Verlander before Bregman lost.
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