Yankees erase four-run deficit before falling to Rays
Yankees relief pitcher Albert Abreu has words with the Rays' Randy Arozarena after Arozarena was hit with a pitch during the fifth inning of a game Friday in St. Petersburg, Fla. Credit: AP/Chris O'Meara
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Aaron Boone spent a bit of time Wednesday — and again Friday — tossing bouquets at the Tampa Bay Rays. “There’s no real weaknesses,” he said.
Boone’s beat-up and foundering club put up a fight after a rough start Friday night but ultimately witnessed that firsthand. After rallying from an early four-run deficit, the Yankees fell to the Rays, 5-4, in front of an electric crowd of 25,007 at Tropicana Field.
The Rays (27-6), who upped their lead over the Yankees (17-16) to 10 games, captured the season’s first matchup between two clubs with a healthy dislike of each other. The fact that the Rays’ Randy Arozarena was hit by pitches twice after his early home run didn’t improve the relationship any.
“We have to go out and play. I don’t care what the number is, we gotta go play well,’’ Boone said, irritated by a question about the 10-game deficit. “And if we do, we’ll put ourselves in a good position. You can ask me tomorrow, how important it is? It’s important. You can ask me if it’s double-digits. I get it. We have to get right and we have to play well, or none of it matters. It’s a long season. We’re grinding right now. It’s tough for us right now, and we’ve got to find a way. The guys are competing their [butts] off.”
The Yankees fell behind 4-0 after three innings but stormed back with a four-run seventh highlighted by Harrison Bader’s three-run homer.
But after the Yankees tied it, leftfielder Jake Bauers misread and then misplayed Wander Franco’s liner in the bottom of the seventh — the play inexplicably was scored a double — which allowed Yandy Diaz to score from first for a 5-4 lead. Diaz initially was called out after Anthony Volpe’s excellent relay, but the Rays challenged and the call was overturned.
“That ball’s gotta be caught,’’ said Bauers, who initially turned the wrong way, had the ball go off his glove and then kicked it around. “Bad read, got a bad jump on it, couldn’t recover . . . No excuses. That ball’s gotta be caught.”
The Yankees put runners at second and third with one out in the eighth, but Bader popped to short and pinch hitter Isiah Kiner-Falefa struck out.
Jhony Brito wasn’t bad but was no match for the Rays, who, in addition to having the terrific pitching and defense they always seem to feature, have one of the top offenses in the game.
The Rays, now 22-0 this season when scoring first, took a 1-0 lead in the first on a two-out homer by Arozarena. He was hit his next two times up — by a 95-mph sinker from Brito that rode up and in and by a 97-mph fastball in the fifth from Albert Abreu. After the second one, Arozarena stared down Abreu and whipped his bat toward the Rays’ dugout. The umpires convened and issued warnings to both dugouts, which prompted Rays manager Kevin Cash’s first ejection of the season.
“I understand they’re upset,’’ Boone said of the two HBPs. “Your guy gets hit twice, I’d be upset, but at the same time, we’re just trying to get in on him there a little bit. Two of them got away, obviously. I get it all, but no intention.”
Tampa Bay made it 2-0 in the second on Jose Siri’s sacrifice fly, and Yandy Diaz’s ninth homer, which tied Arozarena for the team high, made it 3-0 in the third. Franco followed with a double and came in three batters later on Harold Ramirez’s groundout to second for a 4-0 lead.
Severino, Rodon latest. Before the game, Boone said by all accounts — he wasn’t there to see it in person — Luis Severino came through his three-inning simulated game earlier in the day just fine. The plan is for the righthander, who started the season on the IL with a right lat strain, to begin a rehab assignment next week with either Double-A Somerset or Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Severino, who threw 40 pitches, figures to need at least three rehab starts before being cleared. Lefthander Carlos Rodon said he is over the left forearm strain that caused him to start the season on the IL, but a back issue cropped up after he faced hitters April 5 and he currently isn’t throwing. After consulting with three specialists, Rodon will receive a cortisone injection in his mid-back early next week.
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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