Yankees’ worst start since ’97
Not even ace Cole can stop slide as last-place N.Y. loses fifth straight
A Tampa Bay Rays’ 4-2 win Sunday caps a three-game sweep that extends the Yankees’ skid to five games.
Yoshi Tsutsugo hit a tiebreaking double off Gerrit Cole in the seventh that lifted the Tampa Bay Rays to a 4-2 win Sunday and a three-game sweep that extended the Yankees’ skid to five games. New York fell to an Al-worst 5-10, its poorest start since 1997.
“I’m frustrated, personally frustrated,” said AL batting champion DJ Lemahieu, who concluded the Yankees were “tight and pressing.”
“We’ve got to find it within ourselves to continue to get better and play the way we’re capable of,” Lemahieu added
Opener Andrew Kittredge, Ryan Yarbrough (1-2), Diego Castillo and Jeffrey Springs (first big league save) combined on the Rays’ second three-hitter of a series in which New York managed 11 hits in all. Tampa Bay outscored the Yankees 17-7, and New York pushed across just three runs other than on homers.
“We got great players in that room,” Yankees manager Aaron
Boone insisted. “They do know that at their core, obviously, we’re getting punched in the mouth right now.”
Cole (2-1) was hurt by slipshod defense that made three mistakes in the Rays’ two-run third inning alone, two by Hicks in center and one by Clint Frazier in left. One of the three runs off Cole was unearned, giving the Yankees a major league-high.
Joey Wendle added a ninth-inning homer off Darren O’day, prompting boos from the crowd of 10,606, who saved their loudest jeers for the final out.
New York has lost five straight for the first time since Sept. 4-8, getting outscored 30-14.
“You have to strap your boots on and wade through the mud a little bit,” Cole said. “If we stay in that mindset and we leave the field every day exhausted, good things are on the horizon, but I don’t have the magic wand. I don’t know when it’s going to turn.”
Aaron Judge struck out three times and is 4 for his last 28, Hicks has 1 hit in his last 15 at-bats, Gleyber Torres 3 in his last 24, and Giancarlo Stanton, despite a second-inning home run, is 3 for his last 26. Frazier is 1 for his last 24 and does not have an RBI in 40 plate appearances this season.
New York’s batting average is down to .210, one point above Al-worst Cleveland.
Yarbrough allowed one run and two hits in five innings, and the Rays beat the Yankees for the 18th time in 23 meetings. Tampa Bay swept a series for the second time in its last three visits.
Cole retired 13 in a row before Wendle singled with one out in the seventh. Tsutsugo, his average down to .146, followed with a shot to right-center for an RBI double and a 3-2 lead.