Yankees upended by Rays in extras
NEW YORK — José Caballero hit a go-ahead double in the 10th inning and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees 2-0 on Saturday.
Caballero opened the 10th by lining an 0-2 fastball from Caleb Ferguson (0-3) over center fielder Alex Verdugo to easily score automatic runner Richie Palacios. Caballero stole third and scored on a single by former Yankee Ben Rortvedt.
“I was just trying to go the other way. I wanted to knock him in,” said Caballero, who got his first career go-ahead hit in extra innings and was given the green light to steal third. “If I miss, I wanted to move the guy over at least.”
Jason Adam (1-0) retired Juan Soto, Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo in the ninth. He got Soto to hit a fly ball to the left-field warning track and sparked some boos at Judge, who struck out for the fourth time.
“They’re good hitters,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said. “That’s who we want facing them. I think Jason he enjoys and he embraces those big moments and you can argue the three that he went through are as good as any in baseball.”
Garrett Cleavinger pitched a 1-2-3 10th for his first major league save, completing a four-hitter and the Rays’ first shutout this season. Cleavinger earned the save because Cash said struggling closer Pete Fairbanks was unavailable due to a dead arm after experiencing some stomach issues Friday.
“It’s awesome, our hitters showed up when it matters most,” Adam said. “Top to bottom a really well-played game."
New York was blanked for the third time.
“We just didn’t mount enough,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
Following a pregame ceremony to honor retiring broadcaster John Sterling, the Yankees lost for the fourth time in six games as Judge struck out four times for the 10th time in his big league career.
“I’ve heard worse, and I’d probably be doing the same in their situation,” Judge said.
New York starter Nestor Cortes dodged trouble through portions of his outing and allowed six hits in seven innings. The left-hander struck out a season-high nine and walked none in his second-longest outing of the season.
Tampa Bay’s Zach Eflin matched Cortes, allowing three hits in six innings. Eflin gave up two hits to Soto, who is hitting .354.
“Just a lot of strikes, a lot of late movement,” Cash said of Eflin.
Tampa Bay started an all-righty batting order against Cortes, who was aided by a strong throw from center fielder Trent Grisham to third that caught René Pinto trying to advance on Yandy Díaz’s third-inning single.
STRUGGLING
New York 2B Gleyber Torres did not start for the first time this season and grounded out as a pinch hitter for the second out of the 10th. Torres is hitting .195 with no homers and two RBIs and has one hit in his last 29 plate appearances.
STERLING HONORED
After 36 seasons as the voice of the Yankees, Sterling needed just 90 seconds to say goodbye.
Sterling was honored with an on-field ceremony before Saturday’s 2-0, 10inning loss to Tampa Bay, five days after the 85-yearold broadcaster announced his retirement 2 1⁄2 weeks into the season. Flanked by his family, Sterling received gifts that included a jersey with No. 5,631 for his games total, and then addressed the sellout crowd of 47,629.
“What I really want to do is to thank you and I’ll tell you why,” Sterling told the fans, who stood through the tribute. “Person after person, group after group, have come to me with kindness, respect and love, and how lucky can you be for people to celebrate what you do for a living? You know, I had to bring these people up and I had make money to do it. So you, the fans have been phenomenal to me over the past 36 years.”
Bleacher Creatures chanted his name during their first-inning Roll Call.
Sterling, who turns 86 on July 4, explained the unusual timing of his retirement during a news conference before the ceremony, saying it came down to: “I’m really tired, so I’m looking forward to not being on the air.”
“I did it all wrong,” Sterling said. “I should have quit on March 1st or March 15th, but I decided I’d do one exhibition game, which is useless, and you well know, and when we went on that long trip, we went to Houston and Arizona, and, boy, I knew that was it. I didn’t want to work every day — and I told you how long I’ve been working. If you work 64 years and on your next birthday you’re going to be 86. I think it’s time.”
Sterling called 5,420 regular-season games, the last against Toronto on April 7, plus 211 postseason games. Sterling broadcast 5,060 consecutive games from September 1989 through July 2019 after starting with the Yankees as a pregame host. His partners included Jay Johnstone (1989-90), Joe Angel (1991), Michael Kay (1992-2001), Charley Steiner (2002-04) and Suzyn Waldman (since 2005).
Clips of his most memorable calls were played. Paul O’Neill, Bernie Williams and Derek Jeter gave video tributes, Tino Martinez presented sterling silver Yankees cufflinks and Kay and Waldman an engraved silver microphone. He was given a largescreen television, and Haley Swindal Steinbrenner, granddaughter of late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, handed Sterling the special jersey. The entire Yankees team surrounded Sterling for photos.
His baritone voice booming and frequently punching a fist or two in the air to add emphasis, Sterling explained the origin of his signature, exclamatory home run calls.
“It wasn’t meant that way. I just happened to do something for Bernie Williams. He hit a home run and I said, `Bern, baby, Bern!’ And it kind of mushroomed from there. But it never was intended for every player, because, frankly, I’m not smart enough to do something for every player. But I did the best I could, and it’s amazing what started out as — became so big.” His favorites?
“I did say `A-bomb from A-Rod!’ when he hit a home run and I did say: `Robbie Cano, don’t you know,’ and I think those were pretty good,” Sterling recalled of his calls for Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Canó.