STUMBLE IN THE BRONX
Rays, replacing Sox as Yankee rival, beat Bombers again, handing them first 2020 loss at Stadium
Luke Voit strikes out with bases loaded in seventh inning as Yanks fall to Rays, 6-3, putting more heat on Bombers in race for AL East title.
So much for home-field advantage. The Rays came into now sterile Yankee Stadium and dominated the Bombers just like they were playing in Tropicana Field. Masahiro Tanaka was hit hard and the Bomber bats was controlled by Blake Snell and the Rays bullpen as the Yankees suffered their first loss in the Bronx this season, 6-3.
The Yankees (16-7) saw their six-game winning streak snapped and their 10-0 record at the Stadium this season blemished with the loss. While there are 37 games to play in the “regular” coronavirus-shortened season, the Rays (15-9) cut the Yankees' lead in the American League East to 1.5 games.
The Rays have won four out of five games against the Yankees this season.
“They've got us the last four or five so you know it's frustrating,” said Luke Voit who hit a home run for the second game in a row. “They're a good team, they've got, good pitching, good defense and they can hit a little bit and it's nice to have Gerrit (Cole) on the mound tomorrow. We know he's gonna go out and dominate like he always does. So It'll be good to have our ace on the mound and hopefully get us back on track in the winning column.”
Cole, the right-hander the Yankees spent $324 million on this winter, needs to put things back in perspective for the Rays, who had gone 2-8 in the Bronx last year and were 13-35 coming in here over the past five years.
Tuesday night, with no fans to add to the atmosphere, the Rays looked comfortable in the Bronx.
“It will definitely be a little bit more peaceful,” Kiermaier told the Tampa Bay Times about playing in the Bronx without the fans.. “I don't have to hear so many bad words out there in the outfield, talking trash to me or the guys next to me. So that will be a nice little change of pace, for sure.”
The Rays were certainly comfortable against Tanaka, who struggled to command his pitches, leaving them up in the zone. The right-hander was hit hard on his splitter — giving up a home run to Austin Meadows on one that floated — and also on his fastball, which Brandon Lowe crushed for a three-run homer in the third inning.
It was a short night for Tanaka, who turned the game over to rookie Nick Nelson with no outs in the fifth. Tanaka allowed six runs, five earned, on eight hits. He did not walk a batter, but struck out two.
That was a surprise coming off his last start against the Rays, when he pitched five scoreless, one-hit innings. Since 2018, Tanaka had pitched to a 1.72 ERA against the Rays, but Tuesday they simply teed off on him.
“I always say this, but everything kind of always comes down to my mechanics. You know if that is sound, everything kind of falls into place, but it was out of sync today and I feel like I was off balance all night,” Tanaka said. “I'll definitely need to clean this up until my next start.”
The bullpen, behind three scoreless, one-hit innings from rookie Nick Nelson, gave the Bombers a chance, but their bats could not catch up.
Blake Snell allowed three runs on four hits. He walked two, struck out two and gave up two home runs.
Gary Sanchez hit his fifth home run of the season, a twoout blast 419 feet into left field. Luke Voit, hitting leadoff for the first time since 2010, hit his third home run in the last two games. The slugger's shot dropped into the left-field bullpen.
The Yankees had a chance to take control in the bottom of the seventh with the bases loaded, but Voit struck out looking and Gio Urshela grounded out to third.