Yankees Continue to Play Putrid Baseball as They Drop Two to Tampa
The New York Yankees headed to the Trop to face off in a crucial three game set against the Tampa Bay Rays. Domingo German got the start for the Yanks in game one. German gave up an RBI single to David Peralta in the fourth inning to give the Rays a 1-0. In the top of the seventh German gave up a two run bomb to Christian Bethancourt. This knocked German out of the game. German pitched well yet again. He threw 6.2 innings with two earned runs. Greg Weissert came in and struggled. In the eighth he gave up a two run infield single to Yu Chang. This was crushing as it made the score 5-0. Weissert was pulled and Anthony Banda came on. Banda walked in a run to make it 6-0, and then he walked in another run to make it 7-0. Then Manuel Matgot hit a two run single to make it 9-0. Marwin Gonzalez was called upon to get the final out. This was rock bottom for the Yankees. They trailed 9-0 in a crucial game against their division rival who is right behind them in the standings. The offense was non-existent all night. Nobody on the team is hitting other than Aaron Judge, and this team has shown no signs of breaking out of this massive slump. They lost this game 9-0 in one of the most depressing baseball games I’ve ever seen.
The Yankees needed to turn their season back around. Clarke Schmidt looked to get the Yanks back on track in game two. The Rays got out to a two run lead in the third with a Yandy Diaz two run single. Clarke Schmidt was solid in this one. He threw 4.1 innings with two earned runs. Lou Trivino came in and tossed 1.1 shutout innings. Ron Marinaccio then threw 0.2 shutout innings. Jonathan Loaisiga came in and threw 1.2 scoreless innings. The Yankees bullpen was lights out in this one. Sadly it did not matter because the Yankees offense was dead once again. The offense was being shut out again through eight innings. Down two in the top of the ninth the Yankees looked to form a rally. Aaron Judge leadoff the inning with a solo home run to cut the lead to one. Judge has been carrying this team on his back for weeks now. The Yankees were unable to scratch across another run as they dropped this game by a score of 2-1. The Yankees have officially hit rock bottom. They are on the verge of blowing a 15 ½ game lead and becoming one of the biggest laughing stocks in baseball history. The Yankees offense has been so unbelievably putrid. They need to find a way to salvage game three.
Frankie Montas started game three as the Yankees needed to win this game. This game was responsible for a huge two game swing in the standings. This was as close to a non-mathematical must win as you will see. With the Yankees offense struggling mightily, the Yankees needed to get some early runs on the board. Aaron Judge leadoff the game with a huge solo home run that set the tone for the ballgame. This was one of the biggest swings of the season for Aaron Judge as he continues to carry this Yankees offense single handedly. Frankie Montas has had a rough go of it so far in his Yankee career. He was in the need of a big start, and the Yankees desperately needed a big start out of him. Montas delivered in this game. He tossed five shutout innings with seven strikeouts. This was a really clutch outing from Montas. Lou Trivino came on and tossed a shutout sixth inning. The Yankees needed some insurance runs. Aaron Judge hit a leadoff double in the seventh. He then displayed some incredible baserunning as he advanced to third on a ground ball to shortstop. Oswaldo Cabrera then hit a sac fly to give the Yankees a much needed insurance run. Ron Marinaccio came on for the seventh with a 2-0 lead. He struggled as he only recorded one out and left the game with two runners on. Jonathan Loaisiga came on and escaped the jam. Jonathan Loaisiga then came back out of the eighth and threw a scoreless inning. Clay Holmes came on for the ninth to pick up the save. Holmes was not sharp. He gave up an RBI single to Fransico Mejia to make it 2-1. The Rays then got runners on second and third in a 2-1 ballgame with Yandy Diaz coming to the plate with two outs. On a 3-2 pitch Holmes struck out Diaz looking to win the game for the Yanks. The Yankees picked up a huge win in what was the biggest game of the season to date. Despite this incredible win, the Yankees problems were still glaring in this ballgame. They have no source of offense besides Aaron Judge and they need to pick it up soon. The Yankees now head back to the Bronx to face off against the Minnesota Twins in a four game set. Hopefully the Yankees can start a win streak and turn this season back around.
By: Riley Briggs