Call this message a bumble.
Remove all of these stipulations: just one game Friday at Tropicana Field. Just seven games away from the season. The Yankees remain robust, mathematically alive to capture the 2021 championship.
However, if any Yankee tries to tell you that the club didn’t want to open the series this season with a manure maker in the Rays, after everything that happened last year, stick that person to a lie detection test. Instead, it was Aaron Boone’s group, without Aaron Judge again, that absorbed strong blows to the tune of a 10-5 defeat the day the Rays raised the flag as defenders. of the American League.
“We always want to send a message. We always want you to know who you’re playing for, ”Boone said after this stink.“ But the message is sent year-round to our play, and we have to play [consistently] and play well. If we do, we will be the team we hope to be ”.
The Yankees, who as you know, lost eight of the ten regular-season fights and then the AL Series division to the 2020 Rays, certainly didn’t present themselves as any kind of challenger on that day. Instead, they served as a lifeline to the Rays, who opened their home schedule as homeowners with a 2-4 record, low performance and injuries defining their first week. Joey Wendle, Tampa Bay’s third baseman, said, “It’s a special, fun game. Overall, I think we will remember.
The strong throw, unstable punches and defense and another headache from the judge defined the Yankees ’first week as they went 3-3 at home outside the gate and The Trop didn’t cure anything that suffered them.
Corey Kluber, who was also chased by the Rays last winter when the Yankees landed him for a staggering $ 11 million, went wrong in his second start as a Yankee, failing to make it to the third inning, as he took the lead from his team (a run to the top of the third putting the visitors up, 4-2) and returned it and then some to the bottom of the box. In the spirit of spreading the blame, Kluber did not receive much help from his defense, as DJ LeMahieu’s second-inning error on Yandy Diaz’s ground ball was third: LeMahieu switched to the hot corner because Gio Urshela suffered coronavirus vaccine side effects: he started a two-run concentration. In the next play of this concentration, LeMahieu’s replacement, Tyler Wade, could not prevent a Wendle ground player from reaching the right field.
The rally of the third inning began after Gleyber Torres, a murdered Yankees distance fielder, could not catch Yoshi Tsutsugo’s foul to the left flank after a long run; at another opportunity, Tsutsugo hit a goal in the right field. Although the official scorer did not accuse Torres of a mistake given the degree of difficulty of the play, he could not help but wonder if a shorter field would have gotten the catch.
“It’s a very difficult play,” Boone said. “Viouslybviament, [that and the LeMahieu miscue are] some we hope to do “.
The Yankees’ offensive continued its cold and hot nature bringing together a beautiful rally by Rich Hill, owner of Rays, at the top of the third inning: Wade’s single, LeMahieu’s double, Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron’s single Hicks two-run homer. Still, when the Lightning punched back, the Yankees didn’t return the favor and Nick Nelson, who like almost everyone in the team’s bullring, threw exceptionally through the house, went leave the game out of control with a quarter of a run. The Yankees got four baserunners, including a solo homer from LeMahieu, in the final six minutes.
Throwing another He did not play the judge, due to his mysterious left injury, and the Yankees found few silver liners in the office. Zero reasons to shake the rays since its reintroduction.
“We’ve come a long way,” Tampa Bay second baseman Brandon Lowe said of last year’s Yankees-Rays rivalry. “It simply came to our notice then. It’s over with. Let’s move on. “
The Yankees, still hesitant, made their first shot to move in the rays. For such a talented group, I’m sure so far they’ve sent a welcoming message.