ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The seemingly impossible dream of winning back-to-back championships will have to wait for another day.
The Yankees had a chance Thursday to win consecutive games and the series for the first time since mid-June, but fell short on either.
Nestor Cortez got off to another rough start on the road as the Yankees squandered opportunities, especially with runners in scoring position late in the innings, to lose 5-4 to the Rays at Tropicana Field, their 18th loss in their last 25 games.
After loading the bases in the eighth inning, the Yankees fought back again in the ninth against Rays closer Pete Fairbanks with one out and runners on first and second.
Aaron Judge got a pop out in the foul zone, but Ben Rice followed with an RBI single to put the Yankees within one and send Juan Soto 90 feet wide for a potential tying hit.
Gleyber Torres then hit a fly ball into no man’s land in center field, but second baseman Jose Caballero made a snow-cone catch to end the game, leaving the Yankees 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and 10 runners on base.
The Yankees (56-39) have lost six of their last eight close series since winning their last series against the Royals from June 10-13 — also their last time winning back-to-back — making it difficult for them to generate momentum to break out of a slump.
The Yankees’ saving grace during this time is that the Orioles are in poor form heading into this weekend’s showdown in Baltimore.
The Orioles were soundly defeated by the Cubs on Thursday and will now fall to just two games behind the Yankees for the AL East lead by Friday.
The Yankees terrorized the Rays’ relief pitchers in the eighth inning and appeared to have a chance to pull off a comeback late in the game.
With runners on first and second and one out against left-hander Colin Posch, Jose Trevino came in to pinch-hitter for Austin Wells and pitched with the count at 3-0.
The next pitch appeared to be above the zone but was called a strike by home plate umpire Edwin Moscoso, and a 3-2 pitch that came below the zone was also called a strike 3.
Pitching coach Matt Blake was ejected from the dugout for discussing the strike zone, but neither team was happy with Moscoso’s pitches throughout the night.
Anthony Volpe came up to bat next and walked to load the bases, but waited until Trent Grisham’s fly ball to left field marked the third out.
Cortez’s poor performance home and away was even more pronounced Thursday, as he gave up five runs in 4 1/3 innings in his latest tough start away from the Bronx.
He has a 1.81 ERA in 64 ²/3 innings over 10 home starts and a 6.60 ERA in 50 ²/3 innings over 10 road starts.
Cortes’ brief appearance meant none of the Yankees’ three starters in the series (joining Carlos Rodon and Marcus Stroman) completed five innings.
Their bullpen put together a strong series, but also bore the burden of having to pitch 12 2/3 innings.
The Yankees had runners on second and third with no outs in the top of the first inning, but by the top of the third, home runs by Wells and Soto tied the game at 2-2 before the Rays scored again off Cortez.
