Petersburg, Fla. – Yankees Struggle in Loss to Rays

Wednesday night marked a notable shift for the Yankees, who avoided the misstep of recording 17 strikeouts for the first time in three games. However, their overall performance still left much to be desired as their position in the AL East continues to deteriorate.

Despite a strong outing from Gerrit Cole, the Yankees couldn’t capitalize on his effort, instead suffering a 3-0 defeat against the Rays at Tropicana Field. The team has now lost 11 of its last 13 games, falling five games behind the division-leading Rays.

“Just looking at the result, it’s not where we wanted to be and we’re not good enough to fight for first place at the moment,” Cole acknowledged after the game.

While the Yankees had 17 strikeouts in the first two games of this series, they managed to cut that number to 11 on Wednesday. Unfortunately, lefty Shane McClanahan and the Rays’ bullpen limited the Yankees to just six hits, all singles, with only three being infield hits.

The Yankees’ most solid hit of the night came from Ben Rice’s ground out.

They will face a daunting task on Thursday, aiming to even the series against Rays All-Star Drew Rasmussen, who has historically performed well against the Yankees despite not being in a slump.

“You can feel it,” said Jose Caballero about the batting lineup’s ongoing struggles. “Personally, I think we might be overthinking the situation. I don’t want to keep reflecting on our poor performance in recent games. The more you dwell on it, the harder it gets. We just need to keep it simple and trust each other.”

In the series so far, the Yankees have racked up a staggering 45 strikeouts alongside just two walks.

The Rays are known for their tough pitching, and in this series, it’s been practically overwhelming.

The top four hitters in the Yankees lineup—Paul Goldschmidt, Ben Rice, Amed Rosario, and Cody Bellinger—managed only two hits in 16 at-bats on Wednesday.

Goldschmidt also continued his slump, striking out three more times and extending his streak to 0-for-34, with 10 strikeouts in his last three games. Bellinger was 0 for 4, dragging his average down to .114.

“Obviously, the offense is a real struggle for us right now. I keep saying that,” Boone noted. “It’s no secret. There’s no magic fix. I believe we can push through this, but we need to act decisively.”

Cole pitched 6 ⅓ innings, allowing three runs on 97 pitches—his heaviest workload since returning from Tommy John surgery. He was hurt by the top two batters from the Rays, with Yandy Diaz going 4-for-4 and Jonathan Aranda scoring all three runs.

That, however, wasn’t enough to secure a win.

The Yankees had a chance to gain an early lead in the second inning after back-to-back singles from Jason Dominguez and Anthony Volpe. But then, Max Schumann’s safety squeeze went awry—Dominguez got a late start from third base and was easily thrown out.

Austin Wells followed with a pop-out and is currently struggling with a .148 batting average.

McClanahan was on fire, retiring 10 batters in a row until Caballero’s sixth-inning bunt single ended that streak. Yet, Goldschmidt’s strikeout led to a double play that contributed to Boone and Ausmus being ejected after a contentious play at second base.

“Sometimes you start to feel defeated,” Boone admitted. “We have to steer clear of that. This game doesn’t wait for anyone. It’s as challenging as it gets. We need to push through.”