ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The first game at Tropicana Field on Friday ended with the Tampa Bay Rays routing the New York Yankees 9-0. Jeffrey Springs delivered a fantastic performance through the sixth inning and the Yankees offense turned lifeless. Christian Bethancourt’s sealed the fate of the game with hi seventh-inning, two-run homer.
It was the first of six games between the two teams in ten days. New York’s once-commanding lead of 15 1/2 games kept shrinking and after Friday, the Rays are within five games of the AL East-leading Yankees.
It was Bethancourt’s birthday, and Panamanian celebrated it with a home run off Domingo German (2-3), which made the score 3-0. In 6 2/3 innings, German gave up three runs, two of which were earned, and six hits.
Josh Donaldson, who plays third base for the Rays, made two errors in the fourth inning, which helped the Rays take a 1-0 lead.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa doubled to start the fifth, and the Rays walked Aaron Judge on a 3-2 pitch. Cabrera flew out and Springs struck out Giancarlo Stanton.
Both manager Aaron Boone and Aaron judge were furious over the Yankees’ performance on Friday.
“Just embarrassing when you get beat like that,” lamented Yankees manager Aaron Boone. “We’ve got a much better standard in that room, now we’ve got to start living up to it.”
Aaron Judge looked frustrated the way his surrendered.
“We’re going to see what this team is made of,” the Yankees’ star said. “We’ve got to bring it, that’s it. Nobody on the outside is going is help us, nobody is feeling sorry for us.”
Judge has 51 home runs and 113 RBIs, which is more than anyone else in the major leagues. The home-run machine hit twice only to end up with catcher’s interference. Stanton had three outs and a walk.
Over the course of their last 25 games, the Yankees have been blanked a total of six times. German looked repentant over his night performance.
“Not happy, not happy with myself,” Germán shouted. “I let that one guy beat me. Not to take credit from him but I think he’s the worst hitter in that lineup and I let him beat me tonight.”
Marwin Gonzalez retired Harold Ramirez on a 45-mph comebacker with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth. Randy Arozarena made a single off David Peralta. This led to a throwing error by Donaldson and Oswaldo Cabrera, who replaced Benintendi after called up to the September roster, threw out Ramirez looking to exploit the error.
Yu Chang went for a two-run single while Manuel Margot made two during a six-run eighth.
The Yankees have lost five of their last six games, while the Rays have won four in a row and are now 16 games above .500.
Andrew Benintendi, the left fielder for the Yankees, left the game in the third inning because he hurt his right wrist on a swing. The X-rays did not show anything wrong, but he will have an MRI on Saturday.
“That’s what he felt, it felt like something popped on his wrist”, Boone said. “Hope for the best for him tomorrow.”
UP NEXT
On Saturday, the Yankees’ RHP Clarke Schmidt (5-3) and the Rays’ RHP Corey Kluber (9-7) will start.
How do you see the Yankees’ performance? Is there any chance for salvation for the team? Leave a message for their heart-broken fans.
