scheduled tribe. Petersburg – The Yankees are beatable, after all. Taylor Walls on Sunday withdrew his comments about the first-place Bombers, but also backed base with a career day. The Rays’ light-hitting infielder dismissed Luis Severino and made two run-saving plays as the Yankees fell 4-1 at Tropicana Field.
“There was no shadow on his side,” Walls said after the Rays secured a split of the four-match series. “Every team in this league is worth defeating, especially when they’re playing with us.”
The Yankees (33–15) lost two straight for only the third time this season and split four games with the Rays (28–19). The Bombers maintained the best record in baseball and a 4.5-game lead over the Rays in the American League East.
Ray only got two hits from Luis Severino and the Yankees’ bullpen. That’s all he needed, both hits were home runs.
Ji-Man Choi started in the second innings. Taylor Walls, who reacted to their loss to the Yankees on Thursday night, saying they were “very beatable”, set out to give Ray a lead in fifth.
It was the first time this season that Severino had allowed more than one homer in a game.
Severino, however, walked with Wander Franco and Choi to lead the seventh inning and those runs were charged when Ron Marinaccio played down pinch hitter Harold Ramirez and then hit Mike Zunino with loaded bases.
Severino allowed a season-high tie with four earned runs, but allowed only two hits. He walked two and hit eight. The right-handed batsman has thrown 103 pitches of the season.
But it was not a stalled pitch for the Yankees, they could only manage five runs in the final three games of the series.
For the third straight game, the Rays pitching overcame the Bombers’ offense. On Sunday, the Yankees had seven hits off lefty Shane McClanahan, but could only manage one. He was a Gleber Torres homer, his second in three matches and ninth of the season in his second innings.
The Yankees’ second run came on a Major-League run from Aaron Judge, who was 18th in the eighth season, off lefty Colin Poche.
The Yankees went 0-for-9 on Sunday with the runners in the scoring position. Aaron Hicks got opportunities in the scoring position with the Runners twice on Sunday and was robbed both times. In the sixth, he hit a hard liner that was trapped by third baseman Yandy Diaz. In the eighth, with Torres at third base, Hicks hit a hard ground ball in the middle and Walls made a forceful play to stop and throw to dismiss third.
“A very special game there, in the middle, with the bat I think it was going to be a hit. I thought it was great by Aaron at bat,” said Yankees manager Aaron Boone. “To his credit, he made a play.”
The Rays have the third-best ERA team in the American League—behind the Astros and Yankees—and kept the Bombers in check for three out of four games. It’s a fight the Bombers look forward to every year with the Rays.
“It just wasn’t our day,” said the judge. “Every time we come to the tropes it’s always a fight with them. They’ve got a great ball club over there and I know they’ve got some pitchers, but others on that side are in the bullpen and here Even his starters, he’s got some good weapons.
“We got them the first two and they got us the last two and a good series, but we’ll see them again soon.”
Until then, when the Rays arrive in the Bronx for the first time this season on June 14, the Yankees are hoping their lineup will be complete again. Giancarlo Stanton is out with an ankle problem and Josh Donaldson is out with a shoulder problem.
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