The New York Yankees snapped their six game winning streak with their inability to come up with the big hit in their 5-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.
- New York Yankees 3(56-47)
- Tampa Bay Rays 5(54-52)
- W: Steve Cishek (2-1, 2.78 ERA)
- L: Jordan Montgomery(7-6, 4.15 ERA)
- AL Final, Box Score
- Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York
What was supposed to be a “Battle of the Rookie Starters” between New York’s Jordan Montgomery and Tampa’s Jacob Faria ultimately turned into a “Battle of the Bullpens.”
But the theme at Yankee Stadium Sunday afternoon was most definitely “missed opportunities.”
Despite drawing seven (yes, seven) walks and having the tying and/or go-ahead run at the plate in three of the final five innings, the Yankees still lost their series finale to Tampa Bay, 5-3.
Highlights
Just as they did Saturday, the Rays got on the board in the first inning.
Steven Souza Jr. drew a one-out walk and took second on a single by Lucas Duda. Mired in a 0-for-16 slump, Trevor Plouffe wrapped a single up the middle that scored Souza from second to give the Fish another first-inning, one-run advantage.
Trevor Plouffe rips a single up the middle to give the @RaysBaseball an early 1-0 lead on the Yankees. Watch live on FOX Sports Sun! pic.twitter.com/QN3fzOvsdX
— FOX Sports Florida (@FOXSportsFL) July 30, 2017
But the Yankees bats wouldn’t stay silent for long as they answered in the bottom of the second.
After Chase Headley worked a one out walk of his own, a big two-run blast to left off the bat of the 5’8″ Ronald Torreyes erased that one-run deficit and turned it into a one-run lead at 2-1.
But even with a lead, Montgomery found himself in some third-inning trouble that he couldn’t escape.
Peter Bourjos began the frame with a double, taking third on an infield single by Evan Longoria. After walking Duda to load the bases, Corey Dickerson hit a soft line drive to center that plated both Bourjos and Longoria to give the Rays the lead back at 3-2. Wilson Ramos followed that up with a RBI single of his own, extending the lead to 4-2.
That was all for Montgomery, who finished with a rough line: 2.2 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. He was replaced by Luis Cessa, who ended the inning with a strikeout of Tim Beckham.
Torreyes did his best Vladimir Guerrero impersonation in the bottom of the fourth. He took a breaking ball that was headed for the dirt and ripped it down the left field line for a RBI double that scored Todd Frazier from first to pull New York back to within one at 4-3.
But the bats then went silent until the top of the eighth inning, when the Rays added some insurance against Chad Green. Souza Jr. hit a shot to left field that sailed over Clint Frazier‘s head, scored Mallex Smith from second for a 5-3 lead.
That turned out to be all the Rays needed as their closer, Alex Colome, got Matt Holliday to ground out to end the game.
Thankfully, the Yankees kept their half-game lead over Boston in the AL East as the Red Sox fell to Kansas City by the same 5-3 score.
What’s Next
While all Yankees fans will be glued to MLB Network and ESNY for news as MLB’s non-waiver trade deadline, set for 4 p.m. ET tomorrow, the Bombers do have a game to play.
Luis Severino (7-4, 3.03 ERA) will face off against Detroit’s Michael Fulmer (10-8, 3.35 ERA) in the first game of a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers Monday night.
First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM and can be seen on the YES Network and heard on WFAN 660/101.9 FM.
