A high-spirited New York Yankees took on the mighty Tampa Bay Rays for the first matchup of the four-game series at their home turn in the Bronx. However, the afternoon quickly turned into a nightmare for the Bombers. The Yankees, who scored 21 runs in the previous series against the Oakland Athletics, failed to score against the Rays until the last inning. The team trailed 0-8 until the ninth inning, wherein Anthony Rizzo and Willie Calhoun put up two runs on the board.
However, the game was already lost, and those two runs served as mere consolation. It seemed like the Yankees’ offense finally gained the lost form as they hammered the Athletics. However, the East toppers, Tampa Bay Rays, posed a daunting challenge that the New York-based team found difficult to cope with. While the series remains wide open, the team has to do some deep thinking and analyze what went wrong on Thursday. For starters, the team’s captain, Aaron Judge, pointed out an area of concern on which the team has to work on an immediate basis.
Aaron Judge Blames The Yankees Offense For The Loss Against The Rays
Domingo German was handed over the ball to start against the mighty Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday. German did a phenomenal job by allowing just one run in his five-inning stay at the mound. In 5.2 inning pitched, German gave away three hits, one run while striking out three batters. In the sixth inning, Yankees skipper Aaron Boone walked out to pull out the pitcher. The Dominican Republic native walked out to a standing ovation. However, things went haywire shortly after for the Bombers. From trailing by 0-1 at the time of German’s departure, the Bombers’ bullpen ended up giving away seven runs, which elevated the Rays’ lead to 0-8.
The Yankees’ offense, on the other hand, could not put up any runs on board until the very last inning of the game. It clearly irked the captain, Aaron Judge, who blamed the entire hitting lineup for the loss. In the post-game interview, the slugger said the offense has just one job, which is to back and support their starting pitchers on days like this. And today, they failed to put up some runs and wasted Domingo German’s efforts on the mound. While the captain looked definitely hurt with how things panned out, he assured the fans that there are still three more games left to play in the series for them to bounce back.
Domingo German Walks Out To Another Standing Ovation
After giving up seven runs against the Minnesota Twins, Domingo German staged a solid comeback against the Cleveland Guardians. He walked out to a standing ovation before the bullpen washed his heroics down the drain. German had a Deja Vu on Thursday as, once again, he walked out to a standing ovation after five innings and then watched the bullpen foil his efforts by giving away an awful lot of runs.
Aaron Boone, the Yankees manager, might have jeopardized German’s salient efforts by pulling him out a little early. He pulled out German in the sixth inning and handed over the ball to reliever Ron Marinaccio who gave away two valuable runs. Later, the skipper tried to justify his move by saying that it felt right at the time to hand over the ball to Ron. But he feels gutted that the move did not work. It’s worth noting that it’s the third time in two weeks that Boone’s bullpen decision has backfired on the team.