Luis Severino started, but was not his usual strong self, allowing 3 runs in less than 6 innings. But the bullpen -- David Robertson, Dellin Betances and Aroldis Chapman -- combined to pitch 3 1/3rd scoreless innings.
The Yankees scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 1st inning, and never looked back. They came on 2-run home runs by Aaron Judge and Miguel Andujar. The Pinstripes hung on to win 4-3. WP: Severino (11-2). SV: Chapman (22). LP: James Paxton (6-2).
*
For such a nice run of good hitting and good pitching, the Yankees deserved a better reward than a trip to that stupid dome in St. Petersburg. And it all fell apart.
We certainly can't blame CC Sabathia for losing the Friday night game. The Big Fella allowed only 2 runs, 1 earned, in 5 1/3rd innings. Nor can we blame the bullpen, as neither Adam Warren nor Luis Cessa allowed a run.
But the Yankees bats didn't get the job done. They stranded 2 runners in the 1st inning, 2 more in the 2nd, and got 1-out walks in each of the next 3 innings without getting any of them home. Another 1-out walk, by Gleyber Torres in the 7th, finally led to a run, as it was followed by singles by Brett Gardner and Aaron Judge.
But that would be all the Yankees got, losing to the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1. WP: Ryan Yarbrough (6-3). SV: Sergio Romo (5). LP: Sabathia (4-3).
The Saturday game was one of those games that makes some of us say we've had enough of Sonny Gray. He allowed 3 runs in the 1st 2 innings, and it was all over. The Yankees only got 6 baserunners all game long: Doubles by Giancarlo Stanton and Austin Romine, 2 singles by Didi Gregorius, and a walk each by Judge and Greg Bird.
Rays 4, Yankees 0. WP: Wilmer Font (1-3). No save. LP: Gray (5-5).
The Sunday game was, at least, interesting. It was a back-and-forth affair: 2-0 Rays after the bottom of the 1st, 3-2 Yankees after the top of the 2nd, 6-3 Rays after the bottom of the 3rd, 6-5 Rays after the top of the 5th, and a 6-6 tie after a Stanton homer in the 8th. Andujar had homered earlier.
Starter Domingo German got rocked, but Warren in the 4th and 5th innings, Jonathan Holder in the 6th and 7th, Robertson in the 8th, Betances in the 9th, and Chad Green in the 10th and the 11th, combined to allow no runs, no hits and 4 walks. It was brilliant bullpen work.
The Yankees stranded men on 1st and 2nd with 2 out in the 9th, and went to extra innings. Stanton led off the 10th with a single, but was erased on a double play. The Yankees went down 1-2-3 in the top of the 11th, and wasted a leadoff walk in the top of the 12th.
Then manager Aaron Boone brought Chasen Shreve in to pitch. I'm reminded of the Berenstain Bears, with Papa Bear trying to teach his son how to ride a bike, and failing: "That is what you must not do. Now, let that be a lesson to you."
I've said this of a few other Yankee relievers, and I'll say it about Shreve: He might be a good guy, but, when it comes to pitching, he's a bum.
He threw one pitch, to Jake Bauers. Pardon me for using a technical term, but, boom. Rays 7, Yankees 6. WP: Yarbrough (7-3). No save. LP: Shreve (2-2).
Chasen Shreve remains on the Yankee roster. Explain to me again how Brian Cashman is a great general manager.
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