Yanks Drop 3 of 4 to Tampa Bay

I hate losing. I especially hate losing to a bad team. But to lose to a classless organization like Tampa Bay Rays? That is infuriating.

On Saturday, the Yankees had to play one of those COVID-forced not-so-traditional (7 innings each) "traditional doubleheaders" at the Stupid Dome in St. Petersburg. The opener went far better for the Yankees. They scored 4 runs in the top of the 3rd inning, including a home run by Mike Ford. Giancarlo Stanton added a solo homer in the 5th.

(Of course, he did. A solo homer when we're already 4 runs up.)

That should have been enough for Gerrit Cole to cruise, and he did so through the 1st 4 innings. But he got shaky in the 5th, allowing 3 runs, and Aaron Boone took no chances, taking him out 1 out short of qualifying for the win. (Even in games limited to 7 innings, the rule is that the starting pitcher can't be the winning pitcher if he doesn't go at least the 1st 5.)

Chad Green ended the inning. DJ LeMahieu singled to lead off the 6th, and Aaron Judge homered, pretty much ending the Tampa Bay threat for this game. The Rays scored in the bottom of the 6th, the Yankees did so in the top of the 7th, and that was it.

Yankees 8, Rays 4. WP: Green (2-0). No save. LP: Tyler Glasnow (0-1).

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Mike King, who had exactly 2 innings of big-league experience entering this season, started the 2nd game, instead of the out-for-the-season Luis Severino and the chased-out-of-baseball Domingo German. He had nothing, and didn't get out of the 4th inning. In the 1st, he walked the bases loaded and walked home a run. Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you. (UPDATE: Since the 2021 season, Mike King has usually been referred to as "Michael King.")

Albert Abreu wasn't much better in relief. The Yankees mounted a rally in the 7th, but wasn't enough, and limiting the games to 7 innings ended the threat.

Rays 5, Yankees 3. WP: Pete Fairbanks (2-1). SV: Nick Anderson (2). LP: King (0-1). 

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The Sunday game will be one of those games where, if the Yankees don't win the Division and end up losing in the Playoffs, will stick in our memories as being a sign that it wasn't meant to be.

The Yankees loaded the bases in the top of the 1st, and Charlie Morton -- one of those cheating 2017 Houston Astros -- hit Mike Ford with a pitch. Since that gave the Yankees an early lead, it almost certainly wasn't intentional. But the Rays are still a dirty team, as they were when Joe Maddon was their manager (Kevin Cash has been since 2015), so you never know.

The Yankees added 2 runs on a Rays error in the top of the 5th. Going to the bottom of the 7th, it was still 3-0, and James Paxton was cruising. But he ran out of gas, allowing back-to-back home runs to Mike Brosseau and Brandon Lowe, tying the game.

This was a single game, so it was set to go a full 9 innings. But John Curtiss struck out the side for the Rays in the 8th, and the Yankees went down 1-2-3 in the 9th as well. Zack Britton had done a great job for the Yankees so far, in place of the COVID-recovering Aroldis Chapman. Not this time: In the bottom of the 9th, he allowed double, fielder's choice, wild pitch, walk, groundout, single. Game over.

Rays 4, Yankees 3. WP: Ryan Thompson (1-0). No save. LP: Britton (0-1).

That was 3 out of 4 in Tampa Bay. The Yankees are now 10-6, still in 1st place in the American League Eastern Division, but they need to win games like Sunday's.

Also, Stanton was injured. It's a hamstring injury, which could be 6 weeks -- most of the rest of the regular season. Which could mean the return to the roster of Clint Frazier, he of the million-dollar bat, the two-bit glove and the five-cent head.

Tonight, they start a home series against the Atlanta Braves. Jordan Montgomery starts against Touki Toussaint