Yanks Waste Tanaka Effort, Get Shut Out By Rays

Met fans get really pissed when I tell them that Jacob deGrom would only be the 4th starter, at best, in the Yankees' rotation. They especially don't like it when I tell them that Masahiro Tanaka is better.

Well, last night, at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Tanaka was deGrom's equal: He pitched great, but the Yankees didn't hit for him.

The Yankees opened a 4-game weekend series with the Tampa Bay Rays by embarrassing themselves. Here's all their baserunners, all night:

* 1st inning: D.J. LeMahieu started the game by drawing a walk. The Cliche Alert was not necessary this time: A leadoff walk did nothing to hurt the Rays. Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks and Giancarlo Stanton all struck out.

* 3rd: Gary Sanchez, currently the target of a lot of abuse from his own team's fans, led off with a walk. He got to 2nd on a wild pitch. But no hits.

* 6th: LeMahieu singled with 1 out, to break up the no-hitter. Judge ended the inning by grounding into a double play.

* 7th: The Yanks' only real threat. Hicks and Stanton walked to put men on 1st & 2nd with nobody out. But Luke Voit and Gleyber Torres both flew out. Gio Urshela walked to load the bases. Then Sanchez struck out.

* 8th: Mike Tauchman led off with a double. The score is still 0-0 at this point. The Yankees are a hit away from maybe having the game won. But LeMahieu grounded into a fielder's choice. That put Tauchman on 3rd with less than 2 outs. But Judge struck out, and Hicks grounded out.

In the bottom of the inning, it was time for the Cliche Alert about walks: Adam Ottavino walked 2 batters, threw a wild pitch, and allowed a sacrifice fly. The Yankees went down quietly in the 9th. Rays 1, Yankees 0. WP: Chaz Roe (2-0). No save. LP: Ottavino (2-1). This is the Yankees' 1st 2-game losing streak of the season.

Today, the Yankees play an old-fashioned doubleheader. At 2:10 PM, Gerrit Cole starts against Tyler Glasnow. The starting pitchers for the game scheduled to begin at 5:10 PM have not yet been announced. Under COVID conditions, both games will be limited to 7 innings.

Hopefully, the Yankees won't limit their hitting.