ST. PETERSBURG – When Aaron Judge surveys the Yankees’ lineup, he sees each spot occupied by someone trying to be a hero. It’s an admirable quality, but it also might not necessarily be what they need right now.
The Yankees absorbed their fifth consecutive defeat on Sunday, a 5-4 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field that completed a three-game sweep. As they head back to the Bronx for a week-long homestand, the captain said he’d like to see their hitters get back to basics.
“We need to simplify some things at the plate,” Judge said. “We’re trying to hit every single pitch we see up there and getting ourselves in some bad counts and bad situations. As a group, if we simplify our approach a little bit, hunt the pitch that we’re looking for and pass the baton, I think we’ll be in a better spot.”
Judge hit a two-run homer in a ninth-inning push, but Tampa Bay’s pitching staff otherwise kept the reigning American League MVP in check. Judge went 2-for-10 in the series, and he was hardly the only Bomber held quiet.
“A bad weekend for us, obviously,” manager Aaron Boone said. “We stayed in some close games, but we’ve got to find a way to get over the hump and do a better job of finishing these games off.”
New York fell to 0-6 in one-run games as Tampa Bay celebrated its first three-game sweep of the Yankees since April 16-18, 2021.
Drew Rasmussen was sharp in his return from the paternity list, outpitching Cam Schlittler by permitting just one hit – Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s second-inning double – over six sterling frames, striking out seven.
Schlittler settled in after a bumpy start, kicking himself over pitch selection after being charged with three runs over five innings. Yet, in a theme that has been all too familiar over the five-game skid, he didn’t have much margin for error.
“We didn’t get a lot of traffic when we needed to in this series,” Judge said. “We had one hit for the majority of the game, and a couple of these games. I think if guys take their walks when they need to and focus on a pitch they can drive, we’ll be in a better spot.”
The Yanks cracked through against the Rays’ bullpen, scoring twice on Cole Sulser in the seventh before adding Judge’s fourth homer of the season in the ninth.
Amed Rosario kept it alive with a two-out double off Mason Englert, but after an intentional walk, Ryan McMahon grounded out to end it. McMahon is 4-for-35 (.114) this season.
“I’ve been a little late on the fastball,” McMahon said. “He threw a changeup on a good line for a heater, and I was a little bit out in front.”
Boone defended McMahon, saying, “You guys love to bring him up, but we’ve got a number of guys we’ve got to get going.”
It’s true. With Trent Grisham (.133), Chisholm (.179), Randal Grichuk (.000), J.C. Escarra (.000), McMahon and José Caballero (.146), the Yanks’ lineup on Sunday featured six starters batting below the Mendoza Line – including a couple still seeking their first hits of the year.
“Today, for the most part, we were shut down,” Boone said. “In other games, we haven’t broken through with runners in scoring position. When you’re not hitting the ball over the fence, you’ve got to make hay when you have some opportunities. There’s been a lot of games where I feel like we’re having some good at-bats; we’re creating traffic. But you’ve got to cash in.”
With few exceptions, it’s largely the same group that led the Majors with 849 runs scored and 274 homers last season – the backbone of the offseason decision to “run it back,” a phrase that drew groans early in the spring.
These Yankees point to a calendar still in the third week of April, believing that 15 games don’t define a season. They’re betting that 162 will provide the crooked numbers needed to swell both their stats and their win total.
“It’s been an up-and-down year so far, but it’s still early,” Judge said. “We see a lot of bright things going on this season, and we’re going to change it.”