NEW YORK -- The elements were hard for hitters to handle on a chilly, drizzly Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium. Two terrific starting pitchers were even tougher.
But what made the Rays’ 2-0 loss to the Yankees even more difficult were a pair of baserunning mistakes that could have been the difference between yet another sweep and the rain-interrupted, two-game series split they got instead.
Rays starter Drew Rasmussen was magnificent, completing seven innings for the first time in more than three years. Yankees left-hander Ryan Weathers was just as brilliant, keeping Tampa Bay’s red-hot lineup off the board for seven innings.
“We did two things on the bases that really reduce your chances of winning, especially with the pitching duel that we had between Ras and Weathers,” manager Kevin Cash said.
In the end, the game was decided by Yankees captain Aaron Judge, who muscled a first-pitch sinker from reliever Kevin Kelly out to right-center field for a two-run homer. The Rays walked off the field with only their fifth loss in their past 27 games.
“It’s a long season,” said Kelly, who was on a 15 1/3-inning scoreless streak. “We're gonna wake up tomorrow in Baltimore and play another game.”
But Sunday’s outcome was determined just as much by the runs the Rays didn’t score when they had the chance, leading to only their second shutout of the season.
The most glaring mistake came in the eighth inning, when Junior Caminero ran the Rays out of a chance to break the scoreless tie.
With two runners on and two outs, Ryan Vilade slapped a potential RBI single through the left side of the infield. As pinch-runner Oliver Dunn dashed home, left fielder Cody Bellinger made a heads-up play to throw out Caminero, who was attempting to go from first to third on the hit.
Had Caminero stopped at second, Dunn would have scored and the inning would have continued. But since he was tagged out before Dunn touched the plate, the run did not count, and the scoreless affair continued into the ninth.
“Just trying to do a little bit too much,” Cash said. “There's no reason to force anything getting to third base. You're talking about an elite left fielder. The play's in front of you. Ideally, just hold up and let's score the run.”
Caminero owned up to the error, saying he thought Bellinger would try to throw out Dunn at the plate and giving him credit for his 95.2 mph throw to third.
“I thought, because he was going home, I was going to third, just trying to put my team in a better opportunity,” Caminero said through interpreter Kevin Vera. “Obviously I feel bad because Vilade did his job. He hit one hard over into left field, and I just feel bad that I wasn't able to capitalize on that.”
That situation loomed large because it took a run off the board, but there was another baserunning gaffe that wound up costing the Rays.
Carson Williams led off the third inning with a walk, giving the top of Tampa Bay’s lineup a speedy runner to move around the bases. But Williams was promptly picked off by Weathers, which stood out even more after back-to-back singles by Yandy Díaz and Jonathan Aranda that would have scored Williams.
“That's just the awareness to know that the guy's got a very good [pickoff] move,” Cash said. “Just unfortunate to happen in that situation.”
Weathers didn’t give the Rays many other chances, but they were still in the game thanks to another outstanding outing by Rasmussen.
A day after he was initially scheduled to pitch Saturday’s rained-out game, the right-hander limited the Yankees to only five hits and one walk while striking out six. Leaning on his three fastballs and new changeup, he completed seven innings for the first time since May 11, 2023, at Yankee Stadium, his last outing before undergoing a third major elbow procedure.
“Very happy with how that turned out,” Rasmussen said. “It would have been nice to win that one, but sometimes it just doesn't unfold that way.”
But when Rasmussen faces the Yankees, zeros typically are in order.
In nine career outings against the Yankees, including eight starts, Rasmussen has posted a 0.89 ERA, the lowest in the Majors since 1913 (the first year earned runs were officially tracked in the American League) among pitchers who have worked at least 50 innings against New York.
“Sometimes you run into some matchups that are favorable for you, and other times you run into matchups that aren't,” Rasmussen said. “And over the last couple of years, I've been fortunate to find success against these guys. But I mean, it doesn't guarantee anything down the road.”