Rays Toss Up More Zeroes, Shut Out Yankees 4-0 For 3rd Straight Win
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NEW YORK — Wins have been hard to come by for Ryan Yarbrough this season, and not always through much fault of his own. But the veteran left-hander was spectacular on Monday night and picked up his first win of the season in Tampa Bay's 4-0 shutout of the suddenly struggling New York Yankees.
Yarbrough pitched four innings on Monday night, coming in to throw in the bottom of the third after Jalen Beeks tossed two shutout innings as the Rays' ''opener.'' Yarbrough allowed just three hits over four scoreless innings, and struck out six.
Ryan Thompson, Brooks Raley and Jason Adam closed it out from there, pitching the final three innings and giving up just one hit. Rays pitchers had 12 strikeouts on the night
It was the first time the Rays staff had shut out the Yankees since 2013, but it was the second night in a row that New York had gone without a run, also losing 3-0 to Boston on Sunday night. The have been shut out four times in the past nine games and dropped to 8-16 since the All-Star break after a 64-28 start.
"It was nice," Rays manager Kevin Cash said after the game. "I think Yarbs has pitched really well here as of late. He probably deserves a little bit better in the win-loss column, but he's contributing in a big way."
Yarbrough had lost eight decisions in a row dating back to last September, and that tied a team record. But, as Cash said, he has been much better lately. Since July 28, he's pitched 17 1/3 innings and allowed five runs, a 2.59 ERA. It was at 5.61 prior to that.
Rays pitchers have been dealing late. Going back to the third inning in Saturday's win over the Orioles, Tampa Bay pitchers have covered 25 innings and allowed just one run. And that came on a strikeout and wild pitch in the ninth inning on Sunday at the tail end of Drew Rasmussen's perfect game bid.
Runs were hard to come by for the Rays, too. Yankees starter Gerrit Cole was very good, too, allowing just one run and five hits over six innings, and the only run he allowed came in on a misplayed ball by center fielder Aaron Hicks.
Hicks took the wrong path to the fly ball hit by Tampa Bay's David Peralta, which landed on the warning track in the fourth inning and was rule a triple. Second baseman Isaac Paredes singled him in.
"First off, I turned the wrong way," Hicks said. "I tried to recover. I ended up thinking it was still right on top of me and it ended up being behind me."
The Rays added three insurance runs in the ninth inning. Paredes and Taylor Walls walked, and then center fielder Jose Siri came through big with a two-out single to score Paredes. Francisco Mejia was then hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Yandy Diaz singled to score two more.
The Yankees just can't find their own way right now. They are 72-44 on the season, and suddenly trail the Houston Astros by 2 1/2 games for the top-seed in the American Lague.
“We need a spark but it just seems to be tough to come by right now,'' Cole said. "It’s hard to put into words, because of all the work that we’ve put in to get here. I don’t have a good answer (for what’s missing the past three weeks).
“It’s like the age-old saying, you’ve got to just shower it off and come back tomorrow.’’
There was a weird moment in the third inning. Yankees first baseman Rizzo thought he was hit with a pitch on the right leg, but home plate umpire D.J. Reyburn ruled he leaned into the pitch. Rizzo and manager Aaron Boone vehemently argued to no avail. Instead, he struck out and had a meltdown in the dugout, slamming his helmet multiple times.
"It shouldn't have been called tonight," Rizzo said. "I have been hit by a lot of pitches and it's never been called. Whenever you feel like you got screwed over on a call anytime, it's annoying because we're out here competing at the highest level and I'm up here talking to you guys (media).
"And I feel like the umpires have zero accountability when they miss something like that. I know they're not trying to miss, but it's just frustrating.
The Rays are now 4-7 this season against the Yankees and are 10 games back in the American League East race, tied for second with the Toronto Blue Jays. They are a half-game behind Seattle for the top wild-card spot and the No. 4 seed in the AL playoffs. Finishing fourth is big, because it means they would host the first-round best-of-three series.
Tampa Bay will turn to left-hander Jeffrey Springs (4-3, 2.56 ERA) on Tuesday night. He'll be opposed by Yankees lefty Nestor Cortes (9-3, 2.67). The game starts at 7:05 p.m. and is nationally televised on TBS.
