Yankees Show Signs of Life, But Fall Short As Losing Streak Continues

NEW YORK — Down four runs to the Tampa Bay Rays in the seventh inning on Saturday afternoon, the Yankees bats came alive.

New York scored two runs in a matter of minutes, one coming on a booming solo home run off the bat of Rougned Odor, his first long ball in pinstripes.

When Aaron Judge drove an RBI double into the right-center field gap moments later, a sellout crowd at Yankee Stadium erupted. Was this the game that New York's dormant bats finally broke through and powered the Yankees to a victory?

As quickly as the Yankees found a spark, however, New York returned to the lifeless product that's provoked New York's sluggish start to the season. The next eight Yankees went down in order as the Yankees dropped their fifth straight game, falling to the Rays, 6-3.

New York pushed one across early in the game against Tampa Bay's ace Tyler Glasnow, but continued to miss out on run-scoring opportunities. In the bottom of the first, the Yankees loaded the bases, but couldn't cash in.

Left-hander Jordan Montgomery pitched well, striking out seven and allowing just two hits over six innings. Those two hits, however, were home run balls. Rays backstop Francisco Mejía set the tone in the second with a line drive home run over the short porch in right and outfielder Manuel Margot ripped a two-run blast deep to left-center field in the fourth.

Gerrit Cole takes the ball on Sunday afternoon, looking to halt this uncharacteristic stretch for New York. The Yankees have now lost seven of their last nine games and still have the worst record in the American League.

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