Two scoreboards at Yankee Stadium showed the full impact of a missed opportunity. Not only did the Yankees lose a perfectly winnable game, but the out-of-town scoreboard showed a Blue Jays win in Toronto. That’s how a 3-2 loss to the Rays cost the Yankees a full game in the standings. No longer a half game back and tied in the loss column, the Yankees are now a game-and-a-half out of first place.
Their best opportunity to keep pace came in the eighth when the Yankees loaded the bases with two outs. Didi Gregorius lined a ball toward right field, but the second baseman snagged it to end the inning. It was the Yankees’ second line drive out of the inning – and the other out had been a sharp ground ball up the middle that seemed ticketed for center field – and Gregorius disgustedly flung his bat with such force that it nearly shot into the Yankees’ dugout.
Yankees starter Nathan Eovaldi took his first loss since June 16. A double and two-out single gave the Rays a 1-0 lead in the second inning, then two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases and set up two more runs in the third. All told, Eovaldi walked four for only the second time this season. It was his first four-walk game since June 5.
In his first year back from Tommy John surgery, Rays’ starter Matt Moore came into the game with an 8.78 ERA. Through six starts, he had yet to pitch more than five innings or allow less than two runs. Moore again lasted just 4.2 innings, but he allowed just two runs, each of them in his final inning. An RBI double by Didi Gregorius and a run-scoring grounder by Brett Gardner pulled the Yankees within 3-2 in the fifth.
Associated Press photo
The post One-run loss pushes the Yankees another game back in the standings appeared first on The LoHud Yankees Blog.
from lloydcurry1 http://ift.tt/1LQUxD2
No comments:
Post a Comment