The Yankees landed two jabs but whiffed on the knockout blow. Taylor Walls’ fifth-inning grand slam off Albert Abreu salvaged a series split for the Rays who jumped back to eight games in front of the Bombers in the AL East with their 8-7 win Sunday afternoon.
Abreu was called on in the fifth to clean up Clarke Schmidt’s mess. Two batters after Harrison Bader’s full extension diving catch limited what would have been a bases-clearing extra-base hit to a sac fly, Abreu entered with the bases loaded, two outs and the game tied at four. The righty hung a 1-2 changeup as only one of the four runs to cross the plate was charged to him. The other three were tagged onto Schmidt’s line which, despite the pink attire across the field for the celebration of Mothers’ Day, was anything but pretty.
The 27-year-old tossed 4.2 innings allowing six hits, and three walks while being charged for seven runs. The right-hander’s struggles continue as his season ERA ballooned to 6.30 in nine starts this season. Schmidt continued to rely on the pitch he developed in the offseason, the cutter, throwing it 31% of the time.
The Yankees bats certainly showed up again Sunday registering 12 hits on the afternoon. After falling behind 3-0 as the Rays threw up one run in the first on a RBI groundout by Brandon Lowe and two in the third with Isaac Paredes’ two-RBI single followed by a sac fly from Lowe, the Bombers fought back again.
A pair of two-run homers in the fourth off of Zack Efflin, one by Oswaldo Cabrera (third of the season) and Anthony Rizzo put the Yanks back in front a night after coming back from a 6-0 deficit in Saturday’s 9-8 win. The first baseman also stepped up to the plate as the tying run in the bottom of the seventh after Aaron Judge singled in Cabrera to make it 8-5, however, he went down swinging at a fastball up and out of the zone.
Rizzo has been superb this season after re-upping with the Yanks on a two-year, $32 million deal. The 33-year-old is slashing .312/.395/.526 with nine homers and 22 RBI.
Anthony Volpe added a two-run homer, his sixth of the season, to bring the Yanks to within one in the bottom of the eighth. However, the hole dug by Schmidt and Abreu was merely too deep to dig out of as they would fall by a final score of 8-7.
The Yanks will bring their passports as they cross the northern border to take on the Toronto Blue Jays in a four-game set beginning Monday night. Alek Manoah will take the ball for the Jays while Aaron Boone’s club does not have a scheduled starter.