A ninth-inning disaster from Devin Williams leads the Rays to a 10-8 win over the Yankees

Tampa —The Yankees lost 10-8 against the Rays in heartbreaking fashion, as the Rays snatched victory out of the jaws of defeat. The 38-year-old veteran Carlos Carrasco took the mound for the Yankees, and the 25-year-old youngster Shane Baz got the start for the Rays. 

In the top of the first inning with the bases loaded, Yankees first baseman Paul Goldschmidt grounded into an unbelievable double play started by Rays shortstop Taylor Walls, to make it a 1-0 Yankees lead. The next batter, second basemen Jazz Chisholm Jr., picked up a huge two-out RBI single, his 12th of the year, to make it a 2-0 game. 

With Cody Bellinger struggling a bit at the plate to start the season, he got today off, allowing Trent Grisham to get the start in center field and blast a solo home run to lead off the top of the second inning, his fifth of the season, and now 12 RBIs for Grisham to make it a 3-0 ballgame. 

The Rays got on the board thanks to an RBI single from Yandy Diaz to cut the Yankees' lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the third inning. 

The Yankees tacked on three more runs in the top of the fourth inning. Aaron Judge picked up a 2-run bloop single to put his RBI total up to 24 on the year and make it a 5-1 game. The next batter, catcher Austin Wells, picked up a sac fly to make it a 6-1 Yankees lead. 

The Rays cut the Yankees' lead to 6-2 thanks to a leadoff double by 21-year-old third baseman Junior Caminerio. A couple of batters later, right fielder Jake Mangrum picked up an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth inning. Then former Yankee catcher Ben Rortvedt picked up a 2-run single to put the Rays right back in it and make it a 6-4 ballgame. 

On the final out of the top of the fifth inning, a scary collision occurred between Rays first baseman Jonthan Aranda and catcher Ben Rortvedt. Aranda took an elbow to the face and remained on the ground for a minute before walking off the field. 

In the bottom of the fifth, Yandy Diaz led things off with a double, which probably should have been caught by Dominguez in left field with an 85% catch probability, knocking Carrasco out of the game. Ian Hamilton replaced Carrasco on the mound. Jazz made a beautiful diving stop to rob Jonathan Aranda of a hit and a potential RBI. Grisham made a great running catch in center field to rob Jake Mangum of extra bases and keep this a 6-4 game. 

Concerning news for Yankees fans, Ben Rice left the game with a left elbow contusion, as Pablo Reyes pinch hit for Rice in the top of the sixth, after Rice got hit in the elbow in the fourth inning and was in clear pain. Rice has been the Yankees' second-best hitter this season with a .292 average, five home runs, nine RBIs, and a 1.003 OPS.

"X-rays came back negative, so no fracture," Rice said. "I'm pretty sore right now, so I will probably just take it day to day."

Mark Lieter Jr. replaced Hamilton on the mound in the bottom of the seventh inning, worked a 1-2-3 inning, and picked up a strikeout on a nasty splitter. 

Luke Weaver came into the game to pitch, taking over for Liter Jr. in the bottom of the eighth inning, and retired the Rays in order, picking up two strikeouts. 

Yankees added two insurance runs at the top of the ninth. Judge picked up his third hit and RBI of the game to extend the Yankees' lead to 7-4. Then Goldy legged out an RBI infield single a few batters later to make it an 8-4 game. 

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Devin Williams came in to take over for Weaver on the mound. Williams quickly got into trouble, allowing two runners to reach via a single and a walk. Then Chandler Simson picked up an RBI double, his first career hit and RBI, to make it an 8-5 game. The next batter, Yandy Diaz, beat out an infield single to bring in another run and make it an 8-6 game. Then Brandon Lowe picked up a 2-run single to make it an 8-8 ballgame. Oswaldo Cabrera made a great diving stop to make up for an error he had made earlier in the inning and started a double play to send this game to extra innings. 

“You know, a four-run lead you would like to get in and out.” Williams said, “Made some good pitches, some bad ones, but not enough good ones today.”

With Volpe starting at second base due to the extra-inning rule, Grisham picked up a lead-off single to put runners at the corners in the top of the tenth inning. Cody Bellinger and Oswaldo Cabrera both struck out, then J.C. Escara flew out to strand runners at the corners with no outs. 

Yondreys Gomez came in to replace Williams on the mound in the top of the tenth, and immediately served up a walk-off 2-run home run to first baseman Jonthan Aranda, who was in a scary collision earlier in the game, to give the Rays a 10-8 win.

“Obviously a tough one,” Manager Aarone Boone said. “We did a lot of good things to get near the finish line, then just didn't bounce our way there in the ninth. Tough one, those are going to happen, so we dust ourselves off and get ready to try and finish a good series tomorrow.”

The Yankees will look to bounce back from their worst loss of the season so far and win the series. Max Fried will start for the Yankees, and Ryan Pepiot will take the ball for the Rays. The first pitch will be at 1:40 p.m. ET on the YES Network. 

“It's an early game tomorrow, so these boys better show up ready to go.” Captain Aaron Judge said following the loss, “These boys have been playing there butt off all year so you know we've had a couple tough losses, so we just have to show up and turn the tide thats it.”

My thoughts on the game: It might be time for Devin Williams to be moved out of the closer role, as he now has a 9.00 ERA on the season after giving up four runs in the ninth inning today. Going into this game, I knew we didn't have a great chance since the Rays had the clear pitching advantage with Shane Baz pitching. It looked like the Yankees would be able to overcome the Rays, having the starting pitching advantage until Williams folded like a lawn chair in the ninth and completely unraveled, blowing a four-run lead. Judge had another big game, going 3 for 5 with three RBIs, and Grisham had a solid game, going 2 for 4 with another home run. Ben Rice, who left the game, had negative X-rays, but if I had to guess, he will probably get a precautionary day off tomorrow. Tomorrow, there is still a great chance to win the series with Max Fried on the mound after a brutal loss today.