Another AL East letdown: Yankees drop game one to Rays

New York—The Yankees dropped game one of this four-game series to the Rays 4-2; the bats went quiet after the first inning. Cam Schlittler got the starting nod for the Yankees and faced off against Drew Rasmussen.

Cam quickly got the first two outs of the ballgame, then walked a batter. That walk came back to bite him as Junior Caminero launched a two-run home run to give the Rays a 2-0 lead. 

"Oh, yeah, just missing a little bit outside," Cam said. "That was kind of really it. Cutter was a little away. Fastball was a bit just outside. I think I missed some really close ones there. And then, again, hang a pitch to Caminero, and that's that. But after that, just a little sporadic with the control. Was bailed out with the cutter in to right field. But I think it bounced back quickly after that inning." 

In the bottom of the first inning, Jasson Dominguez blooped a one-out single to left field. Cody Bellinger was then gifted a single as Rays center fielder Chandler Simpson misplayed a routine fly ball. Giancarlo Stanton followed that up with a rocket single to right field to load the bases with one out. Jazz Chisholm Jr. then worked a walk to bring across a run to make it a 2-1 game. A couple of batters later, Ryan McMahon worked a bases-loaded walk of his own to tie the game up at 2-2. 

Cam worked around a two-out single in the top of the third inning and picked up his fourth strikeout of the ballgame in the process. 

In the top of the fourth inning, Cam surrendered back-to-back singles to start the inning. Then picked up his fifth strikeout of the game and got some help from Volpe, who turned a nice double play on the speedy Simpson to help Cam work into and out of trouble. 

Paul Goldschmidt, McMahon, and Austin Wells went down in order for the Yankees in the bottom of the fourth inning. 

Cam walked his fourth batter of the game to lead off the top of the fifth inning, then gave up back-to-back singles, one of them being an RBI single to Josh Lowe to give the Rays a 3-2 lead. Brent Headrick replaced Cam with runners on the corners and one out and picked up two huge strikeouts to strand runners at the corners. 

Cam Schlittler's final line: 4.1 innings pitched, seven hits allowed, three earned runs, four walks, 17 swings and misses, and five strikeouts on 86 pitches. Cam relied heavily on his fastball, throwing it 72% of the time, the cutter 13%, the curveball 8%, the sweeper 6%, and the sinker 1% of the time. Cam was decent today, just didn't have the best command with the four walks. He really needs to develop a changeup or splitter at some point as a put-away pitch for lefties. 

"I mean, I'm confident in the shapes and, you know, again, I think they're good plus pitches," Cam said on the development of his secondary pitches. "Just got to work on getting them in the zone a little bit more and putting them in better spots and better counts." 

Dominguez lined a two-out single to right field for his second hit of the night in the bottom of the fifth inning, but that would be all for the Yankees as Belli flew out to end the fifth. 

Headrick remained in the game for the top of the sixth inning and worked an easy 1-2-3 inning with another strikeout. 

In the top of the seventh inning, Ian Hamilton replaced Headrick and walked the leadoff batter, then gave up a double into the right field corner to work into trouble. Hamilton then gunned down a run at the plate on a groundball back to the mound. Luke Weaver was called upon to take over for Hamilton with runners on the corners and one out. Weaver picked up a strikeout and a ground out to whodini out of a second and third, nobody out jam. 

Weaver came back out for the top of the eighth inning and surrendered a leadoff infield single on a play that Volpe could have made if he came up with it cleanly. Tim Hill then replaced Weaver on the mound and gave up a couple of singles to load the bases, followed by a sac fly to Yandy Diaz to make it a 4-2 game. 

With one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, Amed Rosario pinch hit for Dominguez for his first at bat as a Yankee and lined a single to left field. But that would be all for the Yankees as Beli grounded out and Stanton struck out to end the inning. 

JT Brubaker replaced Hill in the top of the ninth inning and retired the Rays in order thanks to a nice sliding catch from Belli in left field. 

McMahon picked up a two-out line drive single to right field in the bottom of the ninth inning to bring the tying run to the plate. But that would be all, as Wells was robbed of extra bases to end this one 4-2 final, as the Yankees drop game one of this four-game series. 

"A great job after giving up two in the first of stringing together a lot of really good at-bats against Rasmussen in the first,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “But then struggled from there... and weren't able to mount enough.”

The Yankees will look to bounce back in game two tomorrow, with Max Fried getting the start, facing off against Joe Boyle for the Rays. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET on the YES Network. 

My thoughts on the game: Cam was decent but not great, with four walks and unable to complete five innings. The offense did just about nothing after the first inning, with just three base runners. The bullpen was solid, giving up just one run in 4.2 innings. Headrick stepped up big with five huge outs. I was shocked earlier this year when they sent him down. I have been really impressed by what I've seen from him this year, and this bullpen desperately needs lefties. Weaver also got out of a big jam, but did give up a run the following inning due to a play that Volpe probably could have made. Hill and Bruckbacker were also solid, working scoreless innings. But it's hard to win when you only score two runs. On to tomorrow, as the Yankees need a big start from Fried, as losing is starting to feel way too common for this team right now, especially against the AL East, the Yankees are now 11-19 in AL East matchups. 

"I've got confidence in the guys in here,” Belli said. “I like showing up every day and going to battle with these boys in this locker room. We've got a lot of really good baseball players in here, got to keep focusing on what we can control."