Warren struggles and Yankees strike out 17 times in 6-4 loss

The Rays took down the Yankees 6-4 to extend their lead to four games in the AL East. Will Warren took the mound for the Yankees and faced off against Ian Seymour. 

With two outs in the top of the first inning, Ben Rice lined a single into right-center field. However, Amed Rosario struck out, stranding Rice at first base. 

In the bottom half of the first inning, Warren navigated around a one-out walk thanks to a pair of strikeouts. 

Victor Mesa Jr. gave the Rays a 1-0 lead with one out in the bottom of the second inning thanks to a solo shot to right field. Then, with two outs, Yandy Díaz made it 2-0 with an RBI single. 

Max Schuemann laid down a perfect bunt single to lead off the third inning. Then Trent Grisham dunked a bloop double into left field, putting two runners in scoring position with one out. But Paul Goldschmidt struck out, making him 0-for-his-last-28. Then Ben Rice came through with a three-run home run the other way, his 26th of the season, tying a career high and giving the Yankees a 3-2 advantage. 

https://youtu.be/XWp_xjbXmVY

Warren worked a nice and easy 1-2-3 shutdown bottom of the third inning on just seven pitches and notched his third strikeout of the ballgame.

The Yankees' lead didn't last long as Warren allowed an RBI double to Richie Palacios to tie the ballgame. Then the Rays' No. 9 hitter Hunter Feduccia crushed a two-run home run to give the Rays the lead. Díaz followed with a home run of his own, making it back-to-back bombs and extending the Rays' lead to 6-3. 

In the top of the fifth inning, Schuemann, Grisham and Goldy all went down on strikes, giving Seymour 12 strikeouts and putting the Yankees' offense up to 29 strikeouts in the first 14 innings of this series. Goldy is now 0-for-his-last-29. 

Tim Hill replaced Warren on the mound in the bottom of the fifth and worked around a two-out base hit to complete a scoreless frame. 

Final line for Warren: Four innings pitched, seven hits allowed, six runs, two walks, and three strikeouts on 75 pitches. He threw his sinker 33% of the time, the fastball 29%, the changeup 16%, the sweeper 12%, and the curveball 9%. Warren topped out at 94.5 mph, sitting at 93.2 on his heater, with just three whiffs. 

Hill came back out for the bottom of the sixth and picked up the first two outs. Paul Blackburn took over for Hill and recorded the final out of the inning, 

Jazz Chisholm Jr. led off the seventh inning with a single to right field; Jasson Dominguez followed with a pinch-hit single, putting runners at the corners with nobody out. Ali Sánchez cut the Yankees' deficit to two runs with a sacrifice fly. The Yankees had a chance to tack on another run, but Goldy went down on strikes, making him 0-for-his-last-30 and setting a new Yankees record with 31 strikeouts in two games. 

Blackburn came back out for the bottom of the seventh and worked a scoreless inning. Brent Hedrick got the call for the bottom of the eighth and worked a 1-2-3 inning with a pair of strikeouts. 

Sánchez lined a two-out single into the left-center gap in the top of the ninth inning. But Grisham punched out to end the ballgame and give the Yankees their 17th strikeout for a second straight night. 

The Yankees will look to bounce back tomorrow with Gerrit Cole on the mound facing off against Shane McClanahan. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. ET on Prime Video. 

My thoughts on the game: Terrible start from Warren; he needs to be better. Hill, Blackburn and Hedrick did their job, combining for four shutout innings, allowing just one hit. Rice, who has been slumming as of late, had three knocks. Sánchez also had a couple of hits; he needs to be playing every day; he is so much better than Austin Wells. The Yankees' offense was solid for the most part with 11 hits. But they struck out 17 times, the 11th occurrence of at least 17 strikeouts in a game in Yankees franchise history—and the second straight game they've done it in this series. The Yankees need to put together better at-bats tomorrow; they can't be striking out 34 times in two games. On to tomorrow, as the Yankees are in need of a dominant start from Cole.