Yankees erupt for 12 runs to split series with Rays
- Davis Cornell
- Jul 9
- 4 min read
The Yankees took down the Rays 12-4 to secure a series split at the Trop. The Yankees went with a bullpen game, with Paul Blackburn as the opener, facing off against Drew Rasmussen.
“Yeah, that's a good pitcher,” Ben Rice said of Rasmussen. “He's definitely had our number in past outings. So just had a good team approach today.”
Trent Grisham, Ben Rice and Jasson Dominguez went three up, three down in the top half of the first inning.
Blackburn quickly picked up the first two outs of the bottom half of the first inning, then left a slider up to Junior Caminero, who crushed it 438 feet for a solo shot, giving the Rays a 1-0 lead.
Max Schuemann led off the third inning with a double into the left-field corner, the Yankees' first hit of the ballgame. Ryan McMahon followed with a 12-pitch battle that ended in an RBI double lined into the right-field corner to even the score. Then Grisham gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead thanks to an RBI single. Then Ben Rice crushed a two-run home run, his 27th of the year, to set a new career high and extend the Yankees' lead to 4-1.
“It all started with McMahon working that really long at bat, getting the double to knock him in,” Rice said. “And from there, I feel like it was just contagious. Everyone was getting their pitch, working it at bat. And we executed.”
Jasson Dominguez legged out an infield single, then stole second base. Cody Bellinger legged out an infield single of his own to put runners at the corners with one out for José Caballero. Caballero shot an RBI single through the right side of the infield. Jazz Chisholm Jr. then extended the Yankees' lead to 6-1 with a sacrifice fly.
Jake Bird replaced Blackburn in the bottom of the third and walked the No. 9 hitter, then surndered a single to put two runners on with nobody out. Bird allowed a single off the wall in left field, but the Rays' base runners got a bad read on it, resulting in a long single that loaded the bases. Caminero bounced into a double play, scoring a run and making it 6-2. Ryan Yarbrough took over for Bird and allowed an RBI double to Victor Mesa Jr., making it 6-3.
With one out in the top of the fourth inning, Austin Wells crushed a no-doubt bomb to right field, his first home run since May 22, to extend the Yankees' lead to 7-3.
Yarbrough came back out for the bottom of the fourth inning and allowed a leadoff triple. Yarbrough picked up a pair of popouts, then Camilo Doval came in relief and induced a groundout to strand a leadoff triple.
Doval remained in the game for the bottom of the fifth and picked up the first out, then walked and plunked a batter. Brent Headrick replaced Doval with runners on first and second and picked up a pair of strikeouts to end the inning.
Wells led off the sixth inning with his first walk since May 31. Grisham followed with a double to right field, putting two runners in scoring position with nobody out for Rice. Rice crushed a three-run home run, his 28th of the season, to make it 10-3.
Headrick came back out for the bottom of the sixth and allowed a leadoff triple to Chandler Simpson, his second in as many at-bats. Ben Williamson drove in Simpson with an RBI single, making it 10-4. It looked like the Yankees picked up the second out, but Dominguez overran a routine flyball, allowing it to drop in for a single. But thankfully, that mistake did not cost the Yankees as Headrick picked up the next two outs to end the inning.
Schuemann sent a one-out single through the right side of the infield in the top of the seventh inning, then stole second base. McMahon then drilled his second RBI double of the game, extending the Yankees' lead to 11-4.
Angel Chivilli came in for the bottom of the seventh and worked a nice, easy 1-2-3 inning, recording a strikeout.
Rice worked a walk to leadoff the eighth inning; Dominguez followed with a single to left-center field. Belli sent an RBI single right back up the middle, his second knock of the game, to make it 12-4.
Chivilli came back out for the bottom of the eighth inning and forced the Rays to go three up, three down with a couple of strikeouts.
Tim Hill got the call for the bottom of the ninth and worked a scoreless inning to give the Yankees the win and split the series.
The Yankees will begin a new series tomorrow in Washington against the Nationals. Ryan Weathers will take the mound for the Yankees and face off against Carson Palmquist. First pitch is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. ET on the YES Network.
My thoughts on the game: A much-needed win for the Yankees, as the offense absolutely exploded. Blackburn did his job as the opener. Bird gave up two runs; he is just terrible; he needs to be sent down or traded. Yarbrough did a good job of cleaning up Bird's mess. Doval gave up a couple of hits, but thankfully didn't allow any runs thanks to some help from Headrick. Chivilli was lights out, tossing two scoreless innings; he will most likely be rewarded by being sent down. Hill did his job with a scoreless frame. And the offense, which has been struggling mightily lately, showed up in a big way with 12 runs and 14 hits. Everyone in the starting lineup had a hit aside from Jazz. Grisham, Belli, Rice, McMahon and Dominguez all had multi-hit games. Rice, who struggled in June, had a huge game with two homers and five RBIs. A much-needed stress-free win for the Yankees. With how they were playing coming into this series, I wouldn't have been shocked if they got swept, so a split was huge. Now the Yankees won't have to worry about playing the Rays until September, when they meet in the Bronx for a four-game set. On to tomorrow, as the Yankees will look to hopefully end the first half on a high note with a series win in Washington.
“Yeah, it's big time,” Rice said of the offense today. “It's big for the morale heading into this last series before the break. Just to kind of get everyone rolling again and firing on all cylinders feels good.”
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