Rays Fall Further in Wild Card Race With 5-4 Loss to Yankees

The Tampa Bay Rays lost an extra-innings shootout on Wednesday night to the New York Yankees, losing 5-4 in 11 innings of back-and-forth baseball.

The loss moves the Raysl to seventh in the American League wild card standings.

Lowe Gets Loose

Rays All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe re-entered the fold in fashion after another stint on the 10-day injured list. In the top of the third inning, Lowe sent an RBI double to right field to make it 1-0 Tampa Bay. In the top of the fifth, he followed up with a single to right. He finished the night 2-for-4.

Late Game Letdown

The Rays held on tight to the 1-0 lead Lowe provided for them earlier in the game, as recently traded starter Zack Littell, Garrett Cleavinger and Mason Englert combined for seven innings of two-hit baseball while shutting out the Yankees. Then, in the eighth inning, Tampa Bay’s control began to unravel.

Recently acquired reliever Bryan Baker took the mound for the Rays in the bottom of the eighth inning and surrendered four straight hits, two of which were a home run to Trent Grisham and an RBI single to Giancarlo Stanton to give New York a 2-1 lead.

“You feel for him, no doubt about it,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said about Baker after the game.

Josh Lowe’s Heroics and Volpe’s Revenge

With their backs against the wall, the Rays needed an answer, and they got one.

After leadoff hitter Junior Caminero walked to open the top of the ninth, right fielder Josh Lowe came to the plate and crushed a 2-0 changeup off Yankees reliever Devin Williams to give Tampa Bay a 3-2 lead. It was Lowe’s eighth home run of the year.

However, the celebration in the Rays' dugout wouldn’t last long, as New York’s Anthony Volpe took closer Pete Fairbanks to left field with a game-tying solo shot with one out in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings.

“Sometimes you get got, and we’ve been getting got,” Fairbanks said after the loss.

Crucial Error

After Tampa Bay’s Jonathan Aranda and New York’s Cody Bellinger helped their teams tack on a run each and extend the game in the 10th inning, Rays reliever Kevin Kelly took the mound in the bottom of the 11th. 

After intentionally walking Yankees left fielder Jasson Domínguez, the umpires caught Kelly on a balk, which sent Domínguez to second and Jazz Chisholm Jr. to third with no outs. Subsequently, third baseman Ryan McMahon walked it off for New York with a single to center field.

“I felt like I moved a little. I was hoping that nobody noticed,” Kelly said after the game. “Obviously just not acceptable in that situation.” 

With the loss, Kelly (0-3) loses his third-straight decision in July.

Failing to Finish

The latest defeat brings the Rays to 5-4 in extra-innings games and 15-20 in one-run games. Moreover, they are 2-8 in their last 10 one-run games. Tampa Bay (54-55) also falls below .500 for the first time since May 25. 

Now three games behind the Texas Rangers for the last wild card spot in the American League, the Rays look forward to Thursday for a chance to split the series with the Yankees (59-49) at 1:05 p.m. as right-hander Ryan Pepiot (6-8, 3.42 ERA) faces New York’s Marcus Stroman (2-2, 6.09 ERA).