Yankees Get to Joe Boyle in First 'Rotation' Start, Beat Rays 7-5

NEW YORK — Joe Boyle's first start in the Tampa Bay rotation started out with such promise. The Rays grabbed an early three-run lead, but them it all imploded — and fast.

It all happened on Boyle's watch, too. He walked two batters in the third inning and Cody Bellinger brought everyone home with a three-run homer. They scored three more times in the fourth — and two errors didn't help —and the Yankees wound up winning 7-5, spoiling Boyle's much-anticipating start.

Boyle struggled with control, having a hard time locating his fastball. Working with new catcher Nick Fortes for the first time, Boyle lasted just 3 1/3 innings and gave up six runs, four earned. He allowed four hits and three walks to take his first loss of the season.

It wasn't what anyone had hoped for.

“We think really highly of him,” Rays manager Kevin Cash told reporters after the game. “I think it’s more or less one of those outings. He’s been really good for us in the outings up here. But, yeah, the command and I think the Yankees, (you’ve) got to give credit to their lineup of not doing him any favors and kind of waiting him out. And they got themselves in a lot of good counts.”

This loss, which brings the Rays back to 54-54, wasn't all on Boyle, though. Usually sure-handed second baseman Jose Caballero had an error in this fourth inning on a line drive that should have been caught. And Fortes, who came in from Miami after the Rays traded starting catcher Danny Jansen to Milwaukee, also had a throwing error in the inning.

The Rays' offense also had a chance to alter the outcome late. They had been productive early against Yankees starter Max Fried, who hadn't allowed a run over 14-plus innings in two starts against the Rays earlier in the season. But Jonny DeLuca had a two-run triple in the first and Jonathan Aranda homered in the third, giving the Rays a 3-0 lead.

After that six-run Yankees rally, the Rays had plenty of chances to come back, getting seven men on base in the final three innings, but going just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

They scored a run in the seventh on a Taylor Walls double, but Yandy Diaz left him stranded at second when he grounded out to first to end the inning. Aranda and Junior Caminero opened the eighth with singles, but Christopher Morel grounded into a double play to end the threat.

Anthony Volpe homered off of Kevin Kelly in the bottom of the inning to make it 7-4, but the Rays rallied again in the ninth. Josh Lowe tripled to open the inning, and scored on a Tristan Gray ground out. Diaz reached on an error, so Aranda had the tying runs on base with two outs. But he chased a fastball from Devin Williams out of the zone to end the game.

It was certainly odd that Boyle's first start had to come with a battery mate he had never met before. Fortes got into New York on Tuesday and had a crash course on the game plan. He and Boyle worked their way through the game on the fly, learning about each other pitch by pitch.

“It’s hard, but we talked and we did our best,” Boyle said. “I thought he did a really good job calling pitches, all things considered.”

Fortes had to get up to speed quickly, but he got plenty of help:

“It’s tough, but the whole staff did a really good job of bringing me up to date and filling me in on everything I need to know,'' Fortes said. “I think we were on the same page for the most part, for a good amount of the night. And if not, I think we had plenty of time on the clock to shake to what he wanted.

"It’s just going to take some time to gauge where these guys want to see me back there and just what these guys like to give them the best chance for success.”

The two teams meet again on Wednesday night. with Zack Littell taking on Will Warren. The game starts at 7:05 p.m. ET. The game is televised locally, per usual, but is also on the MLB Network.