Aaron Boone on Yankees' ride home from Tampa Bay: 'It's gut check time'

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone called for a response after a mistake-filled loss left his team one defeat from elimination. Monday’s 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays put the Yankees down 2-0 in the best-of-five American League Division Series, with little room left to recover.

The Yankees committed four errors at Tropicana Field, including three in the first inning. Ben Rice supplied both runs with solo homers, but New York’s defensive breakdowns helped the Rays take control of the series.

Newsday’s Erik Boland shared Boone’s postgame comments early Tuesday on X, formerly Twitter, capturing the manager’s message as the Yankees prepared to return home.

"It's going to be a rough ride back, but you've got to find out what ur made of. It's gut check time. You've got to pick yourself up. As bad as it was, it's a loss. We have a chance to come out & win a baseball game Wed night..but we have to be better than that, obviously."

Aaron Boone needs Yankees to clean up costly mistakes

Ryan McMahon, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Austin Wells and George Lombard Jr. each committed an error. The mistakes forced the Yankees to navigate additional trouble against a Rays team that repeatedly capitalized on their inability to finish plays.

Cam Schlittler allowed four runs, two earned, over 4 1/3 innings. Tampa Bay broke the game open with four runs in the fifth, turning a 1-1 tie into an advantage the Yankees could not overcome.

The offensive struggles have compounded those problems. After losing Saturday’s opener 1-0, the Yankees managed only Rice’s two solo shots Monday. They now need three consecutive victories to advance.

History illustrates the difficulty of that assignment. Teams that have taken a 2-0 lead in a best-of-five postseason series have advanced 83 times in 93 opportunities, approximately 89.2 percent.

Boone's message acknowledged the disappointment while directing attention toward the opportunity that remains. Returning home gives the Yankees another chance, but the venue change alone cannot correct the mistakes that defined Game 2. Max Fried is scheduled to start Wednesday at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees must win to extend their season.