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Rays It Up to a 2-0 Lead in ALDS over Yankees

Image Credit: Tampa Bay Rays

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — On the brink of elimination are the Yankees, trailing the Rays 2-0 in this best of five American League Division Series. 

And for the most part, anyone watching would agree, all the Yankees can do is blame themselves for where they currently stand while also crediting Tampa Bay for playing Tampa Bay’s style of winning baseball. 

A style the Yankees should be prepared for and very familiar with, having matched up with the Rays all season long in a race for the AL East division title, with the thought of this series potentially going down in October. 

Nonetheless, on an error-filled Monday night at Tropicana Field, losing to the Rays, 5-2, in Game 2 of the ALDS—the Yankees played sloppy baseball all around, committing four errors and were lifeless at the plate—with little to nothing to show for offensively besides two solo home runs from designated hitter Ben Rice.

That pinstripe sloppiness and yes, it was sloppy, was on display from the very beginning as Yankees right-hander Cam Schlittler, the favorite to win this year’s AL Cy Young Award, had one hand tied behind his back via third baseman Ryan McMahon unable to come up with a ground ball from lead-off hitter Yandy Díaz and second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. later attempting a throw to first base he had no business making. 

Just like that after one inning of Game 2 ALDS action, Tampa Bay had a 1-0 lead despite the margin feeling much larger. 

“Kind of found himself in trouble a lot tonight, not by his own doing,” said Yankees manager Aaron Boone of Schlittler, finishing the first inning on 19 pitches but the night on a total of 76 after 4.2 innings of four-run ball, with two runs unearned. 

“Obviously, a really rough night to say the least for us. We’ve got to get over it. We’ve responded all year to difficult times and we’ve got to do that again. We’ve got to get ourselves up off the mat.”

After the Yankees recorded 18 runs on 26 hits in the AL Wild Card Series vs. Boston last week (two games), New York’s offense suddenly went cold with just two runs on five hits so far in the ALDS vs. Tampa Bay (Games 1 and 2)- Image Credit: Francisco Rodriguez/Latino Sports

Putting the Yankees on the mat first other than themselves was Rays starter Freddy Peralta, cruising along his first three frames of work on a no-hit bid which was broken up in the fourth by Rice on his lead-off game-tying HR.

“I think what clicked is him coming over here and just flushing whatever had gone on and approaching it like a fresh start, a new start, a new season for him,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said of Peralta, who was acquired by the Rays this summer in a trade with the Mets. 

Leading up to Monday, the 30-year-old right-hander, hailing from Moca, Dominican Republic—a former LatinoMVP NL Pitcher of the Year (2024)—had posted a 3.25 ERA over his first 10 regular season starts as a Ray with 43 strikeouts, earning NL Pitcher of the Month honors for September. 

“He threw the ball incredibly well,” Cash noted as Peralta maxed out to 4.2 innings with one run allowed. “I felt like the changeup started to work off the edge enough where he wasn’t able to get it in the zone. But early on, it was (a) dominant fastball, dominant changeup. It’s tough to nitpick anybody that goes through that lineup and gives up a solo homer. So, very pleased with Freddy.”

Very pleased Cash and all of Tampa Bay were in the bottom of the fifth as Rays second baseman, Brooklyn native and proud Puerto Rican Richie Palacios, an avid Yankees fan growing up, ripped a two-run single off reliever Brent Headrick to push the lead to 5-1. 

“When I’m getting clutch hits, it doesn’t really matter who I’m playing against,” the 29-year-old said. “But it’s very special to do this in a postseason against a team I grew up watching.”

Cash went as far as saying Palacios’ clutch moment was “probably the biggest hit in the game for us.”

From there, it was all but over at The Trop even though Rice did connect on his second solo homer in the eighth off left-hander Ian Seymour—the Yankees’ fourth and final hit of the night. 

Five hits by the Yankees (two runs) combined in Games 1 and 2 of this ALDS compared to Tampa’s 13 (six runs).

“It’s a mix of a lot of things,” said Rice of the Yankees’ struggling offense. “The Rays pitchers, like they have all year, they’ve done well these past couple of games and executed pitches. We have mixed in some good swings here and there that didn’t have much to show for but we just gotta find a way. Gotta find a way to get runs across.” 

Looking Ahead to Game 3 of ALDS

As the Rays are up 2-0 in this best of five ALDS and one win away from punching its ticket to the American League Championship Series, Tampa Bay will send Cuban-American right-hander Nick Martinez (15-6, 3.10 ERA), a Fordham University alum, to the mound in Game 3 scheduled for Wednesday night, October 7th at Yankee Stadium. 

The Yankees, with New York’s season on the line, looking to avoid having an opponent celebrate a postseason series clincher in the Bronx for a third consecutive season (2025: Blue Jays in ALDS, 2024: Dodgers in World Series), plan to counter with LHP Max Fried (5-5, 2.80 ERA).

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