Rays Lose Again on Another Misplayed Routine Fly Ball, Fall to Yankees 4-3
NEW YORK — The lazy fly ball just might be the easiest defensive play in baseball, but for the third straight day the usually sure-handed Tampa Bay outfield botched a simple play and it led directly to a loss, falling to the New York Yankees 4-3 on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium.
The culprit this time was Brett Phillips, who's considered one of the best defensive players in the game. The center fielder drifted into the gap in right center during the fifth inning, tracking down a fly ball off the bat of Josh Donaldson. Right fielder Manuel Margot was in the area, too, and Phillips took his eye off the ball for just a second — and dropped it. Donaldson ended up on second base to lead off the inning.
Rays starting pitcher Shane McClanahan got the next two outs, so the inning should have been over. Instead, Rays manager Kevin Cash opted to intentionally walk shortstop Isaiah Kiner-Falefa to face catcher Kyle Higashioka, who was hitting just .172 coming into the game. McClanahan tried to sneak a 97-mph fastball past him, but Higashioka turned on it quickly and hit it into the left-field seats for a three-run homer, giving the Yankees a 4-0 lead.
All three runs, of course, were unearned. But it's also not unusual, especially lately. The Rays, who lead the majors in unearned runs allowed, have been victimized by easy blunders from Kevin Kiermaier (Sunday) and Randy Arozarena and Manuel Margot (Tuesday) prior to Phillips' mistake.
"It's unfortunate the way it played out. It is odd," Cash said. "When you're playing a really good team like we are right now, these two games, there's just been a couple costly mistakes that seemed to add to runs."
Kevin Cash talks quickly about the @RaysBaseball loss to the Yankees in Game 2 of the series. #RaysUp pic.twitter.com/9rnGVg1Hq2
— Bally Sports Sun: Rays (@BallyRays) June 16, 2022
The miscue spoiled what had been a terrific pitchers's duel between McClanahan (7-3) and Yankees lefty Nelson Cortes (6-2). Outside of three unearned runs, McClanahan allowed only a bloop homer to Aaron Judge in the first inning, a ball that traveled only 364 feet to right-center and would not have been a home run in the other 29 MLB parks.
"It happens. Philly makes that catch 99 times out of 100,'' McClanahan said afterward. It was his first loss since April 28. "He busts his butt every single day. I wanted to pick him up, and I let the team down.
"I felt good. I made some bad pitches, made some good pitches. But no excuses. I've got to be better when I take the ball."
After the @RaysBaseball fall to the Yankees, Shane McClanahan talks about his performance, the pitches the Yankees got to and more.#RaysUp pic.twitter.com/Q1hsz8WBRu
— Bally Sports Sun: Rays (@BallyRays) June 16, 2022
Cash was questioned on his decision to intentionally walk Kiner-Falefa with a 3-1 count to face Higoshioka instead.
“I just felt like Isaiah has swung the bat well for them this year, felt like that was putting a lot of pressure on (McClanahan) to come back into that count with him. He puts the ball in play a lot.
“But it’s not a good feeling when you see the ball leave the ballpark. They tagged us for a big home run there, and it was tough to overcome. I'm happy that the guys kind of battled back there and put pressure on them there at the end."
The Rays did keep scraping. They added a run in the sixth inning on doubles by Yandy Diaz and Margot, chasing Cortes. They got two more in the eighth inning after a lengthy delay to determine the proper ruling on a Yankees' pitching change. Margot doubled with two outs, and Arozarena was hit by a pitch. Ji-Man Choi and catcher Rene Pinto followed with RBI singles to cut the lead to 4-3, but Phillips flied out to left to end the threat.
Yankees closer Clay Holmes came in to pitch the ninth, and he allowed a leadoff infield single to Taylor Walls to open the inning. But he got a ground ball from Vidal Brujan, struck out Diaz, and Francisco Mejia grounded out to end the game. It was Holmes' 11th save of the season, and he has now thrown 30 consecutive scoreless innings, not allowing a run since Opening Day way back on April 8.
The Yankees (46-16) are already 30 games over .500 and have won 13 straight home games, their longest home win streak since 1973. They are now a season-high 11 games ahead of the Rays in the American League East ''race.''
The two teams meet again on Thursday night, with the Rays turning to Jalen Beeks to start the game as an ''opener.'' Beeks (1-1, 1.38 ERA) is replacing Drew Rasmussen, who went on the injured list on Wednesday with a hamstring strain.
The Yankees will counter with right-hander Luis Severino (4-1, 2.80 ERA). His only loss of the season came against the Rays on May 29 in St. Petersburg.
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Tom Brew is the publisher of Inside The Rays, and has been with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation network for three years. He is an award-winning writer and editor who has spent most of his four-decade career at the Tampa Bay Times, Indianapolis Star and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has written four books.