Saturday, 4 a.m.
Is this any way to start the unofficial second half of the baseball season.
The Tampa Bay Rays acted as if Friday was another day off for the all-star break, playing a sloppy game in a 6-1 loss to the New York Yankees. The Rays didn’t field a lot, didn’t hit a lot and didn’t pitch very well. Except for that, everything was efficient.
The Rays committed three errors. They walked six batters. They went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position. And they scored only once, that on the 10th home run by Brandon Lowe. They were also missing star Yandy Diaz, who missed the game for “personal reasons.”
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Starter Zach Eflin was touched for four runs in the third inning, three of them on a bases-loaded double by Anthony Volpe. Outfielder Juan Soto had four hits, two of them doubles. Soto scored the Yankees’ fifth run on a double and a double error.
The Rays, 48-49 on the season, got two hits from Jose Caballero. Overall, they had just seven hits, only four of them against Garrrit Cole, who got the win.
The teams play again today at 1:05 p.m. at Yankee Stadium. Taj Bradley will start for the Rays against Nestor Cortex.