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On a Harry Potter-themed night at the Stadium, the Yankees offense vanished — again. The Rays came in behind opener Jalen Beeks and shut down the Bombers, beating them 4-0 for their second shutout in as many games.
Despite a solid six innings by Gerrit Cole, the Yankees (72-44) were shut out in back-to-back games for the first time since Sept. 22-24, 2016 at Baltimore, when they were blanked three straight times. They lost their second straight game and their 10th in their last 12. They are 7-13 in their last 20 games. The Rays (61-53), fighting for a playoff spot, move into a tie with the Blue Jays for second in the American League East, 10 games behind the Yankees.
It was the 10th time this season the Yankees have been shut out and the fourth time in the last nine games.
“Obviously it’s frustrating but you just gotta keep chugging along and know that it will turn,” Anthony Rizzo said. “When you’re up, it seems like you’re never going to get down and when you’re down you think you will never get up again, but that’s just the way baseball life is in general.
“Just kind of have to ride the storm.”
It’s proving to be a bumpy ride, especially for Aaron Hicks, who received Joey Gallo-level boos for his misplay in the outfield and his struggles at the plate.
“Extremely frustrating. Second inning, with a guy on first and second and I ended up striking out and not getting the job done and come back up with the bases loaded. I try to stay short and try to hit the ball up the middle and end up cuing the ball right back to the pitcher for a double play,” Hicks said. “Just overall, extremely embarrassing, actually. Even if I’m not hitting I want my defense to be on point. And I messed up out there as well.”
That mistake cost the Yankees and Gerrit Cole a run.
David Peralta’s fly ball to the center field wall got Aaron Hicks turned around for a triple to lead off the fourth inning. Isaac Paredea grounded a single through the left side to score the Rays’ run. Wandy Peralta was charged with two runs and Lou Trivino allowed the other to score.
Cole allowed one run on five hits. He walked two and struck out six. The right-hander got 15 swings and misses, nine on his four-seam fastball, which he has featured more in his last two starts. It was Cole’s 15th start out of his last 21 that he has allowed two earned runs or less.
“I’ve seen us put sixes and sevens up there before you can blink sometimes,” Cole said. “So it’s like I don’t really ever feel like we’re out of any games. But at the same time, like three (runs) seems a lot harder than it did a while ago.”
Three runs seems insurmountable right now.
The Bombers have been shut out four times in their last 10 games. Over their last 58 innings, the Yankees have scored just eight runs. They have been without Giancarlo Stanton since July 24 as he is on the injured list with left Achilles tendinitis. Rizzo missed five games with a back issue and now they are missing DJ LeMahieu as he deals with a sore right big toe.
Monday night, they were pressing at the plate.
The fourth inning was typical of the Yankees’ struggles lately. The Bombers had the bases loaded with one out after a pair of head-scratching bunts by Andrew Benintendi and Jose Trevino. Aaron Hicks came up and chopped a curveball right in front of the mound for an inning-ending double play. It was his fourth ground out into a double play with the bases loaded this season.
It’s been a tough streak.
“Big picture, going back even over the last month, the offense has been there. We’ve had those like four out of nine where it’s been a struggle for us and I think there are some individuals that are wearing that and kind of fighting through it and trying to find it and it gets hard,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “That’s part of it. You have to find a way when it gets hard you gotta be able to dig yourself out.”
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