It was another miserable night for the New York Yankees (55-38) as they fell 5-3 to the Tampa Bay Rays (45-46) in the series opener at Tropicana Field, dropping to a Major League-worst 6-17 in their last 23 games.
New York opened the scoring in the first inning as Gleyber Torres lined a two-out RBI single to left field, but the lead did not last long.
Carlos Rodón allowed four runs before recording an out but did settle in, throwing three scoreless frames.
The Yankees did not score again until the seventh when Ben Rice launched a two-run home run into the right-field seats to cut the deficit to 4-3.
Tommy Kahnle allowed a two-out RBI double (charged to Michael Tonkin) in the eighth, but New York did not go away quietly as DJ LeMahieu lined a one-out single to right field in the ninth to bring the tying run to the plate twice, but Ben Rice struck out, and Juan Soto lined out to the warning track to end the contest.
The Yankees will try to get back in the win column on Wednesday with Marcus Stroman on the bump. The first pitch is slated for 6:50 p.m.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].