ST. PETERSBURG — The New York Yankees is facing elimination after a 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays in ALDS Game 2 at Tropicana Field on Monday night, a defeat defined as much by a silent offense as by a sloppy defense. New York was charged with four errors and could have been charged with a fifth, but allowed only five runs to a Tampa Bay lineup that capitalized on every miscue to take a 2-0 series lead.
The defensive unraveling started in the bottom of the first inning. Tampa Bay leadoff hitter Yandy Díaz reached when third baseman Ryan McMahon booted a chopper, Jonathan Aranda followed with a single off starter Cam Schlittler, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. then threw wildly to first after a force at second, allowing Díaz to score. Catcher Austin Wells was charged with catcher's interference on Liam Hicks after a replay review confirmed Hicks clipped Wells' mitt, giving New York three errors in the first four hitters. Chisholm nearly added a fourth on a throw that pulled shortstop George Lombard Jr. off the bag, but Lombard recovered for the out at second. The fourth official error came in the bottom of the fifth when Lombard misplayed a grounder with Tampa Bay leading 3-1, a play initially ruled an error before being changed to a fielder's choice that scored Junior Caminero. After manager Aaron Boone replaced Schlittler with lefty Brent Headrick, Lombard committed another error on a Jonny DeLuca grounder, and DeLuca and Chandler Simpson later scored on a single from No. 8 hitter Richie Palacios to make it 5-1.
The errors tell only part of the story. Designated hitter Ben Rice accounted for both New York runs with a pair of solo homers and finished 2-for-3, while the rest of the lineup combined to go 2-for-28 with only a double from Wells in the second and a single from Cody Bellinger in the fourth. New York went 0-for-1 with runners in scoring position, its lone chance coming in the top of the fifth when starter Freddy Peralta and reliever Cam Booser loaded the bases with two outs in a 1-1 game. Bellinger drove a ball to the deepest part of the track, but DeLuca tracked it down on the warning track to end the threat.
The drought is a sharp contrast to New York's recent offense. The Yankees entered the postseason among the league leaders in slugging percentage (.409, sixth in MLB) and home runs (223, second in MLB) and swept the Boston Red Sox in the Wild Card Series by a combined 18-2, scoring nine runs in back-to-back games. That lineup is without Aaron Judge, who remains sidelined due to a right calf strain, but it has now scored just two runs in two games in Tampa Bay. In Game 1, New York did not record a hit until an eighth-inning double from Wells and finished 1-for-27.