Bradley Stifles Bronx Bombers As Rays Roll

 

Taj Bradley got Gleyber Torres to bounce out to shortstop to end the fourth inning. Photo by Jason Schott.

After the Yankees came out of the All-Star break with a 6-1 win on Friday night against the Tampa Bay Rays, Saturday proved the baseball axiom that "momentum is only as strong as the next day's starting pitcher."

The Rays rolled to a 9-1 win backed by seven shutout innings from Taj Bradley, and four home runs, including two from Randy Arozarena.

The Rays went to work early against Yankees starter Nestor Cortes, as they got singles from Curtis Mead and Arozarena, but the left-hander struck out Jonny DeLuca to get out of it.

Then, in the bottom of the first, Yankee rookie sensation Ben Rice led off with a double, and then Juan Soto lined a bullet to first base that was snagged by Isaac Paredes. Rice ended up at third base, and he stood there, as Bradley struck out Aaron Judge and Austin Wells to get out of it.

Juan Soto lining one right to first base in the bottom of the first. Photo by Jason Schott.

That would be the best chance the Yankees had against Bradley, proving to be the turning point that early.

Cortes then got through the second 1-2-3 before opening the third with a walk to the nine hitter, Alex Jackson. He then got Isaac Paredes to bounce into a double play, but Mead crushed a double off the right field fence to bring in Jackson and make it 1-0.

The Rays kept it going in the fourth, as Jose Siri got a one-out single, and then after Jose Caballero bounced into a force out, he walked Taylor Walls.

That brought Jackson - who entered this one with an .082 average, 1 home run and 4 RBI - to the plate, and this time, he crushed a three-run homer to left field, and suddenly, Tampa Bay was up, 4-0.

Alex Jackson approaching the plate, with his teammates waiting, after his home run. Photo by Jason Schott.

That was just the start, as Paredes crushed one to left field just inside the foul pole for a solo shot to open the fifth, and two batters later, Arozarena crushed one into the Tampa Bay bullpen.

With the score now at 6-0 Rays, that would be all for Cortes, who went just 4 1/3 innings. In his toughest start at home this season, he allowed six runs (all earned) on eight hits and two walks, with just one strikeout. Cortes is now an uncharacteristic 4-9, with a 3.99 ERA (earned run average).

Randy Arrozarena approaching the plate after hitting a solo home run off Nestor Cortes in the fifth. Photo by Jason Schott.

Yankees Manager Aaron Boone said of Cortes' performance, "I felt the profile of his stuff was there, just probably not his best stuff, just had a hard time finishing some guys. You know, usually, especially lately, even when he's had a game where he hasn't been perfect, he's still had that kind of swing-and-miss, top zone or can get in on guys, just had a hard time putting guys away, and they made him pay a little bit. Couple of walks untimely at the bottom kind of hurt him, just overall, just a little bit of a grind today."

Arozarena would crush another home run to left-center field, this one, a two-run shot, in the seventh, and that made it 8-0 Tampa Bay. That was his 14th homer of the season, along with 34 RBI.

Bradley would leave after the seventh, this one off Josh Maciejewski, when he was at 99 pitches, and the tall right-hander allowed just one hit (the Rice double to lead off the game) and two walks, with five strikeouts. He is now 5-4 and he lowered his ERA from 2.90 to 2.63.

Boone said of Bradley's performance, "We knew coming in, like he's obviously been pitching great for them, you know, a really good arm, really good stuff. He didn't punch us a ton today, but, you know, I thought he changed shapes a lot. He was kind of giving different looks. You know, he's got 97, 98 with the fastball, the ability to do that. It looked like the cutter shape kind of changed all day; he mixed in some bigger, slower ones, had a good split going, so he kind of had a little bit of everything going, and kind of a different look all day long for us, and just kind of kept us at bay and stayed off the barrel," referring to that most of the Yankees’ contact was coming off the end of the bat.