Yankees bumble through 'really rough night' in Game 2 loss to Rays — SkimNews
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- Yankees committed four errors in a 5-2 Game 2 loss to the Rays — three in the first inning alone — and now trail the ALDS 2-0 heading to Wednesday's Game 3 at home facing elimination.
- Jazz Chisholm Jr. barehanded a flip from shortstop George Lombard Jr., attempted an ill-advised spinning throw to first while falling, and sailed it past Luis Garcia Jr., allowing Yandy Diaz to score the game's first run.
- Austin Wells was called for catcher's interference on what appeared to be a strikeout of Liam Hicks — New York's third error of the first inning — after a replay review reversed the called third strike.
- Cam Schlittler, the presumptive AL Cy Young Award winner, was pulled with one out in the fourth after 76 pitches, allowing four runs (two earned) on six hits while saying he 'didn't have my stuff today.'
- Ben Rice hit two solo home runs — a fourth-inning leadoff shot and an eighth-inning blast — becoming the first Yankee with multiple multihomer games in a single postseason, but got no other offensive support as Ian Seymour allowed one run over three relief innings.
- Rays starter Freddy Peralta was perfect through three innings, one night after Drew Rasmussen carried a no-hitter into the late innings in Game 1, giving Tampa a combined start that has silenced New York's bats across the series.
Why it matters: Down 2-0 with elimination games ahead, the Yankees need to sweep three straight — and a franchise that last won the World Series in 2009 has now been knocked out of the postseason in four games or fewer in two straight years after the Blue Jays eliminated them in 2024. Schlittler's early exit and four errors exposed the same defensive fragility that doomed them in last year's Game 5 World Series collapse, putting Aaron Boone's club in a historically steep hole before a single home game.
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