Close But No Cigar. Tampa 6 NY 4

Aaron Judge hit a 444-foot, 3-run BOMB in the 7th inning to get the Yanks back in a game where they trailed 5-0, and came up again as the tying run in the 9th — but flew out to center — and next batter Austin Wells struck out with Juan Soto on 3rd — as the Yanks went down to Tampa 6-4, on a Hot, Humid, Sunny Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.

NY couldn’t catch a break all afternoon — not able to score in two bases-loaded, 1-out scoring opportunities in the first 2 innings — the later one ending with an Alex Verdugo SHOT down 1st that was nabbed. NY also put runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out in the 4th but couldn’t plate a run.

Meanwhile Tampa scored 5 of their 6 runs on 2-out rallies.

“I think we’re good,” said Marcus Stroman afterwards when asked how the team was feeling after another tough loss. “I think we’re still a very confident group, just going through one of those spurts. I don’t think the confidence has been lost from any individual on this team; I just think it’s just a rough patch and we’re all working towards getting out of it.”

NY falls to 59-42. At least they stay 2 games behind Baltimore, which also lost. Tampa takes 2 of 3 in the weekend series, and improves to 50-49.

1. Stroman Good — Leaves Down 3-0

Marcus Stroman pitched good, on the Hot, Humid, Sunny Summer Sunday — temps in the low 90’s.

He allowed a homer to the first batter of the game — Isaac Palacios — in a 7-pitch at bat. But after that started grinding through the Tampa lineup.

  • Stroman got the next 3 outs of the 1st, then allowed a leadoff single to Brandon Lowe in the 2nd — but Austin Wells picked Lowe off 1st just after Stroman struck out Caballero for the 1st out — a strike-out, pick-off double play.
  • Stroman pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 3rd, and then struck out the first 2 batters of the 4th before yielding a solo Homer to Randy Arozarena.
  • Josh Lowe then got on due to a 2-out error by Gleyber Torres, stole 2nd, and scored on an RBI single by Jose Caballero. Tampa 3 NY 0.
  • Stroman pitched a shutout 5th, and got the first out of the 6th before yielding to Tim Hill who got the next 2 outs to end the inning.

Stroman’s line: 5.1 innings, 5 hit, 3 runs, 2 earned runs, 5 K’s, 0 walks. He loses to go 7-5 3.51.

2. Yanks Can’t Catch Break Early

The Yanks were up against Sean Baz — whom they beat a week ago just before the All Star break. They were all over him again in this game — but couldn’t break through.

  1. NY loaded the bases with 1 out in the 1st — back-to-back singles by Juan Soto and Aaron Judge with 1 out, and then a walk by Austin Wells. But Gleyber Torres flew out to left — not deep enough to score the run — and Alex Verdugo ripped a shot down 1st caught by Isaac Paredes at 1st.
  2. In the 2nd, Anthony Volpe led off with a single, Oswaldo Cabrera singled with 1 out, and Ben Rice walked — but Juan Soto hit into an inning-ending double play.
  3. In the 3rd, Aaron Judge led off with a walk but was stranded there (fly out, fly out, ground out).
  4. In the 4th, the Yanks got the first 2 baserunners on — with walks to Volpe and Trent Grisham — then got the runners to 2nd and 3rd with 1 out on a double steal — which knocked Baz out of the game. But Garrett Cleavinger came in and struck out Ben Rice and got Soto to fly to center.

The Yanks went out 1-2-3 in the 5th and 6th.

3. Cousins Coughs Up 2-Run Bomb

After getting the last 2 outs of the 6th, Tim Hill got the 1st out of the 7th before yielding to Jake Cousins.

Cousins got an out, but then walked Ben Rortvedt and allowed a 2-out homer to Jose Siri for a 5-0 Tampa lead.

4. Judge 3-Run HR Gets Yanks Back In It

But Aaron Judge made it a ballgame in the 7th after Oswaldo Cabrera led off with a bunt single, and Soto hit a 1-out single to center. Judge hit a 444-foot Bomb into section 236 of the Bleachers in left for a 5-3 game. It was his MLB-leading 35th homer of the year.

The Yanks were a bloop and a blast away — and after Judge’s homer, Austin Wells singled — but Gleyber Torres hit into a double play to end the 7th.

5. Wells Throws Out 3 Runners

Austin Wells had a day behind the plate — he threw out Josh Lowe trying to steal 2nd in the 2nd, picked Josh Lowe off 1st in the 4th (above), and threw out pinch-runner Jonny DeLuca trying to steal 2nd for the 2nd out of the 9th inning, helping Luke Weaver out.

Wells also went 1-4 with a walk at the plate.

6. Weaver Allows HR with 2 Outs in 9th

Luke Weaver pitched a shutout 8th and was about to pitch a shutout 9th and send the Yanks into the bottom of the inning a bloop and a blast away. But with 2 outs, Caballero homered to left. Tampa 6 NY 3.

7. Close But No Cigar

It was looking bleak for NY in the bottom of the 9th as Tampa ace reliever Pete Fairbanks got Oswaldo Cabrera to pop out to start the inning.

But Ben Rice walked, and Juan Soto doubled him home — making it 6-4 and bringing up Judge as the tying run.

Judge hit a long drive just foul to left on a 1-2 pitch, worked the count to 3-2, and hit a fly to left center not deep enough. Soto went to 3rd on a wild pitch — but Austin Wells struck out looking on a 1-2 slider for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401569968

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