A single, double, and back-to-back HR’s off Will Warren in the 4th inning turned a 3-2 Yankee lead into a 6-3 deficit and spelled doom for the Yankees, as Tampa beat them 6-4 on a Tuesday night at Tropicana Field.
Ben Rice had put NY up 3-2 with a 3-run HR in the 3rd inning.
But Warren’s curveball wasn’t curving so the Rays sat on his fastball — with Victor Mesa Jr. hitting a HR in the 2nd inning, and Hunter Feduccia and Yandy Diaz hitting the back-to-back HR’s in the 4th.
The Yankee bullpen of Tim Hill, Paul Blackburn, and Brent Headrick combined for 4 shutout innings, but the Yankee offense could only plate 1 more run despite banging out 11 hits on the night.
“They got on the heater,” said Warren afterwards. “Feduccia got one up and in; Mesa got one up and away. I didn’t do a good job of landing the off speed early, so they were selling out to the fastball, and they hit it.”
NY drops to 50-41, and falls to 4 games back of Tampa again, who improve to 53-36.
1. Rice 3-Run HR Off Seymour Puts NY Up 3-2
The Rays started Ian Seymour, a 27-year-old, 6’0 lefty in his 2nd season in the big leagues — and having a fine season. He uses a 94-MPH fastball that looks faster because of his 84-MPH changeup and 81-MPH sweeper.
He struck out 2 in the 1st inning, and struck out the side in the 2nd inning.
But in the 3rd, Max Schuemann led off with a bunt single and Trent Grisham hit a 1-out double to left, putting runners on 2nd and 3rd. Seymour struck out Paul Goldschmidt, but Ben Rice ripped an opposite-field 3-run HR off the lefty for a 3-2 Yankee lead.
Rice ‘n’ Easy ? pic.twitter.com/pc3azKTrzK
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 7, 2026
2. Warren Coughs Up the HR Ball & the Lead
Warren pitched a shutout 1st but got clipped for a solo HR to right by Victor Mesa Jr. in the 2nd, and then allowed a 2-out single by Palacios, walk to Hunter Feduccia, and RBI single by Yandy Diaz to make it 2-0 Tampa.
Ben Rice’s HR put the Yanks up 3-2 in the top of the 3rd, and Warren pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the 3rd so things were looking good.
And Warren got the first out of the bottom of the 4th — but then Tampa struck like lightning: a single by Walls, RBI double by Richie Palacios, 2-run HR by Feduccia off a 92-MPH fastball made it 5-3 Tampa.
Homer Hunting pic.twitter.com/l36QalzGkl
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) July 7, 2026
Next batter Yandy Diaz hit a solo HR off an 84-MPH sweeper and it was 6-3 Tampa.
THE YANDYMAN pic.twitter.com/0NSQ943KcE
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) July 8, 2026
Warren got the next 2 batters to end the inning, but left after 4 and takes the loss to go 7-4 4.15.
3. Yank Pen Holds ‘Em
The Yankee pen did a great job of keeping the score right there.
- Tim Hill pitched a shutout 5th, and got the first 2 batters of the 6th before turning the ball over to Paul Blackburn.
- Blackburn got the last batter of the 6th, then pitched a shutout 7th.
- Brent Headrick pitched a 1-2-3 shutout 8th.
4. NY Gets a Hit in Each of Last 5 Innings — But Only 1 Run
After the Rice HR, Seymour was tough — pitching into the 6th. He finished with 12 strikeouts and no walks in 5.1 innings and got the win to go 6-1 4.11.
6’2 righty Kevin Kelly came in with 1 out in the 6th and allowed consecutive singles to Ryan McMahon and Cody Bellinger — but Bellinger was thrown out trying to stretch the single into a double.
The Yanks got a run off Kelly in the 7th — a leadoff single by Jazz Chisholm Jr., followed by a single by Jasson Dominguez sent Chisholm to 3rd — where he scored on a sac fly by Ali Sanchez.
RBI from a Yankees catcher! Ali Sanchez’s sac fly brings the Yankees within two pic.twitter.com/yMPETuzOny
— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) July 8, 2026
Ben Rice singled to lead off the 8th off 6’1 lefty Garrett Cleavinger — bringing the tying run to the plate — but Cleavinger got a groundout and 2 strikeouts.
6
6’6 righty Bryan Baker came in for the save in the 9th. He got the first 2 outs before Ali Sanchez singled to bring up Trent Grisham as the tying run. But Baker struck him out swinging for the old ballgame.
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