About Last Night: Rays 6, Yankees 4

By Derek McAdam

July 8, 2026

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The New York Yankees were defeated by the Tampa Bay Rays last night by a score of 6-4, dropping to 50-41 on the season. Here is a quick recap of last night’s game.

Quick Stats:

W: Ian Seymour (6-1): 5.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 12 K

L: Will Warren (7-4): 4 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 3 K

S: Bryan Baker (24): 1 IP, 1 H, 1 K

HRs: NYY: Ben Rice (26) TBR: Victor Mesa (4), Hunter Feduccia (2), Yandy Diaz (13)

For the second night in a row, the Yankees struck out 17 times.

The Big Story:

As mentioned above, the Yankees were coming off a game in which they struck out 17 times. Despite this, they were led by fantastic pitching from Cam Schlittler and two home runs from Jose Caballero and managed to pull out a victory.

Last night, the Yankees turned to Will Warren, who has recently had some struggles against left-handed batters.

In the 2nd, Victor Mesa hit a towering solo home run down the right field line to give the Rays a quick 1-0 lead. After surrendering a single and walk with two outs, Diaz singled to left center field to score Ritchie Palacios, extending the Rays’ lead to 2-0.

But the Yankees would get both of those runs back and one more in the 3rd when Ben Rice, the latest member to join the Home Run Derby, hit an opposite field three-home home run off Seymour for a 3-2 Yankee lead. After Jazz Chisholm Jr. represented the Yankees last season in the derby, Rice announced Tuesday that he would participate in Monday’s contest.

Warren had a rough 2nd inning, but the 4th inning is what ultimately knocked him out of the game. After Taylor Walls reached on a single, Palacios hit an RBI double into the right-centerfield gap to tie the game at 3-3. Feduccia then hit a two-run home run to give the Rays their lead back at 5-3. And in an ultimate crusher to Warren, Diaz added on with a solo home run of his own to make the new lead 6-3 Rays.

Besides the three-run home run he gave up to Rice, Seymour continued to mow the Yankees down, recording 75% of his outs via the strikeout. It was another classic example of the Yankee lineup struggling against a left-handed pitcher that does not have much velocity. As for Warren, he managed to finish the 4th, but did not pitch any further.

The Yankees threatened in the 7th with runners on the corners and no one out. Ali Sanchez hit a sacrifice fly to score one run and make the Rays’ new lead 6-4. Unfortunately for the Yankees, they could not get any more runs across the plate for the remainder of the game and lost their 41st game of the season.

Player of the Game:

Seymour had a great performance for the Rays, although I’m sure the Rays would’ve wanted him to pitch through the 6th. But he had the Yankees’ batters, except Rice, fooled all night.

Notable Performances:

For the Yankees, there’s only three names: Rice, Sanchez and the bullpen. Everyone I mentioned did well last night and kept the Yankees in this game. For the Rays, Diaz continues the hit the ball well against the Yankees, and the bottom of the lineup did their damage against the pitching staff.

Better to Forget:

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a game with two golden sombreros from one team, but Paul Goldschmidt and Caballero both had one for the Yankees last night.

My Take:

After two games at Tropicana Field, it seems as if the Yankees' problem is the way they’ve swung the bat (or lack of) this series. In the first game, they could only manufacture runs via the home run, and three of their four runs last night also came via the home run. But I’m sure Aaron Boone will say that he saw some good swings.

Thirty-four strikeouts over the span of two games is flat out embarrassing. And what’s incredible about last night’s game is I saw so many strikeouts looking last night, mostly from Seymour. And yet all of those strike three-looking calls were fastballs right down the middle of the plate at the bottom of the zone. Strikeouts are bad no matter what, but nothing drives me more insane than watching players take strike three. And yet I lost count of how many times it happened last night.

What is incredibly unfortunate for the Yankees is that they need their two best defensive players, Cody Bellinger and Goldschmidt, to sit for a while. Both players look lost at the plate and even though Bellinger had a hit last night, he was thrown out at first trying to stretch a single into a double, which made no sense because he hit the ball to right field.

Fundamentals have been a big time problem with this team, and yet they will never improve under the Boone and Brian Cashman regime.

This is an incredible important stretch of games for the Yankees. They still have two more with Tampa before heading to Washington DC for three games with the Nationals before the All-Star Break. Then, they welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers to town to start up the “second half” of the season. The Yankees could easily be treading right at .500 by the time the Dodgers’ series is complete, and this will also feel like the New York Mets’ collapse from last season.

Without Aaron Judge in the lineup, no one has really stepped up in his absence. And let me be clear here, Rice is not one that needed to step up regardless of what the media says. I think players such as Bellinger and Chisholm were amongst those that needed to step up and have not delivered. Bellinger is in a horrific slump, like many other players on this team, but he has by far been one of the most disappointing players during this stretch.

The Yankees are going to have to find other ways to win besides relying on the home run during this stretch. But they continue to be manipulated into believing that all it takes is one swing of the bat and they will have success. Yeah, it doesn’t exactly work that way.

As for the pitching, Warren continues to be a reliant pitcher when it comes to availability. But he has been inconsistent when it comes to his performance. Once again, left-handed hitters lit him up last night, in which two out of the three home runs hit against him came from left-handed batters that are not known for power. I’m not sure if he’s tipping pitches, but his stuff has not been great overall lately. But hey, at least the bullpen looked good last night for a change.

This team doesn’t have much urgency, most likely because Boone keeps implying the same things every time he steps up to a microphone: It’s right in front of us. No, Aaron, it’s not. It’s well-known information that the Yankee coaching staff and players are put through a course teaching them on how to speak to the media, which is why nearly everyone gives similar answers. But it’s time to tell it like it is: the Yankees are in one of the worst free falls in recent history and something has to give.

What’s Next?:

The Yankees will be back in action tonight against the Rays in the third game of this four-game set. Gerrit Cole will take the mound for the Yankees, while Shane McClanahan will start for the Rays. First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m. from Tropicana Field.

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(Cover image created via ChatGPT)