About Last Night: The Yankees Eclipsed the Rays 3-0
- Tim Kabel
- 5 hours ago
- 5 min read
About Last Night: The Yankees Eclipsed the Rays 3-0.
By Tim Kabel
May 3, 2025
***
The Yankees played a crisp, clean, and efficient game last night, shutting out the Rays and allowing them only one hit. Max Fried, Devin Williams, and Luke Weaver combined on the gem. Offensively, Aaron Judge hit a double and a triple and Paul Goldschmidt hit a three-run home run in the 5th inning. The game took only 2 hours and 24 minutes. Yankees’ fans are getting spoiled by Max Fried, but we certainly don't mind.
Quick Stats –
· Aaron Judge’s batting average is now .430. I'm sure someone, somewhere is worrying. If it is you, please stop.
· Max Fried is now 6-0 with a 1.01 ERA. He is the first six-game-winner in the Major Leagues this season. Where would the Yankees be without him?
· The Yankees are 11-5 at home this season. If they keep this up, Frank Sinatra will get a sore throat.
· Max Fried is 4-0 with a 0.00 ERA after Yankees’ losses this season. He has allowed 3 hits in 14.2 innings against the Rays this year.
· Devin Williams threw 8 pitches in a prefect eighth inning. This was his third straight hitless outing since he was moved out of the closer’s role.
· The Yankees have pitched three shutouts this season, all against the Rays.
· The Yankees have hit 54 home runs, which is the most in franchise history at this point in the season.
· On May 2nd, 1939, Lou Gehrig’s streak of 2,130 consecutive games played came to an end.
The Big Story –
This was an efficient and impressive win by the Yankees. It was the type of game that they should have won. To be frank, with the uncertainty in the starting rotation after Fried, Carlos Rodon, and Clarke Schmidt, the Yankees need to win almost every game Max Fried pitches this season. They have done exactly that so far. That may seem unrealistic but think about it. The Yankees cannot afford to waste Fried’s performances. I'm certain he will have a clunker here or there. Everyone does. Even Ron Guidry lost three games in 1978. However, until they can stabilize the bottom of the starting rotation, the Yankees need to take advantage of all their opportunities to win games when Fried, Rodon, and Schmidt are pitching. They certainly can win games when Will Warren or for now, Carlos Carrasco, are pitching, but the outcome is much more in doubt in those games.
Player of the Game –
Max Fried was dominant once again.
Notable Performances –
Paul Goldschmidt and Aaron Judge had four of the Yankees six hits and Goldschmidt drove in all the runs.
Better To Forget-
That we have to wait four days for Max Fried to pitch again.
My Take –
When I was a kid, I used to watch Tarzan movies every Sunday morning. My favorites were the ones with Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan. I figured out pretty quickly that in any Tarzan movie with Johnny Weissmuller, it was certain that at some point, Tarzan was going to swim. There was also a pretty good chance that he was going to fight a crocodile that was about thirty feet long and kill it with a Bowie knife. The reason for that was that Johnny Weissmuller was one of the greatest Olympic swimming champions ever. He even had his own line of swimming pools for a while. So, although he swung on vines and ran through the jungle and said “ungawa” to Cheetah, you always knew that he would swim. Maybe, that wasn't the case with the other Tarzans but with Johnny Weissmuller, it was a guarantee. You also knew the Tarzan was going to do that yell because that's what Johnny Weissmuller did. That was his thing. In the other Tarzan movies, they sometimes used a recording of his yell, but he was the only one who really did it. Well, Carol Burnett did too, but she was a special case.
The Yankees came into this season with Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil, and Clarke Schmidt on the IL. Clarke Schmidt is back now and is rounding into shape. Gerrit Cole is gone for the year and Luis Gil probably won't be back until sometime in June. Giancarlo Stanton was just moved to the 60-day IL and who knows when or if he will return this season. Jazz Chisholm, Jr. just went on the IL, and it is unclear how long he will be out. Yet, the Yankees are 19-13 and in first place. They are two games ahead of the Boston Red Sox. Things look good. Undoubtedly, things will only improve once Chisholm and Gil return. Jonathan Loaisiga will also be back. It is possible the Yankees will make a trade for another starting pitcher or possibly another right-handed hitter for the lineup. The point is that despite all the adversity the Yankees had going into this season, things look pretty good. That's what makes me worry.
Just like I always knew that Johnny Weissmuller was going to swim and do the Tarzan yell, I know the Yankees are going to have the “Boone-Swoon." It's coming. It's a guarantee. Don't doubt it for a moment. Thankfully, Aaron Boone will not swing into the dugout on a vine, wearing a loincloth accompanied by a chimpanzee. But he will do something or many things to either cause, extend, ignore, fail to prevent, or fail to stop the inevitable collapse. That's what he does. You can say that I'm wrong. You can say I'm exaggerating. You can say that this year will be different. Well, the only thing different about this year from last year or any of the years that Boone has been the manager is that we are all older However, we are not necessarily wiser. Aaron Boone certainly isn't.
Most likely, the Boone-Swoon won't happen until the Yankees build up a nice, healthy lead. We will all be feeling supremely confident, and we will be thinking about the postseason. Then, it will happen. At first, we will deny it. We will think that it won't be the same as every other year that Boone has been the manager. But it will be the same. There is no avoiding it. Johnny Weissmuller swam and yodeled. Aaron Boone swoons and babbles in the post-game press conferences.
Next Up
The Yankees will play the second game of the three-game series against the Rays today at 1:05 PM at Yankee Stadium. Zack Littell, (1-5, 5.03 ERA) will pitch for Tampa Bay. The Yankees will send Clarke Schmidt, (0-1, 5.52 ERA) to the mound. Let's hope Littell comes up small.
