About Last Night: The Yankees Outlasted the Rays 5-4 in 11 Innings

About Last Night: The Yankees Outlasted the Rays 5-4 in 11 Innings

By Tim Kabel

July 31, 2025

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The Yankees won an up and down, back-and-forth game last night.  There were some great moments and some blunders. The great moments outweighed the blunders last night.  That has not been the norm lately.

Quick Stats – 

·       Giancarlo Stanton struck out for the 2,000^th time in his career in the second inning. He added two more for good measure.

·       Anthony Volpe hit his 16^th home run of the season. On the other hand, he made his 16^th error of the season.

·       Wil Warren started his 23^rd game of the season, which is the most of any rookie in the Major Leagues. In 15 of those starts, he has allowed 2 runs or fewer.

·       Last night was the only time in modern Major League history when a team overcame deficits in the 8th inning, 9th inning, 10th inning, and then won the game in the 11th inning.

·       On July 30^th, 2006, the Yankees acquired Bobby Abreu and Cory Lidle from the Phillies in exchange for C. J. Henry, Matt Smith, Jesús Sanchez, and Carlos Monasterios.

·       On July 30^th, 1926, the Yankees beat the St. Louis Browns 6-0 behind Urban Shocker.  What a shocker!

The Big Story – 

The Yankees won a very exciting game last night. They repeatedly came back from deficits. However, for the first seven innings, that was not the case. The Yankees were flat and did not mount any type of offensive threat. They finally came to life in the 8th inning. There were many highlights. Jasson Dominguez made a fantastic catch in leftfield. Trent Grisham and Anthony Volpe hit late home runs. Ryan McMahon had a walk off hit. Will Warren pitched six innings and gave up only one run. Brent Headrick struck out three batters in one and one third inning, giving up no runs. Those were the good points.

On the other side of the coin, Anthony Volpe made yet another error. Austin Wells was caught off second base in the ninth inning because he didn't remember how many outs there were. Aaron Boone claimed that Wells had been told how many outs there were. That makes it even more inexcusable and inexplicable. The Yankees were criticized after the World Series last year for their lack of fundamentals and sloppy play. If anything, it has been worse this season. Yes, the players are the ones who make these mistakes but, the manager and his coaching staff are responsible for making sure these things don't happen, or at the very least, happen infrequently. The calling card of this Yankees’ team seems to be sloppy play. We heard at the beginning of the season how much better they were going to be defensively. That really hasn't happened. There have been some improvements. However, this is another hallmark of a team managed by Aaron Boone: a lack of fundamentals, sloppy play, and no explanation or solution whatsoever from the man in charge.

Player of the Game – 

Ryan McMahon had his first walk off hit as a Yankee.

Notable Performances – 

Trent Grisham and Anthony Volpe hit big home runs.

Jason Dominguez made the best defensive play of his Major League career in the 10th inning, catching the sacrifice fly by Jonathan Aranda.

Better To Forget-

Devin Williams blew a save and was shaky, which he has not been for the most part since the beginning of the season. 

My Take – 

The trade deadline is at 6:00 PM today. I want to do something a little different now. I'm going to make my predictions about which players the Yankees will acquire, and which players will no longer be Yankees by the end of the day.

I predict that the Yankees will acquire Edward Cabrera from the Marlins, Mason Miller from the Oakland, or Sacramento, A’s and a new starting shortstop. I'm not sure which shortstop that will be, but I believe they will acquire someone who is a better fielder and more consistent hitter than Anthony Volpe. They may pick up another bullpen arm as well.

I think the following players will be traded by the Yankees: Trent Grisham, Giancarlo Stanton, Anthony Volpe, JC Escarra, Devin Williams, Marcus Stroman, Cam Schlitter, Everson Pereira, and several prospects. But not Spencer Jones or George Lombard, Jr.

I think it is time to move on from Anthony Volpe. He is erratic and unreliable. The Yankees do not have a viable option to replace him at this point. Oswald Peraza simply cannot hit well enough to man the position. 

The acquisition of Austin Slater indicates to me that an outfielder will be leaving. Grisham makes the most sense. He will be a free agent at the end of the year. Because he is having a very good year, he could bring the Yankee something back in return. They don't want to trade Cody Bellinger.

I believe that Aaron Judge will probably have to be DH for the remainder of the season, after he returns from the IL. The talk of playing Giancarlo Stanton in the outfield is simply a smokescreen. It won't happen. If Judge can only DH, Stanton becomes obsolete. I suspect that the Yankees will trade Grisham and Stanton and recall Spencer Jones. The outfield will become Jasson Dominguez, Spencer Jones, and Cody Bellinger, left to right. Slater and Amed Rosario can fill in as needed. Perhaps the Yankees will pick up another right-handed hitting outfielder as a backup. Harrison Bader has been mentioned.

Devin Williams may bring back some good prospects from a team in the playoff race. The acquisition of Mason Miller would make him expendable.

I'm writing this at approximately 12:20 AM on July 31^st, which can be confirmed by Dr. Semendinger. I realize I'm opening myself up to ridicule but, what else is new. Hopefully the Yankees do something. I would like to see them do what I suggested but I don't know if everyone agrees with that. 

Next Up-

The Yankees will conclude the four-game series against the Rays today at 1:05 PM at Yankee Stadium. The Rays will use Ryan Pepiot, (6-8, 13.42 ERA). The Yankees will send Marcus Stroman, (2-2, 6.09 ERA) to the mound, possibly for the last time.