About Yesterday: Rays 3, Yankees 2

On this day in 1931, against Washington, Yankee manager Joe McCarthy moved an aging and hurting Babe Ruth to first base, and reassigned Lou Gehrig to Ruth's typical right field position. The Babe handled the change relatively well, playing errorless defense, but Gehrig committed an miscue in the Nationals' five -run sixth inning. Washington took the game, 7-3. McCarthy seemingly saw enough that day, and didn't repeat the arrangement again. https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA193105040.shtml

Quick Stats: The Yankees are 19-14, good for first place in the American League East. Aaron Judge had two hits, including a home run, and is now batting .432, which is 83 points higher than the second best mark in all of MLB, Paul Goldschmidt's .349. The Big Story: Before the game, the Yankees announced that scheduled starting pitcher Clarke Schmidt was scratched for the day due to left flank soreness. He's now scheduled to pitch Tuesday, and hopefully this just turns out to be a minor thing. Ryan Yarbrough was pressed into emergency service, and came through nicely, allowing only one run over four innings.

The Yankees meanwhile jumped out to a lead in the first inning when Judge homered. The Rays came right back and tied it in the second on Taylor Walls' sacrifice fly. Things stayed that way, as the Yanks had problems solving Rays starter Zack Littell. Austin Wells broke through with a solo home run in the fifth and New York had a slight lead. Fernando Cruz preserved it with two innings of scoreless relief.

Unfortunately, the Rays got to Mark Leiter in the eighth with a two run rally built around a couple singles, a walk, three steals, and a fielder's choice. Now, it was 3-2 in favor of Tampa. Sadly for Yankee fans, that's how it stayed. Hopes were raised when Judge came up in the eighth with two runners on. The Yankee captain hit the ball hard, but right at the shortstop, and the rally never materialized. While he is Superman, he doesn't come through every time. Pete Fairbanks spun a 1-2-3 ninth, and the Rays had the win. Player of the Game: Ryan Yarbrough would be the Yankee of the game. He did exactly what he needed to do in a pinch. Notable Performances: Cruz has been a revelation in the pen, and his two scoreless frames dropped his ERA to 1.45....Ben Rice made a real nice diving stop at first base on a hard grounder off the bat of Curtis Mead in the fourth inning, and fed Yarbrough perfectly to complete the play. Better to Forget: I look at Leiter and I see "Clay Holmes lite", meaning that he has plus stuff which he struggles to command, and yields lots of weak contact. That contact always seems to fall in where the fielders are not, and drives fans batty. He's just fine as a back of the pen guy, and should likely be relegated to middle innings to work....Anthony Volpe winced in pain and held his shoulder after diving for a ground ball in the eighth, but stayed in the game. After the game Volpe said he felt a "pop" in his shoulder, and that is was "scary" but "after that it felt OK, and I felt like I had my strength. They tested me and it felt good." He had an X-ray after the game, which he said was "all fine" and he would reevaluate how he felt today....The Rays stole six bases on the Yankees yesterday, and steals figured into all of their runs. They Said It: "He gave us exactly what we needed; gave us a chance and put us in good position to win a game" - Aaron Boone on Ryan Yarbrough's outing. My Take: When a non Max Fried/Carlos Rodon game yields only three runs and the Yankees still lose, it feels like a lost opportunity. Hats off to the Rays, they pitched well and played effective "small ball". My March/April review of this team is: It's been fun! Aaron Judge and Max Fried have been all-world. Trent Grisham has had an unexpectedly great start in center field. Paul Goldschmidt has been even better than expected. The young guys haven't been perfect, but have had their moments. The Yankees are no a juggernaut, but they has a lot going for them. The team has also been an easy one to root for, with overall good character and by appearances a cohesive group. Boone recently stated he said this team had a feel like last year's model, which he's called the tightest clubhouse he's had in his career. They will need reinforcements, but I'm glad to see the good start. Next Up: Take the series! Will Warren (1-1, 5.63) goes for the Yankees against Taj Bradley (2-2, 4.58).