About Yesterday: Yankees 3, Rays 2

About Yesterday: Yankees 3, Rays 2

By Derek McAdam

March 18, 2026

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The New York Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Rays yesterday by a score of 3-2, improving to 15-9 in Spring Training. Here is a brief recap of yesterday’s game, along with a few personal thoughts as we near the beginning of the regular season. 

Coming off a six inning appearance last Thursday, Will Warren got the start for the Yankees on Tuesday. He threw 68 pitches over four-plus innings, allowing three hits, one run and one walk while striking out four. 

In the 2nd, JC Escarra hit a solo home run to right field, giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead. Escarra would go on to have a three-hit day and was responsible for nearly half of the Yankees’ total hits. 

Warren worked himself into some trouble during the 5th, allowing two singles to begin the inning. Cade Winquest would replace him with two on and no one out. One run would cross the plate against Winquest, but he was able to limit the damage to just one run. 

Both bullpens did fine jobs over the next few innings, but in the 9th, the Yankees were able to strike. Jorbit Vivas led off the inning with a walk and was able to steal second base. Ben Rice then singled to put runners at the corners with no one out. Coby Morales then singled to center field, scoring Vivas and Rice to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead. 

Kervin Castro then came in for the save opportunity and worked himself into trouble very quickly. Chandler Simpson singled to lead off the bottom of the inning and stole second base. Ryan Vilade was then hit by a pitch and Raynel Delgado hit an RBI single to cut the Yankees’ lead to one. 

Fortunately, Daniel Vellojin then lined into a double play to take the tying run off second base. Castro was then able to strike out Logan Davidson to end the game and secure another Yankee victory. 

The Yankees will be back in action this afternoon against the Boston Red Sox, with a first pitch scheduled for 1:05 pm from George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. Gerrit Cole will pitch in a game for the first time in 53 weeks, so tune in if you can! 

A few thoughts: 

It is very exciting to see Cole back on the mound for the Yankees, even if he will be limited to just one inning. Aaron Boone said a while ago that Cole was slated to pitch in at least one Spring Training game that would likely come in the remaining games. For once, Boone’s timetable was pretty spot on, and hopefully it means that Cole is still on track to return in just a couple of months. But sooner would be better. 

Regular season baseball returns in just one week! Last week, I said it was in two weeks, and that was very exciting. But it seems as if this upcoming week until the Yankees’ Opening Day game in San Francisco is going to take forever to get here. And Wednesday is going to be a long day since the game does not start until 8 p.m. But I’m just glad regular season baseball is back. 

Several Yankees made key contributions in the USA-Dominican Republic semifinal game during the World Baseball Classic on Sunday. Aaron Judge made a fantastic throw from right field to gun down Fernando Tatis Jr. at third base. David Bednar also got the USA out of big trouble in the 7th to keep the USA lead at 2-1. And Camilo Doval had a one-two-three inning in the 9th to keep the game close for the Dominicans. 

Luis Gil has certainly had a rocky Spring Training, but I’m not too concerned just yet. Like many pitchers that come through the Yankees’ system, Gil struggles with command. He may be trying to work on a few things and it simply is not transitioning quite as well as he wants. If he is still struggling in mid-May, the Yankees could have an issue on their hands and he may find himself in the bullpen.