One Good, One Bad: ALDS, Game 1

by Andrew Hefner

October 4, 2026

***

The high from the Wild Card Series vanished as quickly as it came when the New York Yankees fell flat against the Tampa Bay Rays to start the ALDS.

Let's take a look at One Good and One Bad from Game One of the 2026 ALDS:

The Good

The whiplash really hit me last night as the Yankees went from 18 runs in two games against the Boston Red Sox to just one hit(!!!) in Game One of the ALDS. Words cannot express how upset I am with the team's play, especially when Gerrit Cole kept the lead to just one run over his five innings. Similarly, my good (one of the very few the Yankees had last night) goes to the bullpen effort New York put forward.

Cole only made it through five innings before being pulled, leaving potentially four innings for the bullpen to go to work. The pen has already been one of the stronger pieces of this year’s Yankees squad, and they showed that again last night, not surrendering a single hit in three innings.

I specifically want to shout out Ryan Weathers, who, for the first time since injury, made his way out of the bullpen and made quick work of the Rays, needing only nine pitches to collect three outs. Having weapons like him and Will Warren, who are both capable of short or long outings when needed, is such a big help throughout an unpredictable postseason.

Paul Blackburn and Brent Headrick collected the other six outs, and although the Yankees' bats did not show up, the bullpen kept the score right where it was.

The Bad

Wow, I am appalled. The first game was always going to be the one the Yankees were most likely to lose. Gerrit Cole had been shaky of late, and Drew Rasmussen was taking the bump against a team he had no problem facing all regular season. I was expecting a close, competitive game, but a loss. Imagine my surprise then when the version of a close, competitive game that I saw last night was a no-hitter in the eighth inning.  

I do not understand the insane inconsistency of the Yankees offense. All season long, it was ten runs one day and two hits the next. There is no rhyme or reason. Sometimes they would not hit against an ace, other times against the sixth starter or a rookie fresh out of AAA. The inconsistency of results is not even the only issue; the fact that the approach at the plate just seems out of whack as soon as any batter steps in is so confusing to me.

I don’t know if Aaron Boone switching lineups constantly could be an issue or just that Rasmussen was unhittable in his own right, but this is the postseason, and a near no-hitter can not happen. The pitching staff will show up for the rest of the series, so now they better make the most of it.

***

Game Two of the ALDS is coming on Monday, October 5th at 8:00 pm on TBS. Cam Schlittler will make his second start of the postseason as the Yankees look to bounce back from a one-hit performance on Saturday.