ST. PETERSBURG — The Tampa Bay Rays took a 2-0 American League Division Series lead over the New York Yankees at Tropicana Field, exploiting four Yankees errors and an absent Aaron Judge to build a commanding advantage before both clubs flew north for Games 3 and 4.
The Rays’ contact-first offense did exactly what it was designed to do, putting the ball in play relentlessly and letting New York’s defensive miscues pile up. Speedster Chandler Simpson beat out an infield grounder that scored Tampa Bay’s third run of the game, embodying the approach that has defined the club all season.
“I feel like [it’s the] same approach for every pitcher,” Simpson said. “We know who we are. We know who we’ve been all season. Just try to play our game that best caters to that.”
The Yankees’ lone bright spot was first baseman Ben Rice, who hit two home runs — his second two-homer postseason game — accounting for every New York run scored with a man at the plate other than Rice equaling zero. Judge, the Yankees’ cleanup hitter and offensive anchor, remains sidelined with a calf injury, and his absence has been felt with every scoreless half-inning.
New York managed just two homers and four walks across the two games at the Trop, a production line that Yankees manager Aaron Boone acknowledged falls short of what his club needs.
“This is not a team that gives you a lot of free passes,” Boone said of the Rays. “They’re as good as anyone in the sport at limiting walks. So you’ve got to do it in different ways. Whatever presents itself. Some nights, it’s going to be, yeah, a walk gets things going. Some nights it’s putting the ball into play. Sometimes it’s putting the ball in the seats. So whatever it takes, we’ve got to do it offensively and we’ve got to be able to score some runs and do a better job of preventing than we did tonight.”
Tampa Bay’s defense matched its offense in execution. The Rays led the American League with a .723 defensive efficiency rating — the percentage of batted balls converted into outs — and looked every bit that sharp at the Trop. The Yankees ranked third in the same metric during the regular season but were unable to replicate that standard in Game 2, with at least two additional plays beyond the four official errors that observers felt should have been made.
Tropicana Field itself played a role, as it often does in October. A popup struck Ring B of the stadium’s catwalk system and hung in the air for 10 seconds before coming down, one of several moments that underscored how the Rays are built for their unconventional home environment. The short fences at Yankee Stadium figure to shift the offensive calculus when the series resumes in the Bronx.
With off-days allowing both managers to deploy their bullpens freely, late-inning scoring has been scarce. In each of the first two games, the team that scored first won. Game 3 is scheduled in New York.