Yankees left in dust after Rays’ sweep
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NEW YORK -- Max Fried gave up two home runs, the New York Yankees had one taken off the board by fan interference and then their season ended Thursday night with a whimper.
After Anthony Volpe’s would-be tying homer in the bottom of the sixth inning turned into a double on video review, the Yankees did not get a runner past second base. When leadoff hitter Trent Grisham struck out to end the ninth, it capped a 4-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 3 of the AL Division Series and a series sweep that extended the Yankees’ championship drought to 17 years.
“Disappointment,”
Tampa Bay Rays left fielder Victor Mesa Jr. makes an attempt on a ball interfered with by fans that umpires reviewed and ruled a run-scoring double by the Yankees’ Anthony Volpe in the sixth inning in Game 3 of their American League Division Series on Wednesday in New York. (AP photo)
After sweeping Boston in the Wild Card Series, New York never led against the Rays and has not advanced past a higher-seeded team in the postseason since 2020.
Asked to explain why the past two seasons ended without being able to get over the hump, likely AL Cy Young winner Cam Schlittler called it a great question and responded, “I don’t really have an answer.”
Without injured slugger Aaron Judge, the Yankees were one-hit and shut out in the opener, when catcher Austin Wells’ baserunning blunder loomed large. Game 2 included four errors to get pushed to the brink of elimination.
The Yankees didn’t go quietly -- at least initially. When Fried gave up a run apiece in the third and fourth innings, the bats responded each time to tie the score.
Victor Mesa Jr. crushed Fried’s 80th and final pitch for a go-ahead, two-run home run that was far from a short-porch homer like Ryan Vilade’s earlier.
It looked like New York would get it right back in a redemption moment for Volpe, but a Jeffrey Maier-esque moment came back to haunt the home team 30 years later.
Volpe looked to have a home run to left field, and it was called a home run by the umpires on the field. Video review determined the fan did interfere, the play was scored an RBI double for Volpe, but the run that did not turned out to be the difference.
With the air sucked out of Yankee Stadium, Spencer Jones -- who singled and doubled in his first two plate appearances -- struck out swinging to end the threat. The eighth started with Paul Goldschmidt reaching on a throwing error and finished with fellow pinch-hitter with Giancarlo Stanton striking out in just his second at-bat of the postseason.