Sometimes the game plays according to the scouting report. The AL-best Tampa Bay Rays are known for putting pressure on defenses, and the New York Yankees are not known for clean glove work. Both of those traits were on full display in Game 2 of the ALDS (TB 5, NY 2) on Monday. New York committed three errors and four total defensive errors in the first five shots of the game to give the Rays a 1-0 lead. The Yankees committed four total errors in a loss that put them in an 0-2 hole in the best-of-five series.
To be fair, the Yankees and likely AL Cy Young winner Cam Schlittler got just one run out of the first inning and Schlittler threw just 19 pitches. It could have been a bigger shot for Rice.
“I’m not disappointed with our defense,” Schlittler said he said After the 2nd game. “… I’m really disappointed in myself. This is baseball and things like that are going to happen, but I have to deal with them. I couldn’t do that today.”
Here’s how the shooting went and how the Rays took advantage of New York’s sloppiness.
1st down: Foul on Ryan McMahon
In terms of difficulty, this was the most egregious mistake. Tampa’s leadoff hitter, Yandy Díaz, crushed a ground ball right into the Tropicana Field turf that Yankees third baseman Ryan McMahon hit. It didn’t really load. It was a high hop that McMahon let pass him. This ground ball should be open, flat and simple:
The next batter, Jonathan Aranda, was followed by a ground ball on the first pitch by a diving McMahon, shaded toward the shortstop. This was not a defensive error. It was just a well-placed grounder. It did, however, put runners on first and second. Three pitches into the game, there was pressure.
3rd down: Jazz Chisholm Jr. foul.
For the second year in a row, Rice slugger Junior Caminero led the bases in groundball doubles. He was 26. His ground ball to shortstop in the first inning wouldn’t be a double play as George Lombard Jr. would have to go too far to field it, but Jazz Chisholm Jr.
An errant throw allowed Diaz to come home from third to score Tampa’s first run.
Lombard did well to reach that ball and convert it to second, and Chisholm did well to reach the relay, but the throw was completely unnecessary. Chisholm, and every offensive lineman in that position, should know that the proper play is to catch the ball and take it out. Instead, the run scored and Caminero moved to second with one out.
“Honestly, I probably still would have thrown,” Chisholm he said when asked if he should catch the ball. “Preparation game. I feel like I could have shot better.”
4th down: Foul by Austin Wells
With Caminero on second and one out, Schlittler struck out Rice reliever Liam Hicks, or so he thought. He got Hicks to look at a medium-to-medium fastball on an 0-2 count, but Hicks took a half-swing that hit Austin Wells catcher in the arm. Replay upheld catcher interference, another error, and put Hicks on first. From strikeout to base.
Catcher interference increases in baseball due to pitch frame. Catchers tend to reach forward to frame the pitch and inevitably have more contact with the catcher’s glove. New York had seven interceptions during the regular season, the second most in baseball. Wells made four of the seven.
5th inning: A potential double play breaks out
A lot has to go right for Chandler Simpson, the fastest man in baseball, to double. He hit six double plays during the regular season, which isn’t a lot considering how many ground balls he hits in general. Things almost went right to double off Simpson, and it looked like the Yankees had a chance to do it in the first inning.
With Caminero at second and Hicks at first, Simpson hit a ground ball to Chisholm at second base, but Chisholm’s bait took Lombard off the bag at second. Lombard was able to get back to the bag to get one out, but a poor throw eliminated a chance to turn a double play in the bottom of the inning. It’s a fielder’s choice, not a mistake, but the poor bait was a bad play.
Schlittler was able to edge out Victor Mesa Jr. in the usual fashion—and no funny business—for second, leaving Kaminero in third and Simpson in first. He had to get six outs in the first innings. Aside from Aranda’s single, Schlittler got his hits. The Rays hit a lot of ground balls to the hitters and the Yankees didn’t get out.
The Yankees ended Game 2 with four errors (Chisholm, Lombard, McMahon, Wells) and several others. Only two of Tampa’s five runs were earned.
Our biggest question comes into this ALDS matchup Will New York’s interior be up to the task? The Rays led baseball and were second in infield singles during the regular season. They’re going to force you to play clean baseball, and the Yankees don’t do that. It’s been a constant for years, and it came back to bite them in Game 2 on Monday.
“Obviously, it’s a tough night for us,” Boone said after Game 2. “We have to overcome this. We have responded to difficult moments all year and we have to do it again. We have to lift ourselves off the mat.”