Sometimes, the game plays to the scouting report. The AL-best Tampa Bay Rays are known for putting pressure on the defense and the New York Yankees are not known for pristine glovework. Both of those traits were on full display in Game 2 of the ALDS on Monday (TB 5, NY 2). New York made three errors and four total defensive mistakes in the first five batters of the game to gift the Rays a 1-0 lead. The Yankees went on to make four total errors in a loss that put them in an 0-2 hole in the best-of-five series.
Truth be told, it is a minor miracle the Yankees and presumptive AL Cy Young winner Cam Schlittler escaped that first inning down just one run, and with Schlittler having thrown only 19 pitches. It could have been a much bigger inning for the Rays.
«I’m not disappointed in our defense,» Schlittler said after Game 2. «… Really just disappointed in myself. That’s baseball and those things are gonna happen, but I’ve got to be able to work through those. I wasn’t able to do that today»
Here’s how the inning played out and how the Rays took advantage of New York’s sloppiness.
1st batter: Error on Ryan McMahon
From a degree of difficulty perspective, this was the most egregious misplay. Yandy Díaz, Tampa’s leadoff hitter, smashed a ground ball directly into the Tropicana Field turf that Yankees third baseman Ryan McMahon booted. He didn’t boot it, really. It was a chest-high hop that McMahon let get by him. This ground ball has to be an out, plain and simple:
The next batter, Jonathan Aranda, followed with a first-pitch ground ball single by a diving McMahon, who was shaded toward shortstop. That wasn’t a defensive misplay. It was just a well-placed grounder. It did put runners at first and second with no outs, though. Three pitches into the game, the pressure was on.
3rd batter: Error on Jazz Chisholm Jr.
For the second straight year, Rays slugger Junior Caminero led the majors in ground ball double plays. He had 26. His ground ball to shortstop in the first inning wasn’t going to be a double play because George Lombard Jr. had to range too far to his left to field it, but Jazz Chisholm Jr. forced the throw anyway, and it sailed wide of first base.
The errant throw allowed Díaz to trot home from third to score Tampa’s first run.
Lombard did good work reaching this ball and flipping it to second, and Chisholm did well to reach for the relay, but the throw was completely unnecessary. Chisholm and every infielder in this position has to know the proper play is holding the ball and taking the out. Instead, a run scored, and Caminero advanced to second with one out.
«I’d probably still throw it, honestly,» Chisholm said when asked if he should have held onto the ball. «The play that was trying to be made. I feel like I could’ve made an even better throw.»
4th batter: Error on Austin Wells
With Caminero at second and one out, Schlittler struck out Rays cleanup hitter Liam Hicks, or so he thought. He got Hicks to look at a middle-middle fastball in an 0-2 count, but Hicks took a half-swing that hit catcher Austin Wells in the mitt. Replay confirmed the catcher interference, which is another error, and puts Hicks at first base. From a strikeout to a baserunner.
Catcher interference is up across baseball because of pitch-framing. Catchers have a tendency to reach forward so they can frame the pitch, and inevitably there’s more contact with the catcher’s mitt. New York committed seven catcher interferences during the regular season, the second most in baseball. Wells committed four of the seven.
5th batter: Potential double play becomes one out
A lot has to go right to double up Chandler Simpson, baseball’s fastest man. He hit into six double plays during the regular season, which really isn’t all that many when you consider how many ground balls he hits in general. Things have go almost exactly right to double up Simpson, and it looked like the Yankees had a chance to do exact that in the first inning.
With Caminero at second and Hicks at first base, Simpson hit a ground ball right to Chisholm at second base, but Chisholm’s feed pulled Lombard off the bag at second base. Lombard was able to get back to the bag to get one out, but the poor throw eliminated any chance to turn the inning-ending double play. This is a fielder’s choice, not an error, but the poor feed was a bad play.
Schlittler was able to get Victor Mesa Jr. to ground out — routinely and without any funny business — to second base to end the inning, stranding Caminero at third and Simpson at first. He had to get six outs in the first inning. Other than the Aranda single, Schlittler got his batters. The Rays hit a bunch of ground balls at infielders, and the Yankees didn’t take the outs.
The Yankees finished Game 2 with four errors (Chisholm, Lombard, McMahon, Wells) and several other misplays. Only two of Tampa’s five runs were earned.
Our biggest question coming into this ALDS matchup was will New York’s infield be up to the task? The Rays led baseball in bunt hits and were second in infield singles during the regular season. They’re going to make you play clean baseball and the Yankees just don’t do that. It has been a constant for years, and it again came back to bite them in Game 2 on Monday.
«Obviously, a really rough night to say the least for us,» Boone said after Game 2. «We’ve got to get over it. We’ve responded all year to difficult times, and we’ve got to do that again. We’ve got to get ourselves up off the mat.»
