Rays drop first game at Yankee Stadium in '21

The Rays have felt right at home inside Yankee Stadium since the start of last season, winning nine of their first 10 in the Bronx. All other visitors have struggled to a 12-36 clip in the same span.

But on Tuesday night, with ace Tyler Glasnow on the mound, the Rays finally fell to the Yankees, 5-3, for the first time this season in New York. In the 11th inning, the Yankees walked off with a two-run home run from Clint Frazier.

For a game that was tied from the fifth inning onward, every at-bat carried with it a sense of sudden death. The bullpens -- both of which rank in the Majors’ top five in ERA -- traded zeros frame after frame, until one hung slider from Andrew Kittredge ended the game.

“Our relievers were tremendous,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “Our pitching all night was just really good. Kitt pitched out of a big, big jam there the inning before, and he was a pitch away from completing two innings in a pretty tough circumstance. We just came up a little short.”

Indeed, Kittredge had navigated some choppy waters in the 10th to keep his team afloat. The Yankees moved designated runner DJ LeMahieu to third on a groundout, then Kittredge intentionally walked Aaron Judge to set up a double-play scenario. The Rays righty then struck out Gio Urshela (on a slider), walked Gleyber Torres to load the bases and struck out Gary Sánchez (on another slider).

With a 1.38 ERA in 19 appearances -- 11 of which have come in high-leverage situations -- Kittredge’s mistake to Frazier is not worth harping on. And he’s not interested in shying away from heart-pumping, high-leverage spots in the future.

“It is tough, but those are the moments that are fun,” Kittredge said. “I mean, no one grows up playing backyard baseball talking about hitting a home run in the second inning. It’s always the bottom of the ninth or extras or whatever. So those are the games that are fun to be in; I like pitching in those situations.”

For most of four innings, Rays relievers backed a strong outing from Glasnow, who reached the 100-pitch plateau for a fourth time in his past five starts. He got “out of rhythm” in the third, by his own assessment, yielding two hits and two walks in a two-run inning, but otherwise held the Yankees largely in check.

Glasnow also worked through a cut on his right thumb, which he explained is no hindrance on his pitching.

“My index finger, when I throw my curveball, comes over and nicks my thumb,” he said. “I usually put surgical glue on it, but for some reason I cut through it today. But it was fine. It’s like a tiny little cut, and I think all the blood’s rushing to my hand, so it looks worse than it really is.”

The Rays’ offense looked much worse than it has for most of the past two weeks, and the night’s work was largely summed up by two swings: a two-run home run by Austin Meadows in the first inning (his fourth homer in five games) and a solo shot by Kevin Kiermaier in the fifth (his first homer of the year).

Over the final six innings, the Rays went 0-for-17 with six walks. In the eighth, Joey Wendle stepped in with runners on the corners and two outs; he blooped a fly ball to right, and Frazier rushed in to make a diving grab.

“We did a good job of getting guys on base and getting our walks,” Cash said, “but the big hit just really alluded us for whatever reason.”

During the Rays’ 16-1 stretch to close out May, big hits were often abundant. A new month is a clean slate, in a way, but Tampa Bay won’t let one narrow loss override the wave it has been on.

“The way we’ve been playing, we show up to the park expecting to win,” Kittredge said. “But also, if we get down early, don’t count us out. You’ve seen it here a lot in the last little bit. … Never count us out.”