Command issues plague Glasnow in G1 loss

ST. PETERSBURG -- Before Saturday’s game, Willy Adames said he hoped the Rays could get some “revenge” against Yankees starter Gerrit Cole, who was the winning pitcher for the Astros in Game 5 of the 2019 American League Division Series.

That wasn’t the case, as Tyler Glasnow struggled against Cole’s new team in the Yankees’ 8-4 win over the Rays in the first game of Saturday’s seven-inning doubleheader at Tropicana Field.

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“Glasnow just didn’t have that rhythm that he needs to go out there and stay consistent and kind of stay within himself,” said Rays manager Kevin Cash. “It looked like the tempo was really fast paced and [he] couldn’t quite get the pitches where he wanted and they drove the pitch count up.”

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Glasnow, who was the Rays’ pitcher in last year’s Game 5 loss and a former teammate of Cole’s in Pittsburgh, was also looking forward to the challenge, but the right-hander struggled on Saturday, allowing four earned runs over just 2 2/3 innings.

Glasnow needed just eight pitches to get through a scoreless first inning, but the Yankees offense settled in and made the right-hander work. Glasnow needed 31 pitches to get through the second, escaping from a bases-loaded, one-out jam by striking out Gary Sánchez and Brett Gardner. In the third, however, Glasnow threw 32 pitches but was only able to record two outs as the Yankees put up four runs, led by a 437-foot two-run homer by Mike Ford.

“I felt that even in my first two [innings], I just feel similar to my last two starts; I’m just kind of fighting myself,” Glasnow said. “Mentally, I felt like I was competing relatively well, but I just couldn’t get anything to really time up, but I just think it’s kind of a work in progress and I just have to keep going and get them next time.”

A lack of command played a big part of Glasnow’s struggles in the third. Glasnow heavily relies on a fastball-curveball combination, but he lost feel on both of his go-to pitches. Glasnow threw the four-seamer 20 times in the third and only landed 11 for strikes.

The curveball, which Glasnow usually uses as a putaway pitch, also lacked command in the frame, with eight of the 12 resulting in balls. One of the four that Glasnow did land in the zone was a hanger on a 2-2 count to Gio Urshela, and the Yankees infielder deposited it into the left-center gap for a two-run double.

“When I can’t really throw a curveball for a strike, I have like one option, one and a half options, just like a little bit of a changeup,” Glasnow said. “If I go 2-0 and I get behind on guys, everybody in the building knows what’s coming. I just have to do a better job of filling up the zone early, but like I said, it will come.”

Offensively, the Rays struggled to get anything going against Cole in the first four innings, but they mounted a three-run, two-out rally in the fifth to chase the Yankees right-hander after just 4 2/3 innings.

Ji-Man Choi and Mike Zunino, two of Tampa Bay's hitters who have struggled the most to start the season, contributed to the attack with a pair of doubles in the fifth, encouraging signs for a sluggish Rays offense. Zunino's double snapped an 0-for-23 skid and it was his first hit since July 27.

“Ji-Man smoked two balls and that’s really encouraging,” Cash said. “He’s a big part of our offense, and good to see him get going.”