TAMPA — The were two-hit again on Saturday, as and the Rays silenced the Bombers’ bats in a 3-0, at Tropicana Field.
Glasnow did not overpower the Yankees like he did on July 31, when he struck out eight while allowing three hits and one earned run over seven innings at Yankee Stadium. But the Rays righty limited the Yankees’ traffic on the bases on Saturday, holding them to one hit while issuing two walks and four strikeouts over six scoreless innings and 85 pitches.
“I didn’t think he was dominant today like we’ve seen him at times,” Aaron Boone said. “And I actually thought we had, for the most part, a lot of competitive at-bats. I don’t think we chased him out of the zone very often. We hit some balls on the button, but obviously weren’t able to do much against him, and that’s a product of him.
“But it was a little different than some of the outings we’ve seen from him in the past. There’s times we’ve been able to get the longball against him. There’s times he’s really had his way with the strikeout. That wasn’t necessarily it today, but just obviously not able to mount enough.”
Saturday marked the sixth time that the Yankees have been held hitless through at least five innings this season. That is tied with the Twins for the most in the majors, according to .
The Yankees’ only hits , who singled in the sixth and ninth innings.
The Yankees lineup’s lifelessness was nothing new, as the last-place team has now been two-hit or worse in four games since Aug. 15. That stretch began with Bryce Elder and the Braves one-hitting the Yanks. The Red Sox and Nationals also got in on the action on Aug. 19 and Aug. 22, respectively.
“We haven’t put it all together and been consistent enough offensively,” Boone said. “I don’t think today was one of those days we’ve seen where we’ve really been shut down. I felt like we were having some at-bats against a really good pitcher. We just weren’t able to obviously do enough.”
While the offense struggled to produce again, Clarke Schmidt kept the Yankees in the game and recorded the longest start of his career. The right-hander totaled 6.2 innings, six hits, three runs, one earned, zero walks, five strikeouts and 99 pitches.
Afterward, Schmidt said that he is aware that he’s been knocked for not going deeper in games and for struggling against opposing lineups the third time through. With that in mind, Saturday was a step in the right direction.
“To be able to answer that call a little bit tonight was a good feeling,” Schmidt said. “We felt like we had a good game plan throughout the whole day and we were executing well, and we did a really good job executing that last inning. It was big to go longer than I’ve gone before this year and in my career, so I’m really happy with that.”
The Rays scored two in the second inning on a pair of sac flies from Harold Ramírez and Jonathan Aranda. Those followed an Isiah Kiner-Falefa error at third base.
Josh Lowe then doubled a run home in the third inning when Harrison Bader lost track of the ball beneath The Trop’s catwalks and off-white ceiling.
“It would have been a really, really good catch,” Bader said. “I wish I could have reeled that one in. On the way down, I just lost it. It’s a tough roof, and you do your best to create reps in batting practice. Just the way he hit it, he just clipped it really good. And as it was coming down, you can kind of tell I just overran it a little bit, unfortunately. It’s part of it.”
With the series knotted, the Yankees will send Carlos Rodón to the mound for Sunday’s finale. The southpaw logged in pinstripes last time out, as the Nationals scored just one run over six innings. However, Rodón benefited from strong defense and some questionable baserunning decisions on Washington’s part.
The Rays will present a tougher test for the pitcher, who has a 6.27 ERA this year. The Yankees, meanwhile, are looking for their second series win since July began.
Zack Littell will start for Tampa Bay. The righty has 4.27 ERA over 52.2 innings for the Rays and Red Sox this year.
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