However, Mark Teixeira said it would be a sin to believe the Yankees simply have to throw their gloves and bats on the field to beat the Rays.
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“I had a chance to make my case tonight”, Rodriguez said.
So now the Yankees are sitting about as mediocre as possible at 52-51 with 103 games down and 59 to go.
As shown by what the Yankees were able to receive for Chapman, if they made a decision to sell at the trade deadline, they could help get a lot of young talent for a rebuild. Yankees starter Ivan Nova (7-6), also mentioned as a trade possibility, gave up five runs and six hits, and didn’t make it through the fifth inning.NY spoiled the shutout on Mark Teixeira’s RBI single with two outs in the eighth off reliever Dylan Floro.Rays reliever Erasmo Ramirez, another reported trade target, came in for the ninth but gave up two singles, putting the tying run on deck. “[But] my job is to put out what I feel is the best lineup every day, and that’s what I try to do”.
They missed a sweep with Wednesday’s 4-1 loss to the Astros, and manager Joe Girardi said his team can’t let opportunities like that get away.
Girardi has preferred that Carlos Beltran play just one game defensively this weekend on the Trop’s artificial turf. And with interleague games Monday and Tuesday against the Mets at Citi Field, the absence of the DH will again confine Rodriguez to the bench. Girardi became testy before the game when a reporter suggested A-Rod was in a “Catch-22” situation in which he has to be productive to get more opportunities but doesn’t get enough opportunities to produce.
“This is playoff baseball for us”, Girardi said. For all that has been made of Miller’s defense this year, and it has been below his career norms by a healthy margin (DRS of -4 and -3 last two years and -17 this year), his bat his been a positive. “I swung at balls and took strikes”. Just a rough night.
“It’s definitely been a frustrating season all the way around”, A-Rod said.
Rodriguez, 41, added that “you’ve got to want to do it”. With one out, Kevin Kiermaier stretched a single to right into a double, stole third and scored on a single by Steven Souza Jr. Even this month, the Yankees rank in the bottom third of the league in runs per game and on-base-plus-slugging percentage, unable to maintain any semblance of consistency at the plate. Chase Headley had two of the Yankees’ five hits, and drove in the team’s final run with a solo home run in the eighth inning. Tampa Bay posted five hits and two bases on balls with Brad Miller, Tim Beckham and Curt Casili smacking long balls and combining for five RBI’s and four runs. Rays lefthander Drew Smyly (3-11), who was winless in his previous 11 starts, allowed four hits in six innings.
“It’s part of the game, it’s a tough game”, Rodriguez said.
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But the performance was “something you definitely think about” when putting together today’s lineup.
