TAMPA — The Yankees definitely looked at home on Thursday.
Much of the talk on both sides of the field leading up to the game was about the odd circumstances:
The Yankees returning to their spring training base at Steinbrenner Field as the guests and using the cramped visitors’ clubhouse, while the Rays were relishing the comforts of their division rivals’ recently upgraded plush home.
“I don’t think they’ll be too happy about that,” Rays infielder/outfielder Richie Palacios said before the game, “but we’re enjoying the facilities.”
But by the end of the night, the Yankees were the ones smiling after rallying for a 6-3 victory.
And the Rays (8-11) were left quite frustrated, having let a 3-1 lead get away and wasted a series of scoring opportunities in losing a third straight game.
Taj Bradley had a lot to do with that, losing a 3-1 lead by allowing two runs in the fifth, then making a mess to start the sixth — including walks to two of the four batters — and leaving down 4-3.
But Taylor Walls had reason to be even more frustrated.
Consider that he came to the plate three times with the bases loaded and managed to knock in only one of the runners. One.
That was on a sac fly with one out in the second. He came up with one out in the third, after the Rays had already scored two, and grounded into an inning-ending double play. Then again with two outs in the fifth, and grounded out again.
Add in an eighth-inning flyout with a man on first, and he left nine men on base himself.
“It’s just unfortunate,” Walls said. “Some of it’s out of my control. Some of it, maybe you can get some better pitches. You’ve just got to try to be aggressive, trust your approach, trust what you see at the plate, not try to do too much, and I think I did that. I just think that unfortunately, two of those three situations I wasn’t able to come through with a hit, or whatever it may be.
“I mean, it sucks. But the good thing is, offensively we’re getting guys on base, we’re getting hits, we have baserunners. We’re doing the right things.”
They did have 12 hits, and three others who walked, but got only three home (two on Junior Caminero’s fifth homer of the season). Officially the Rays were 3-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left 10 on. And on a night when Yankees starter Will Warren didn’t get through the second and they used three relievers for multiple innings: ex-Ray Ryan Yarbrough (who struck out Brandon Lowe to end the second with the bases loaded), Tim Hill, Ian Hamilton.
“They made some big pitches, and we didn’t do what we were needing, hoping, to do probably,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “We’re capable of better, but it just didn’t come easy (Thursday). Between their starter and Yarbs and Hill, we felt like we had some traffic. We had guys on base. But that big hit just did not come.‘’
The Rays have to hope something gives. After scoring 16 runs on Monday versus Boston, they’ve totaled seven in the last three games.
Walls, playing his usual dazzling defense but hitting .176, said he realized in the eighth or ninth inning how many chances he had.
“I was like, dang, I’ve had three at-bats where the bases have been loaded, not in a good or bad way, it was just more so of like that doesn’t often happen,” he said.
The atmosphere was spirited, similar to games at Tropicana Field, with the crowd somewhat split.
“They definitely felt like the home team, to be honest,” Walls said. “But it’s been that way at the Trop. They have a huge fan base here in Tampa. This is their home stadium in spring training. … But it was pretty nice to hear our fans kind of clapping back at them and feeling like that we could match the support that they’ve had.”
Otherwise, the circumstances were very much unusual, with the Rays forced from the Trop due to Hurricane Milton damage, then making a deal with the Yankees to play at Steinbrenner Field and transform it into their home.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone had been wondering all week what it would be like.
“I bumped into Kevin Cash walking in, I bumped into some Rays players,” he said. “I don’t know if surreal is the right word, but it’s, definitely a little bit odd.”
As much as it was, Boone said he and his players understood the reason.
“l think this was for the good of baseball, for the good of the Rays,” he said. “I know their organization, our organization worked very well together in making it viable. It’s just the right thing to do on all fronts. … Obviously we compete hard against each other. They’re one of our main rivals. But I feel like to do the right thing, I think always feels good.”
The Rays have said repeatedly how much they appreciated it. But they also didn’t feel bad to be enjoying the amenities on the home side.
“It took an act of God and Mother Nature to put us in this situation, right?” Rays Friday starter Drew Rasmussen said. “So we are grateful and thankful to them, which is a funny thing to say, for allowing us to use the facility.
“But also as far as this regular season goes, this is our home, not theirs. So they have the opportunity, of course, to use it every spring, and it’s got Steinbrenner written on the stadium itself. But they’ve given us the permission to call this home, and that’s what we’re doing.”
• • •
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TAMPA — The Yankees definitely looked at home on Thursday.
Much of the talk on both sides of the field leading up to the game was about the odd circumstances:
The Yankees returning to their spring training base at Steinbrenner Field as the guests and using the cramped visitors’ clubhouse, while the Rays were relishing the comforts of their division rivals’ recently upgraded plush home.
“I don’t think they’ll be too happy about that,” Rays infielder/outfielder Richie Palacios said before the game, “but we’re enjoying the facilities.”
But by the end of the night, the Yankees were the ones smiling after rallying for a 6-3 victory.
And the Rays (8-11) were left quite frustrated, having let a 3-1 lead get away and wasted a series of scoring opportunities in losing a third straight game.
Taj Bradley had a lot to do with that, losing a 3-1 lead by allowing two runs in the fifth, then making a mess to start the sixth — including walks to two of the four batters — and leaving down 4-3.
But Taylor Walls had reason to be even more frustrated.
Consider that he came to the plate three times with the bases loaded and managed to knock in only one of the runners. One.
That was on a sac fly with one out in the second. He came up with one out in the third, after the Rays had already scored two, and grounded into an inning-ending double play. Then again with two outs in the fifth, and grounded out again.
Add in an eighth-inning flyout with a man on first, and he left nine men on base himself.
“It’s just unfortunate,” Walls said. “Some of it’s out of my control. Some of it, maybe you can get some better pitches. You’ve just got to try to be aggressive, trust your approach, trust what you see at the plate, not try to do too much, and I think I did that. I just think that unfortunately, two of those three situations I wasn’t able to come through with a hit, or whatever it may be.
“I mean, it sucks. But the good thing is, offensively we’re getting guys on base, we’re getting hits, we have baserunners. We’re doing the right things.”
They did have 12 hits, and three others who walked, but got only three home (two on Junior Caminero’s fifth homer of the season). Officially the Rays were 3-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left 10 on. And on a night when Yankees starter Will Warren didn’t get through the second and they used three relievers for multiple innings: ex-Ray Ryan Yarbrough (who struck out Brandon Lowe to end the second with the bases loaded), Tim Hill, Ian Hamilton.
“They made some big pitches, and we didn’t do what we were needing, hoping, to do probably,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “We’re capable of better, but it just didn’t come easy (Thursday). Between their starter and Yarbs and Hill, we felt like we had some traffic. We had guys on base. But that big hit just did not come.‘’
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The Rays have to hope something gives. After scoring 16 runs on Monday versus Boston, they’ve totaled seven in the last three games.
Walls, playing his usual dazzling defense but hitting .176, said he realized in the eighth or ninth inning how many chances he had.
“I was like, dang, I’ve had three at-bats where the bases have been loaded, not in a good or bad way, it was just more so of like that doesn’t often happen,” he said.
The atmosphere was spirited, similar to games at Tropicana Field, with the crowd somewhat split.
“They definitely felt like the home team, to be honest,” Walls said. “But it’s been that way at the Trop. They have a huge fan base here in Tampa. This is their home stadium in spring training. … But it was pretty nice to hear our fans kind of clapping back at them and feeling like that we could match the support that they’ve had.”
Otherwise, the circumstances were very much unusual, with the Rays forced from the Trop due to Hurricane Milton damage, then making a deal with the Yankees to play at Steinbrenner Field and transform it into their home.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone had been wondering all week what it would be like.
“I bumped into Kevin Cash walking in, I bumped into some Rays players,” he said. “I don’t know if surreal is the right word, but it’s, definitely a little bit odd.”
As much as it was, Boone said he and his players understood the reason.
“l think this was for the good of baseball, for the good of the Rays,” he said. “I know their organization, our organization worked very well together in making it viable. It’s just the right thing to do on all fronts. … Obviously we compete hard against each other. They’re one of our main rivals. But I feel like to do the right thing, I think always feels good.”
The Rays have said repeatedly how much they appreciated it. But they also didn’t feel bad to be enjoying the amenities on the home side.
“It took an act of God and Mother Nature to put us in this situation, right?” Rays Friday starter Drew Rasmussen said. “So we are grateful and thankful to them, which is a funny thing to say, for allowing us to use the facility.
“But also as far as this regular season goes, this is our home, not theirs. So they have the opportunity, of course, to use it every spring, and it’s got Steinbrenner written on the stadium itself. But they’ve given us the permission to call this home, and that’s what we’re doing.”
• • •
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