Yankees, Jose Trevino talk ‘frustrating’ eighth-inning strikeout in loss to Rays

The Yankees are struggling at the plate and on the mound right now, so they didn’t need an errant umpire call in their latest loss on Thursday night.

In the eighth inning of New York’s 5-4 loss to the Rays, Jose Trevino was called off the bench to bat with runners on first and second and one out. Trevino worked a 3-0 count before left-hander Colin Pache threw a 91 mph fastball that was visibly above the strike zone. The Yankees catcher prepared to take his base but plate umpire Edwin Moscoso called a strike.

Pache would work the count full and throw another 91 mph fastball, this time below the strike zone. Again, Moscoso called a strike. Instead of the Yankees having the bases loaded with one out, a crucial second out was picked up.

The Yankees would not scratch across any runs in that inning.

After the game, Yankees manager Aaron Boone was asked what he liked about pinch-hitting Trevino in the spot.

The longtime Yankee skipper quipped, "I liked the ball five that Trevi ends up taking that ended up being strike three.”

Later in that same inning during a Rays pitching change, Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake was ejected for arguing with Moscoso. Boone was asked if it was “inevitable” he or someone else would be ejected.

“A big call in that spot. I thought Trevy put a good at-bat, was real patient. Unfortunate,” Boone said. “I don’t know about inevitable or not.”

Trevino spoke after the loss and was very short when asked about the at-bat.

“Frustrating but probably should have hit the 3-1 [pitch] or something,” he said.

The veteran catcher said he didn’t get a chance to look at the 3-2 pitch that resulted in a strikeout, but spoke about how his team is feeling during this tough stretch.

“It’s been tough for us a little bit. We have to keep going. Nobody is going to feel sorry for us,” Trevino said. “If anything, people want to see this. We’re the Yankees. People don’t care. If we win, yeah we should’ve won. If we lose, they like that. We’ll get back to where we were and play with that chip on our shoulder.”

With three games against the AL East-leading Orioles in Baltimore coming up before the Yanks enter the All-Star break, New York has an opportunity to actually finish the series back in first, despite their struggles.

Boone isn’t thinking about how Baltimore has struggled of late and whether his team should feel fortunate, but wants the Yankees to play better.

“We gotta take care of our own house. We gotta get going in the right direction right now. That’s where the focus is right now,” Boone said. “We’re getting to the All-Star break, it’s about us playing well. We can’t worry too much about that stuff.”

The Orioles enter this weekend’s series on Friday with a 2.0-game lead over the Yankees.