Pitchers took over the game after early scoring, but the Rays edged out the Yankees 2-1. >> Box score
Five takeaways from Sunday's game
1) James Paxton took a bit to settle in against the Rays. In the first inning, he allowed two runs and started the contest allowing back-to-back doubles to Travis d'Arnaud and Tommy Pham. D'Arnaud scored on Pham's double, and Pham reached home when Avisail Garcia later grounded out. Paxton stopped the bleeding in the frame with two strikeouts to end the inning there, and had a solid outing the rest of the way. In total, Paxton notched 11 strikeouts, including a sixth inning showcase. With runners on first and third with no outs, Paxton struck out the side.
2) While Paxton had the Rays guessing at the plate, his the Yankees were doing the same against Charlie Morton. The Yankees nearly matched the amount of Rays the struck out against the starting pitcher on the day, as Morton fanned 10 batters he faced. The Yankees and Rays were struck out 14 and 13 times, respectively, in game.
3) Aaron Hicks was nearly the hero on Saturday until d'Arnaud's walkoff ruined that. On Sunday, Hicks ended the first half of the season on the opposite end of the spectrum. Hicks walked, but also struck out three times. Along with Hicks, Aaron Judge also went down on strikes three times, however, on one of the three, the final strike appeared to be well out of the strike zone on a full count. That bad call stirred up the Yankees' dugout, including some heat from manager Aaron Boone.
4) The Rays couldn't contain Brett Gardner throughout the entirety of their four-game series. After the Rays plated two runs in the bottom of the first, Gardner cut into the lead with another home run. Gardner had three homers against the Rays in the series. In addition, Gardner had five RBIs and he enters the All-Star break on a four-game hitting streak after knocking one in every game of the series.
5) Chad Green shook off a tough Saturday evening and got the job done on Sunday. After giving up the game-winning home run a night earlier, Green got the final two outs successfully on Sunday. Green entered the game with Garcia on first and then sent Nate Lowe down.on strikes. Green did allow a single to Michael Brosseau up the middle which moved Garcia to third, but with two men on Green sent down Will Adames as he grounded out to shortstop Didi Gregorius.
Highlights
Brett Gardner crushes his THIRD home run of the series. pic.twitter.com/NEBYVMGbV5
- YES Network (@YESNetwork) July 7, 2019
What's next
The Yankees enter the All-Star break. The Home Run Derby is scheduled for Monday and the All-Star is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. first pitch on Tuesday from Cleveland.