The Yankees were swept by the Tampa Bay Rays after losing, 10-5, at Yankee Stadium on Thursday afternoon. >> Box Score.
Five things to know about Thursday’s game
1. James Paxton looked to be in a groove through the first four innings in this one. His fastball, though still in the lower 90s, was located well and his breaking pitches had good bite. However, the fifth inning saw a couple walks and timely hitting from the Rays, who dropped a three-spot and ruined Paxton’s outing. He may have allowed just one hit but allowed three earned runs with four walks and eight strikeouts as well. Aaron Boone also revealed he will be going for an MRI after feeling tightness in his forearm.
2. The bullpen didn’t help matters when Paxton was done, though. A five-run top of the sixth came when Adam Ottavino and Luis Avilan couldn’t figure it out. It was Ottavino’s first dud appearance, allowing three runs on two hits and one walk over two-thirds of an inning. Avilan let up two of his own runs on three hits over one-third of an inning. Luis Cessa came in during the ninth inning and would give up a two-run bomb to Yandy Diaz to basically ice it for the Rays.
3. Luke Voit continues to be a bright spot despite the losses this week. He has now homered in four straight games, crushing one to Monument Park in the first inning to give the Yanks an early lead. He went 3-for-5 on the day with two RBI and pushed his average for the season up to .311.
4. Gio Urshela also went yard in this one, giving the Yankees the lead back in the bottom of the sixth. He went 2-for-4.
5. The Yankees have not been swept by the Rays since 2014 until this series here. They have also never been swept since 2017 during a home series.