by The Yankees had hits, had chances, had Ben Rice doing his job again, and still walked out The Trop with an ugly loss because 17 strikeouts is not a game plan.
Yankees Lose Another One In Tampa, And The Strikeouts Are Getting Ridiculous
Yankees lose 6-4 to the Rays. Back to 4 games back in the division.
They have struck out a combined 34 times in the first two games of this series.
Gerrit Cole vs. Shane McClanahan tomorrow.
— Chris Kirschner (@ChrisKirschner) July 8, 2026
The Yankees lost to the Rays 6-4 on Tuesday night, and honestly, this is one of those games where the box score tries to trick you if you do not actually watch what happened.
They had 11 hits.
They scored 4 runs.
Ben Rice had another big swing.
The bullpen even gave them clean innings after Will Warren got knocked around.
And still, the whole thing felt like the Yankees were fighting themselves for 9 innings.
Because when you strike out 17 times in back-to-back games, that is not just “tip your cap” baseball anymore. That is a problem. That is your lineup letting opposing pitchers breathe. That is rally after rally dying because somebody cannot just put the ball in play.
The Yankees have now struck out 34 times in 2 games. Read that again. 34.
This is not 1972 where Nolan Ryan is throwing 160 pitches and everybody is swinging a tree trunk. This is modern baseball, yes, strikeouts happen, but come on. At some point, somebody has to shorten up, punch one through, move a runner, make the defense do something besides jog back to the dugout.
Getting ready for the Derby 😏🍚 pic.twitter.com/UYW6qUmB5P
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 7, 2026
Ben Rice Did His Part Again
The one guy who did not look lost was Ben Rice.
Rice came up in the 3rd inning after Max Schuemann reached on a bunt single and Trent Grisham doubled. The Yankees were down 2-0, and Rice did what the middle of the order is supposed to do. He launched a 3-run homer to left-center and gave the Yankees a 3-2 lead.
That was his 26th homer of the year, and at this point, Rice is one of the few hitters in this lineup who actually looks like he has a plan. He finished 3-for-4 with 3 RBI, and with the Home Run Derby coming up, he looks like the one Yankee who remembered the season did not pause just because the offense got uncomfortable.
The problem is one guy cannot carry a lineup that keeps handing away outs.
Will Warren Gave It Right Back
The Yankees had the lead for about 5 minutes before the Rays punched Will Warren right back in the mouth.
Tampa scored 4 runs in the 4th inning, and that was the game. Richie Palacios doubled in the tying run. Hunter Feduccia hit a 2-run homer. Then Yandy Díaz followed with another homer, because apparently the Yankees needed to make sure the inning hurt extra.
Warren finished with 4 innings, 7 hits, 6 earned runs, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, and 3 home runs allowed. That is not good enough. Not in a division race. Not against Tampa. Not when the Rays are sitting above you and stretching the AL East lead.
The bullpen did its job after that. Tim Hill, Paul Blackburn, and Brent Headrick kept the Rays quiet. But once again, the Yankees were already playing uphill because the damage came in one ugly inning.
Goldschmidt Is In A Brutal Slide
Paul Goldschmidt went 0-for-4 with 4 strikeouts, and now he is stuck in an 0-for-30 slide.
That is not a slump anymore. That is a full-on baseball hostage situation.
Boone said after the game that Goldschmidt looked “in between,” and that is the nice manager way of saying he is late on some pitches, early on others, and not comfortable on anything. Goldschmidt has meant a lot to this team, but right now, those at-bats are rough to watch.
Jose Caballero also struck out 4 times. Cody Bellinger struck out twice. Jazz Chisholm Jr. struck out twice. Grisham struck out twice.
Everybody got a souvenir strikeout.
The Yankees Need Gerrit Cole To Stop The Bleeding
The Yankees are now 50-41, and the Rays are 53-36. Tampa’s lead in the division is up to 4 games.
That is the part you cannot laugh off.
This is no longer just a “bad night.” The Yankees are watching the Rays create distance while their own offense keeps turning winnable games into math homework.
Gerrit Cole gets the ball next against Shane McClanahan, and yes, that is exactly the type of game where your ace has to walk in and calm the whole building down.
But Cole cannot fix the strikeouts. Cole cannot make Goldschmidt hit. Cole cannot make this lineup stop swinging through everything with runners on base.
The Yankees need to wake up offensively, because 11 hits and 17 strikeouts in the same game is ridiculous.
That is not pressure baseball.
That is a team getting chances and finding new ways to waste them.
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