Yankees' offense stagnant in loss to Rays | Rapid reaction

The Yankees wasted a strong CC Sabathia outing in a 3-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.

NEW YORK — CC Sabathia did his part. The offense just couldn’t support the starter on Sunday.

The Yankees failed to record multiple hits in any inning, and outside of an Aaron Hicks solo home run, the offense sputtered in a 3-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Old-Timers’ Day at Yankee Stadium.

The lack of offense spoiled a solid outing for Sabathia. Despite a rough second inning, Sabathia pitched a season-high 7.2 innings, allowing three runs on 10 hits while striking out 10 and walking one. Sabathia allowed three or fewer runs for the fourth straight start, but his record dropped to 4-2.

Sabathia’s 10 Ks gave him his 38th career double-digit strikeout game. It was his first since Aug. 17, 2016, when he fanned 12 against the Toronto Blue Jays.

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The Rays did all their damage in the second inning when they pounced for three runs on four hits. Following back-to-back singles to lead off the inning, right fielder Carlos Gomez laced an RBI double down the left-field line. Sabathia got a pop out and a strikeout to nearly escape the jam without further damage, but Matt Duffy punched a two-run single to right field to make it 3-0. Duffy was thrown out at second attempting to advance on a throw home.

Hicks pulled the Yankees within 3-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning when he hit a two-out, solo home run deep into the right-field grandstands. The Yankees threatened to add on in the inning following walks to Aaron Judge and Didi Gregorius, but Giancarlo Stanton struck out swinging to end the threat.

Following a leadoff single by Gregorius in the eighth inning, the Yankees couldn’t capitalize, with Stanton striking out, Greg Bird grounding out and Gary Sanchez striking out. The Yankees combined to strike out 12 times on Sunday.

Boone won’t use two starters on Monday

Following Sunday’s game, the Yankees will jet down to Washington, where they will play a partial double header against the Nationals on Monday. They will resume a suspended game, which originally started on May 15, in the bottom of the sixth inning before playing a full game that was rained out later in the series.

Manager Aaron Boone has the option to turn to a starting pitcher to begin that game, but since the score will begin 3-3, he will elect to open with his big arms out of the bullpen. Starter Sonny Gray will pitch the second game on Monday.

The two teams won’t get a 26th roster spot for the finish of the suspended game, but they will for the second game. Teams typically receive a 26th player for both games of a normal double header.

Next up

Monday
Yankees vs. Nationals: Resumption of suspended game from May 15, 5:05 p.m. at Nationals Park

Yankees vs. Nationals: RHP Sonny Gray (4-4, 4.96) vs. TBD. The game will start 30 minutes after the conclusion of the suspended game at Nationals Park.

Chris Ryan may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisRyan_NJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.