The Yankees opened their three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays in Florida on Friday night by watching another game slip away. Down 5-2 heading to the bottom of the seventh, they had managed just two hits through seven innings, and the frustration carried into the ninth when Aaron Boone kept Randal Grichuk in the game with one out and two runners on base.
That choice drew immediate heat because it came after a stretch in which New York had looked lost at the plate. The Yankees had four hits in Wednesday night’s loss and one hit in Thursday night’s loss, and they were off to an 8-5 start through their first 13 games even as the offense sagged badly over the last three.
Talkin’ Yanks said Boone chose to stick with Grichuk, who is hitless on the season, and save Trent Grisham to pinch hit for Jose Caballero one batter later. The framing mattered because the spot came in the ninth inning, with the tying runs on base and the game hanging on one swing.
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Fans did not wait long to vent. One wrote, “Classic Boone And Classic Yankees with runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out and not capitalizing Just win tomorrow please Offense needs to wake up man.” Another said, “I’m not going out of my way to defend Boone here but I’m not sure he has many options. He can only use Grisham for Grichuk or Caballero. His other options are McMahon and Escarra. So, he’s either going to have a Grichuk at bat or a Caballero one. Both bad choices.”
Others were harsher. “Grichuk was Cashman’s big off season acquisition, so you can’t pinch hit for him,” one user wrote, while another posted, “The most non competitive AB ive seen in a while.” A separate fan called the sequence “actual insanity,” and another described the team as “an abject disaster” because of the roster construction and Boone’s decision-making.
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Erik Boland also noted the broader picture: the Yankees had four hits Wednesday, one Thursday and only two through seven innings Friday as they trailed 5-2 into the late innings. The immediate problem is not hard to find. New York has to get its offense moving before this trip gets any longer.
After two more games against the Rays, the Yankees were scheduled to return home to host the Los Angeles Angels.
