1. The Yankees won a game and won it against a division opponent, beating the Rays 7-5 to improve to 12-19 in the AL East.
The Yankees won a game they had to have: a game started by Max Fried. The Yankees had been 2-4 in Fried’s last six starts and when the rest of your rotation is the untrustworthy Carlos Rodon, the inconsistent Will Warren, the inexperienced Cam Schlittler and the inept Marcus Stroman, you have to win the games Fried starts.
2. It didn’t necessarily look like the Yankees were going to win the Fried start on Tuesday. With a runner on first and no outs in the first inning, Anthony Volpe fielded a ground ball up the middle and shoveled a throw out of the reach of Jazz Chisholm at second. The Yankees may have been able to turn two on the play and erase the runner on base, but at worst they were going to get the first out of the inning. Instead, they got nothing and the Rays ended up scoring twice with two outs in the inning when the inning should have been over. Unfortunately, the errant throw wouldn’t be Volpe’s only of the game.
3. The Rays added a third run in the third inning to take a 3-0 lead and the Yankees’ odds of coming back felt insurmountable with an offense that had scored in just two of 20 innings since Aaron Judge went on the injured list. (And in one of those two innings, both runs scored on bases-loaded walks.) But Cody Bellinger (inexplicably batting fourth despite being the best active hitter in the lineup) tied the game with a three-run home run in the bottom of the third.
The Yankees scored three more runs in the fourth to take a 6-3 lead. They gave one back in the seventh, but added a seventh run in the eighth and then eked out a win in the ninth as Devin Williams was shaky and his defense was even shakier as Volpe threw away the would-be final out of the game to extend the inning and give the Rays another crack at tying or taking the lead in the ninth.
4. Volpe moved back on the ball in the ninth inning — as he now always does — and let the ball play him. Once he fielded it, he took two hops to gather himself and then put his left leg (his plant leg) exceptionally far from his body before delivering a throw in the the dirt to first. I have no idea how the player who failed to make that play and the player who now has that poor of footwork and fielding technique was able to win the Gold Glove two years ago.
“I’ve never really experienced something like this,” said Volpe. “I know what I’m capable of.”
5. Volpe did provide an RBI bloop single, managed to steal third on an errant throw and hit the longest home run of his career for one of his best offensive games of the season, but he’s still 11 percent worse than league average for the season. The battle for the worst defensive shortstop in the league continues to be between Volpe and Elly De La Cruz. The difference is you can live with the errors Cruz has made at the position because he’s hitting .282/.362/.484 with an .846 OPS, a 128 OPS+ and 29 steals.
6. There’s no current resolution for Volpe, nor do the Yankees want to have one. They want Volpe to work out and be the player they promised because they passed on the deepest shortstop free-agent class in history to cater to him. They have played him every single day since the start of 2023 and have defended him to the media in a way no player has ever been defended by the organization before. The idea Volpe is going to lose playing time to Amed Rosario is not worth thinking about because it’s never going to happen. The only way out of this mess is for George Lombard Jr. to develop into the player the Yankees thought they had in Volpe.
7. Trent Grisham went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts. Ben Rice went 0-for-2 with two walks. Paul Goldschmidt went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts. Bellinger had the big, game-tying blast. Jazz Chisholm went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Jasson Dominguez went 2-for-4 with a stolen base. Ryan McMahon went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. Volpe went 2-for-4 with a home run and Austin Wells went 0-for-3 with a walk. Jonathan Loaisiga threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings following Fried and Williams closed out the ninth around a triple, walk and the Volpe error.
8. The Blue Jays lost for the fourth straight game, so the Yankees — despite going 2-2 in their last four — have now picked up two games on them in the division. The Red Sox also won, but the Mariners and Rangers lost to go along with the Rays loss.
WC1: Yankees (5 games back of Blue Jays because of tie-breaker)
WC2: Red Sox (1 game back of Yankees)
WC2: Mariners (1.5 games back of Yankees)
First team out: Rangers (3.5 games back of Yankees because of tie-breaker)
Second team out: Rays (4.5 games back of Yankees)
9. It’s going to be extremely hard to win Thursday afternoon’s series finale against the Rays with Stroman starting, so the Yankees need to win Wednesday night’s game with Warren starting. Unfortunately, Warren has faced the Rays twice this season and pitched poorly in both outings. On April 17, he was pulled in the second inning in Tampa after allowing four hits and two walks and needing 53 pitches to get five outs. On may 4, he allowed seven hits and three walks over 4 2/3 innings, needing 102 pitches to get 14 outs.
10. Which version of Warren will show up on Wednesday? Will it be the one who couldn’t beat the Rays in either start this season? The one who ruins the game in the first inning? The one who has trouble getting through five innings? Or the one who can shut out a team and rack up double-digit strikeouts? I have no idea and neither do the Yankees.
Last modified: Jul 30, 2025
