Aaron Judge homers, but Yankees' bullpen can't hold late lead in 3-2 loss to Rays

The Yankees were defeated by the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 on Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.

Here are some takeaways…

– Aaron Judge was named the AL Player of the Month on Friday, and he’s picked up right where he left off thus far in May. The slugger had two hits during last night’s victory and then he got the scoring started in this one by cracking his league-leading sixth first-inning home run into the short porch.

Judge had another chance to tie the game with runners on the corners and two outs in the bottom of the eighth, but he grounded out to short. Still, the slugger finished the day 2-for-4 with the homer and a hard-hit single, giving him 17 multi-hit games this season.

– Ryan Yarbrough received the last-minute start after Clarke Schmidt was scratched due to left side soreness. The southpaw allowed the Rays to even things up with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the second, but that was it across a season-high four innings of work.

– Zack Littell was cruising before New York was able to regain the lead on another short porch homer in the bottom of the fifth. This time it was Austin Wells, who led off the inning with a solo shot of his own to right-center, giving him six long balls and 18 RBI on the season.

– The Yankees’ bullpen threw well for the most part behind Yarbrough. Ian Hamilton struck out three as he worked around a walk and a hit in the top of the fifth, and Fernando Cruz stranded a man in scoring position to put together two scoreless innings — Cruz struck out one to increase his league-best mark among relievers (28).

Mark Leiter Jr. then struggled in the eighth, allowing Tampa Bay to take the lead for the first time in the game. The first two batters of the inning reached base and then advanced into scoring position on a double steal, before scoring on a single and an Anthony Volpe error.

– Volpe had a bit of a scare earlier in the inning when he appeared to injure his shoulder on a diving attempt — but after being looked at by trainers, he remained in the game. The shortstop was unable to extend his seven-game hitting streak, as he finished the day hitless in three at-bats.

– Tim Hill picked Leiter Jr. up nicely, escaping the eighth without further damage and then putting together a scoreless top of the ninth — but the Yanks were unable to rally against Edwin Uceta and Pete Fairbanks in the later innings.

– Despite his recent struggles, Cody Bellinger was bumped up to the leadoff spot for the first time as a Yankee. The switch didn’t help the left-handed hitting slugger much, as he finished 1-for-4 with a single — lowering his OPS to .610 for the season.

Game MVP: Zack Littell

The right-hander limited the Yanks’ offense to just two runs in seven innings of work.

Highlights

Whats next

Will Warren takes the mound against Taj Bradley as the Yanks and Rays close out their three-game set on Sunday at 1:35 p.m.

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