Carlos Rodon's poor first inning, quiet bats doom Yankees in loss to Rays

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Like Captain Edward J. Smith aboard the Titanic, Hal Steinbrenner had a firsthand view of an unfolding disaster.

With Steinbrenner among the 20,436 in attendance Tuesday night at Tropicana Field, his foundering Yankees slipped further under the water, losing for the 16th time in their last 21 games, 5-3 to the Rays.

The Yankees (55-38), their 50-22 start now a mere footnote to the 2024 season, stayed three games behind the AL East-leading Orioles, who lost to the Cubs.

“Everyone in the clubhouse knows that we can be better than this,” said rookie Ben Rice, who gave the Yankees some late life with a two-run homer in the seventh inning that cut the 4-1 deficit Carlos Rodon put his team in after one inning to 4-3. “We’re trying to just take it one day at a time, but at the same time, gotta have a little sense of urgency and start to get some wins.”

Fairly lifeless on offense after Gleyber Torres’ first-inning RBI single, Rice, who homered three times Saturday against the Red Sox, rocked his fifth homer in 19 games off lefthander Colin Poche, brought in specifically to face the lefty-swinging rookie.

But with Juan Soto and Aaron Judge in rare mini-slumps, there wasn’t much else from the offense beyond Rice and Torres.

Down 5-3 in the ninth after Jonny DeLuca’s two-out RBI double in the eighth off Tommy Kahnle, Rice came to the plate as the tying run after a one-out single by DJ LeMahieu against righthander Pete Fairbanks. Rice got ahead 2-and-1 but struck out on a 2-and-2 slider. Soto put a charge into one, but his fly ball died in the glove of centerfielder Jose Siri at the track to end it, earning Fairbanks his 15th save in 17 chances.

Torres’ hit gave Rodon a 1-0 lead, which quickly evaporated in a four-run bottom half of the first by the Rays (45-46), the outburst highlighted by Isaac Paredes’ three-run homer.

“It’s the tone-setter for the game,” said Rodon, who brought a 7.50 first-inning ERA into the night and saw the number go up after Tuesday’s night’s four-spot. “Can’t [be] giving up four, giving up three, whatever it’s been the last five [starts] now. Seems like we’re behind the barrel every time, it’s hard to claw back from. It’s hard to win games when you’re down by four, five, six, seven, eight runs early on.”

Rodon, who had a 2.93 ERA after a dominant outing in Kansas City on June 10, has lost his last five outings and has fallen to 9-7 with a 4.63 ERA. He lasted four innings Tuesday, allowing those four runs, five hits and two walks.

“After that [first inning], he kind of settled in and got it rolling,” Aaron Boone said. “But damage done. The long ball gets us again.”

That’s been the case with the pitching staff as a whole, but Rodon in particular. The lefty has allowed 19 homers, tied for second-most in the big leagues this season.

Rays righthander Ryan Pepiot, who came in 4-5 with a 4.40 ERA, allowed one run, four hits and three walks over 5 2⁄3 innings in which he struck out seven.

It took the Rays seven pitches to tie it and 14 pitches — all of four batters in — to take a three-run lead in what would be a 30-pitch inning for Rodon.

Leadoff man Yandy Diaz singled to center and Randy Arozarena, a Yankees killer pretty much from the time of his Rays debut in 2020, pulled a 1-and-2 slider down the leftfield line, the double tying it at 1-1 (Alex Verdugo misplayed the ball in the corner and was charged with an error, which allowed Diaz, initially given the stop sign by third-base coach Brady Williams, to score). Amed Rosario punched a single to right and Paredes, who has experienced plenty of success against the Yankees since joining the Rays in 2022, hammered a 1-and-0, 96-mph fastball to left, his 15th homer making it 4-1.

After the first, the Yankees did not put another runner in scoring position until the sixth but Rodon pointed the finger afterward solely at himself.

“Just not really giving my team a chance to win, giving up runs early,” Rodon said. “I keep saying ‘put it behind me,’ and I have to because there’s a game to be played in five days for me, and we also have a game tomorrow. It’s been really frustrating.”