Luis Gil struggles in season debut as Yankees fall to Rays, 5-3
The Yankees didn't have enough juice on Friday night at Tropicana Field, falling to the Rays, 5-3. Here are the takeaways... -- Aaron Judge got the Yankees going in the first inning with a single and stolen base, advancing to third base on a throwing error by the catcher.
The MVP scored on Cody Bellinger 's sacrifice fly to make it a 1-0 game. Giancarlo Stanton walked and Amed Rosario came through with his first triple since 2024 as LF Chandler Simpson mistimed a sliding catch and the ball rolled to the wall, giving the Yanks a 2-0 lead. -- Making his season debut, Lui Gil found himself in trouble right away.
The 27-year-old recorded two quick outs before walking Jonathan Aranda and giving up a two-run home run to Yandy Díaz as the Rays tied it up at 2-2. In the second inning, Gil hit Taylor Walls and then let up a single to Nick Fortes , setting up a first-and-third situation with just one out. Simpson hit a double play ball to Jazz Chisholm Jr.
at second, but used his league-best speed to beat the throw to first, allowing the run to score for the Rays to take a 3-2 lead. Gil bounced back for a 1-2-3 third inning and avoided further damage in the fourth inning by getting a tag down on Ben Williamson trying to score on the safety squeeze. His day ended after 4.
0 IP, allowing three runs on three hits with two strikeouts and three walks. -- After Jake Bird tossed a scoreless fifth inning, Brent Headrick had a tough sixth inning. He let up a leadoff double to Williamson and RBI single to Simpson as the Rays pushed the lead to 4-2.