The necessity for the Yankees in their 4-game Memorial Day Weekend series away to the Tampa Bay Rays was at least a split. That has been done.
The preference was 3 out of 4. That is still possible.
The dream was a 4-game sweep. That is no longer possible.
We can't say it was starting pitcher Gerrit Cole who let the Yankee Fans down yesterday: He went 6 innings, allowing 1 run on 2 hits and 3 walks, striking out 10. He did his job.
We can't really say it was the bullpen who let 'em down yesterday: Between them, Lucas Luetge and Michael King went 3 innings, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits and no walks.
We could say it was general manager Brian Cashman who let 'em down. After all, he let Corey Kluber go, due to his injuries, and Kluber got picked up by the Rays, and he also pitched 6 strong innings yesterday. Although, given how the Yankees' starters have gone, it's hard to say there's a place for him in our rotation.
No, the real blame must go to the Yankee hitters. They did not get the job done. The game began with DJ LeMahieu hitting a double, Aaron Judge a single, and Anthony Rizzo a sacrifice fly to get DJLM home.
But Gleyber Torres grounded into a double play to end that threat. The entire rest of the way, the Yankees only got 2 baserunners: A single by Joey Gallo in the 3rd, eliminated by LeMahieu grounding into a double play; and a single by Isiah Kiner-Falefa in the 8th, and he got stranded.
Rays 3, Yankees 1. WP: J.P. Feyereisen (4-0). SV: Colin Poche (2). LP: Luetge (1-2). The Rays close back to within 5 1/2 games of the Yankees.
In their last 8 games, the Yankees have scored 24 runs, and gone 4-4. In 2 of those games, they've scored 7; take those out, and it's 6 games with 10 runs, and 2-4, with both wins being 2-0. The pitching has kept the team alive.
The series concludes this afternoon, and the game has a "must-win" feel, despite still being in May. Luis Severino starts against Shane McClanahan.