I guess it was no surprise when Ron Marinaccio hit him with a pitch in the 7th, and he didn't get an additional chance to join the 4-homers-in-a-game club.
But the Yankees simply couldn't get untracked in what was essentially a bullpen game for the Rays. DJ LeMahieu singled home 2 runs in the 2nd inning, but that would be it until the 9th. There was a glimmer of hope that began when Gleyber Torres drew one of those leadoff walks that can kill a team, and advanced to 2nd on a passed ball. But Aaron Hicks' hot streak cooled off at a bad time, and he struck out. Kyle Higashioka, still not hitting well enough to be our starting catcher, grounded to short. But Marwin González hit a home run, and that made it 5-4.
And up to bat came Aaron Judge. And he hit one deep to left. It looked like the game was tied -- for a moment. It didn't quite go far enough, and it was caught at the warning track. Rays 5, Yankees 4. WP: Shawn Armstrong (1-1). SV: Colin Poche (5, and he came within 2 feet of blowing it). LP: Cortes (6-3).
This is a bad sign. We are going to need to beat good teams on the road to win postseason series. And while the Rays are now, probably, too far back to make a legitimate run at the American League Eastern Division title, they can still win a Wild Card slot and become a Yankee postseason series opponent.
Until the Yankees get it done, they are still the 2010-21 Yankees, with echoes of the 2004-08 Yankees -- not the Yankees of 2009, and certainly not the 1996-2003 Yankees.
The series concludes tonight, with Jordan Montgomery starting against Shane Baz. Then, they come home for 4 games against another team that, coming into this season, had a hammer over them: The cheating Houston Astros. Cortes could start the finale on Sunday. Hopefully, he'll learn from this performance, and beat them.