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ST. PETERSBURG, FL. — The New York Yankees<\/span><\/a> had a meltdown on defense Monday night at Tropicana Field.\u00a0<\/p>\n They were charged with four errors — there could have been more — \u00a0and it proved costly in a 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays<\/span><\/a>, who now lead 2-0 in the American League Division Series. Tampa Bay could advance to the A.L. Championship Series with a victory in New York on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium. \u00a0<\/p>\n The Yankees were an error short of tying the franchise record of five set in Game 2 of the 1976 A.L. Championship Series against the Royals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cObviously, a really rough night to say the least for us,\u201d Yankees manager Aaron Boone<\/span><\/a> told reporters. \u201cWe’ve got to get over it. We’ve responded all year to difficult times, and we’ve got to do that again. We’ve got to get ourselves up off the mat. Obviously, tonight was just not good enough for us and certainly not good enough to beat (the Rays). We’ve got to get over it, and play for our lives (Wednesday \u00a0night).\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The game was tough to watch starting with the bottom of the first. With Yankees ace\u00a0<\/span>Cam Schlittler\u00a0<\/a>on the mound, the first error came when Yandy D\u00edaz led off and hit a hard grounder that went passed the glove of third baseman\u00a0<\/span>Ryan McMahon<\/a>. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe ball just kicked up on me,\u201d McMahon said. \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n After Jonathan Aranda singled to put runners on first and second, Junior Caminero hit a slow ground ball to shortstop George Lombard Jr<\/a>., who threw to second baseman\u00a0<\/span>Jazz Chisholm Jr.<\/a>\u00a0to get the force out at second, but Chisholm threw the ball past first baseman Luis Garc\u00eda Jr. for the second error of the frame and that allowed D\u00edaz to score the first run of the game.<\/span><\/p>\n If he had to do it over again, Chisholm said he would still make the throw to first base.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI would try to make an even better throw,\u201d Chisholm acknowledged. \u201cI would try to throw it close to the base. My back was turned.” \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The next hitter was Liam Hicks and he reached first base on catcher\u2019s interference by\u00a0<\/span>Austin Wells.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cHonestly. I caught the ball before he even hit my glove,\u201d Wells said. \u201cIt was such a weird one. I thought I was back enough. The ball was by him. I don\u2019t think I was too close. It\u2019s the way Hicks swung the bat on that check swing. \u2026Obviously, that can\u2019t happen on an 0-2 count ever with Cam on the mound.” \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Considering the mistakes, Schlittler held it together, allowing just the one unearned run on 19 pitches.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cCam did a great job picking us up,\u201d Chisholm said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Schlittler, who lasted 4.1 innings, declined to put blame on the defense behind him.<\/span><\/p>\n “It starts with me. I will be first to say, \u2019I didn\u2019t do my job.’ That\u2019s what happens,\u201d he said to reporters. The Rays played really good baseball. They took advantage of those opportunities.\u201d \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n After the first inning ended,<\/span>\u00a0Aaron Judge<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Giancarlo Stanton<\/a>\u00a0were waiting for their teammates to enter the dugout. They were cheering them on, telling them that the game was far from over. Judge, the best player on the team, is off the postseason roster because of a right calf injury. Stanton, on the other hand, is on the postseason roster, but he is limited to pinch-hitting duties because of calf problems.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why they are our leaders. They are in there every at-bat and every inning,\u201d Chisholm recalled. “Every time we came off the field, they were just saying, ‘Hey, let\u2019s go. We\u2019ve done it before. We keep our heads up. We play until the last out and the last pitch.’\u201d \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The Yankees managed to tie the game at 1 in the fourth, when Ben Rice took a 2-2 pitch from Freddy Peralta and hit the ball over the right-field wall.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Yankees had a chance to take the lead an inning later. They had the bases loaded with two out when Cody Bellinger<\/span><\/a> came to the plate to face Cam Booser. Bellinger hit the ball hard to center field, but Jonny Deluca caught the ball in front of the wall to end the frame.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI thought we started to put together some really good at-bats, especially in the fifth inning where we chased Peralta and Belly puts a good swing on it, hits it to the fence. That’s unfortunate there,\u201d Boone said.<\/span><\/p>\n But New York\u2019s defense wasn\u2019t at its best in the bottom of the fifth, when Tampa Bay scored \u00a0two runs. Lombard was charged with an error that allowed the inning to be extended for Tampa Bay. It allowed Richie Polacios to drive in a run with a single.<\/p>\n Now the Yankees’ backs are against the wall, and they’ll need to try to win two games at home to force the series back to Tropicana Field.<\/p>\n \u201cIt starts one play, one inning at a time,\u201d Boone said. \u201cSo we can’t play like (we did on Monday) \u00a0and expect a win. So we’ve got to come out Wednesday night. Everything’s on the line. It’s obviously all hands on deck, and we’ve got to try and get one and then go from there. So we’re capable of doing it. This team has been really good at picking themselves up all year. \u201c<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n All\u00a0<\/em><\/span>quotations\u00a0obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
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