Rays endure humiliating loss but maintain lead on Yankees

John Romano, Tampa Bay Times on Jul 9, 2026

Published in Baseball

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Theoretically, this was a win for the Rays.

Not the game, of course. That was an unholy mess.

Drew Rasmussen had the single worst inning of his career, the Rays made 11 outs, including double plays, with runners in scoring position and the Yankees, ultimately, rolled past the Rays, 12-4, before an announced crowd of 18,255 Thursday at Tropicana Field.

No, this was a win in the sense that the Rays emerged from a four-game series against New York with the same four-game lead in the American League East they had when the week began. And that matters, because the Yankees now have four fewer chances to make up ground in the division.

It just didn’t feel that way because of the missed opportunity.

After winning two of the first three games of the series, the Rays had a chance to put some more distance between themselves and the reeling Yankees. Tampa Bay had a two-time All-Star on the mound, while the Yankees were reduced to a bullpen day. The Rays were at home, where they have the best record in the majors, and the Yankees had gone 20 consecutive games without scoring more than five runs.

Slam dunk, right?

Except the Rays were the dunkees.

After taking a 1-0 first-inning lead on Junior Caminero’s 27th home run, the Rays fell apart in the third. Rasmussen, who was second in the American League with an average of 6.5 hits allowed per nine innings, gave up a career-most seven hits in one inning, including the first of Ben Rice’s two home runs on the day. Add in a couple of stolen bases, an error and a perfectly executed hit-and-run, and the Yankees had a 6-1 lead and a sliver of hope for the second half.

The Rays could have started what would have been an unlikely comeback in the bottom of the third when the first three hitters reached base, but Caminero hit into a double play. And even after cutting New York’s lead to 6-3, the Tampa Bay bullpen did not hold up its end of the bargain.

How bad was the afternoon for Rays pitchers?

Of the six pitchers to take the mound for Tampa Bay, infielder Ben Williamson was the only one who did not surrender a run. Williamson retired the Yankees on five pitches in the ninth.

The Rays and Yankees do not meet again until a four-game series in the final week of the regular season.