Yankees spoil Taj Bradley’s season debut, shut out Rays
ST. PETERSBURG — Taj Bradley was worth the wait.
The Rays’ young right-hander made his season debut after missing the first six weeks on the injured list and threw six strong innings Friday night. The Tampa Bay offense, however, made Bradley wait for his first win of 2024.
Clarke Schmidt and the Yankees bullpen handed the Rays a 2-0 loss, the first time this season Tampa Bay has been shut out.
“Both pitchers threw a heck of a ball game,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “I couldn’t be more pleased with the way Taj threw the ball. He gave us every opportunity and, unfortunately, Clarke Schmidt was really, really good; cutting it, sweeping it and just working balls away from righties and in on the lefties.”
The Rays (19-20) were shut out for the first time by the Yankees (26-14) since June 14, 2022.
Bradley went six innings, holding the Yankees to a run on four hits. He struck out seven with two walks, both of the latter issued to New York slugger Aaron Judge.
“He’s aggressive. He’s got a great arm,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Bradley. “He’s got really good stuff. I thought we had some good at-bats. We hit some balls on the screws against him but I thought he threw his ball really well.”
Bradley got 11 swings-and-misses, four on his four-seam fastball and three with his cutter. His fastball topped out at 99.2 mph, the second-highest pitch thrown of his career.
He said that wasn’t attributed to the adrenaline of making his first 2024 start; it’s the new mechanics he worked through in the winter and during his rehab.
“It’s like normal now,” Bradley said. “I don’t know, I just kind of learned it and keep everything like even keel; not get too excited and not get too lax or anything like that. Like even with runners on, I just stay even-keeled and get out of situations with no damage.”
The Yankees’ sluggers did no real damage to Bradley, but they did cash in on one of his walks.
With one out in the fourth, Bradley walked Judge. He got Alex Verdugo to strike out, but with two outs Giancarlo Stanton and Anthony Rizzo singled to give New York a 1-0 lead.
Bradley’s season debut was delayed by a rare neck/shoulder-area injury when he suffered a strained pectoral muscle in spring training. As a rookie, Bradley went 5-8 with a 5.93 ERA in 23 appearances, 21 starts. He struck out 129 in 104 ⅔ innings.
That’s a solid addition to a rotation that has been decimated by injuries this season; the Rays are without Shane McClanahan for the year and not expecting Jeffrey Springs, Drew Rasmussen or Shane Baz until midseason.
The Rays, however, have been holding their own pitching. It’s been the offense that needs the infusion. They got two boosts last weekend with Jonny DeLuca and Josh Lowe coming back from the injured list, which just happened to coincide with the Rays starting a five-game winning streak.
But up against the good pitching of the White Sox’s Chris Flexen on Wednesday and Schmidt on Friday, they struggled again.
For the third time this season they did not have an extra-base hit. They ran into three outs on the bases when Jose Caballero was thrown out trying to steal third, Isaac Paredes tried to take second and Randy Arozarena was picked off first.
With Yankees closer Clay Holmes struggling to find the strike zone, they loaded the bases in the ninth with two walks and a pinch-hit single from Austin Shenton, but still could not get a run across.
Rays hitters struck out 11 times and went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position. They left six base runners stranded.
Schmidt scattered five hits, walked two and struck out six over 6 ⅔ innings.
“It seems like he was making the adjustment for us and we weren’t making the adjustment against him,” Paredes said of Schmidt. “And it just seemed like today just went his way.”
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