Yankees Recap: Another Strong Performance for Adam Warren in Loss to Rays

With Opening Day just over a week away, Adam Warren got another chance to display his starting rotation credentials as the Yankees took on the Rays in Port St. Lucy, Florida. Despite the team losing 6-5 to their American League East foes, Warren looked very impressive.

Warren started things off in the bottom of the first with a 1-2-3 inning, getting David DeJesus to pop out, Brandon Guyer to strike out and Asdrubal Cabrera to ground out weakly in the infield.

The Yankees would tack on a run in the top of the second inning on a one out double by Slade Heathcott that plated Rob Refsnyder.

Entering the bottom frame of the inning with a 1-0 lead, Warren made his only mistake of the day, leaving a 1-1 pitch up and in the zone for Evan Longoria, who smacked a solo shot to center field. Warren rebounded nicely, getting three of the next four batters out, including an inning ending strikeout on three straight pitches to Logan Forsythe.

The Rays would call upon Grant Balfour in the top of the third, who got Didi Gregorius to strike out swinging, Brendan Ryan to line out and Chris Young to pop out in consecutive order for a 1-2-3 inning.

Adam Warren took the mound in the third right where he left off, getting Curt Casali to strike out on three consecutive pitches and popping out David DeJesus. He ran into a little bit of trouble, giving up a two out double to Brandon Guyer followed by a two out walk to Asdrubal Cabrera, but was able to escape the inning by getting Evan Longoria out on a hard hit line drive out to center fielder Chris Young.

In the fourth inning, the Yankees bats came alive. With two outs and two men on, Yankees prospect Ramon Flores laced a line drive double that scored J.R. Murphy and Salde Heathcott, giving the Yankees a 3-1 lead.

Adam Warren took the hill in the fourth inning and immediately gave up a single to James Loney, but settled in shortly after, getting both Desmond Jennings and Kevin Kiermaier to fan on strikes and upping his total to five strikeouts on the day.

With two outs and one man, Girardi turned to the bullpen, calling upon pitching prospect Jose Ramirez to take over for Adam Warren. Ramirez quickly ended the inning by getting the first batter he faced to fly out to left field.

However, Ramirez would struggle in the bottom of the fifth, where he gave up a single, a walk, and consecutive RBI singles that would tie the game up at three before ending the inning with consecutive line outs.

Chris Martin would come on to pitch in the bottom of the sixth and gave up a solo home run to the first batter he faced in Desmond Jennings, giving the Rays a 4-3 lead. Kevin Kiermaier singled as the next better, and stole both second and third base. With one out and Kiermaier on third, Martin tossed a wild pitch that sailed to the backstop and allowed Kiermaier to score, expanding the Rays lead to 5-3. Martin was able to strike out the next two batters he faced but the damage was already done.

Didi Gregorius doubled in a run in the top of the seventh to pull the Yankees within one, but the Rays answered back in the bottom half of the inning on a Jake Elmore sacrifice fly.

The Yankees made things interesting in the top of the ninth with a Jake Cave RBI, but it wasn’t enough to salvage the victory.

The Yankees are now 13-11 in Spring Training and will be back in action again tomorrow on the road in Clearwater, Florida for a 1:05 pm game v. the Philadelphia Phillies.

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