Rays' tactic to complete sweep over Yankees was particularly embarrassing

It's official. Any goodwill the New York Yankees had earned from their hot 7-1 start has officially evaporated. The club has dropped five straight games, culminating in a sweep at the hands of the division-rival Tampa Bay Rays.

Tampa was extra frisky in the three-game set, bunting their way to victory and being a general pest in the only way that they can. While they usually hold the title for the most annoying club in baseball, the way they closed out the series victory against New York was a serious poke in the eye.

The Rays jumped out to an early 3-0 lead against Cam Schlittler, with the first two strikes coming via RBI groundouts in typical Tampa small-ball fashion. Schlittler would settle down and didn't allow a run past the second inning, though the Yankees' offense was helpless against Drew Rasmussen.

Fast forward to the top of the ninth, the Yankees were down 5-2 but had started to rise from their slumber. Ben Rice led off the inning with a single, setting Aaron Judge up to cut the deficit to one after his two-run blast to right-center. It was a positive sign for the Yankee captain, and perhaps foreshadowed a breakout from his early-season malaise.

Now just a one-run deficit, the moment meant more than just coming back to win one game. It meant standing up to this early adversity and making a statement. However, a Cody Bellinger strikeout followed by a Jazz Chisholm Jr. groundout put the Yankees in a bind. Down to their last out, everyone's favorite sparkplug, Amed Rosario, doubled, setting up the moment to roar back and tie the game as Austin Wells stepped to the dish.

The Rays had a counter. They intentionally walked the slumping Yankees catcher to face one of the worst hitters in baseball, Ryan McMahon, who weakly rolled over a changeup to first to end the game.

Rays' decision confirms that Ryan McMahon has become an automatic out for the Yankees

The move to walk Wells to face McMahon wasn't a product of a more favorable matchup or avoiding a hot hitter. Instead, it was a signal of just how bad McMahon has become. The bottom of the Yankees' order, a group that includes Wells, has been horrendous to start the season. Taking it a step further, every Yankees regular with the exception of Ben Rice and Giancarlo Stanton has been a letdown.

Wells has drawn some specialized criticism in that his struggles, a .154/.267/.256 line, aren't tied to an adjustment like McMahon or potentially being put in a situation outside of his capabilities, as might be the case with acting-starting-shortstop Jose Caballero. Instead, the 26-year-old catcher has left his Team DR magic back on the World Baseball Classic stage and is simply struggling to perform.

That made it even more pointed when the Rays chose to face McMahon over Wells despite the fact that walking him put the go-ahead run on base.

You can't blame them for the decision, though. Wells has been bad, but McMahon, even with a hit earlier in the day, has become such a black hole that it feels like there's no coming back for him in pinstripes.

The Yankees can't continue this way. They can't have half their lineup be unproductive and still have one guy who is such a non-factor that opposing teams will go out of their way to face him over the other slumping bats. If they don't make a change soon, McMahon will ensure that they continue to get embarrassed.