Yankees Lose Game to the Rays, and Much More

Thursday was a day to forget for the Yankees.

Before a game against the rival Tampa Bay Rays, Zack Britton, a key reliever, became the 10th Yankee to spend time on the injured list this season. Then shortstop Gleyber Torres exited the game early with a tight left hamstring. After the game, Yankees Manager Aaron Boone revealed that Torres wasn’t the only one who would undergo a magnetic resonance imaging examination. James Paxton, that day’s starter, would join him because of discomfort in his forearm and elbow, a red flag for a pitcher.

The game itself was more of the same for the Yankees (16-9) against the Rays (17-9) this season: a 10-5 loss in which the Rays improved to 6-1 against them and moved half a game ahead to seize first place in the American League East. And soon after the final out, Major League Baseball announced that the Yankees’ game at Citi Field on Friday was postponed because of two positive coronavirus cases on the Mets.

“Adversity, we know, is inevitable and it’s going to come in different ways and unexpected ways,” Boone said of all of the injuries, but he might as well have been describing the entire season being staged amid a pandemic. “And certainly in 2020, it’s been a lot of unexpected ways.”

Thanks to their depth and deep pockets, the Yankees overcame a major-league-record 30 players spending time on the injured list last season to win 103 regular-season games and reach the American League Championship Series. Although the impact of an overhauled health and performance staff takes time to manifest itself, the Yankees’ injury trend has continued into this abbreviated 60-game season, and at a higher rate.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/20/sports/baseball/yankees-rays-james-paxton-gleyber-torres.html