Today on Pinstripe Alley - 9/9/22

“Annoying” is really the perfect word to describe last night’s Yankees loss. It’s annoying that the offense couldn’t muster more than three runs. It’s annoying that the Yankees stranded runners in scoring position in both the eighth and ninth. It’s annoying that Greg Weissert hung that slider to Carlos Corres. It’s annoying that Nick Gordon’s 75.2-mph squibber found a hole. And it’s annoying that bad calls went against both Wandy Peralta and Gleyber Torres in key situations. It was all a perfect recipe for — you guessed it — an annoying loss that could’ve been a sweep. Now, the Yankees only have a 4.5-game over the surging Rays entering this crucial weekend matchup at Yankee Stadium. Sigh.

Today on the site, I’ll have the latest edition in following Aaron Judge’s home run pace while Peter handles the Rivalry Roundup and Matt previews the weekend series against the Rays. Later on, Jeff will research an interesting aspect of Gerrit Cole’s 14-K night, Matt will return to remember a particularly inept period of offense in Yankees (well, Highlanders) history, and Madison will answer your mailbag questions.

Today’s Matchup

New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Rays

Time: 7:05 p.m. ET

TV: Amazon Prime Video, Bally Sports Sun

Radio: 1280 WADO, 660/101.9 FM WFAN

Venue: Yankee Stadium

Fun Questions:

1. Who do you most blame for the loss last night: the players, the manager, or the umpires?

2. Who finishes the season with the worst record in baseball?