The New York Yankees’ spiral continued with a 3-0 loss against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, on Wednesday night.
With the defeat, the Yankees fell to 50-42 on the season. They are now five games back of the Rays for first place in the American League East.
It wasn’t an ordinary loss, either. During the game, manager Aaron Boone and bench coach Brad Ausmus were both ejected by home-plate umpire Doug Eddings in the sixth inning.
New York Yankees’ Aaron Boone On Ejection From Rays Loss
GettyBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 28: Manager of the New York Yankees Aaron Boone argues with home plate umpire Adam Hamari after ejecting Jazz Chisholm Jr. #13 in the sixth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on June 28, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jaiden Tripi/Getty Images)
Eddings appeared to throw out Ausmus first after a double play where Paul Goldschmidt struck out against left-hander Shane McClanahan and José Caballero got thrown out at second base.
Boone then came out of the dugout and was also ejected. Boone wanted to challenge the out call on Caballero’s stolen base attempt, but the umpires allegedly didn’t give the manager enough time to do so.
Boone spoke with the media, including the YES Network, after the game.
“Just need to allow the challenge to go through. I thought we were on time,” Boone said postgame. “I didn’t even look to know. But I should’ve kept myself in the game there. That’s not a good time to go out there and get personal with it just based on some things with this crew. I have to do a better job in that spot of staying in the game.”
“I wasn’t sure who he threw out. But once it’s Brad thrown out, I have to stay in the game. I didn’t realize.”
Jonathan Aranda got the scoring started for the Rays on Wednesday with an RBI single in the third inning. Aranda also drove in the rest of Tampa Bay’s runs, hitting an RBI double in the fifth inning and a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning.
New York Yankees Right Now
It’s no secret that the Yankees are struggling right now. They have lost 11 of their last 13 games.
The main issue for New York during its recent skid has been the lack of offensive production. In 12 games from June 25 through last Tuesday, the Yankees’ offense hit just .164/.220/.295 with a 30.9% strikeout rate.
New York’s loss on Wednesday displayed how much the offense has been struggling lately. Right-hander Gerrit Cole had a solid start, allowing three earned runs with six strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings, but the offense was no help, collecting just six hits en route to being shut out by Tampa Bay.
The Yankees aim to split the four-game series against the Rays on Thursday. The game will begin at 1:10 p.m. EST. The Yankees’ starter is listed as TBD, while right-hander Drew Rasmussen is slated to start for the Rays. Fans can watch the game on the YES Network and Rays.TV.
New York Yankees’ Aaron Boone Breaks Silence On Ejection After Rays Loss