Another non-Fried starter struggles, 2 Yanks hit milestones in loss

NEW YORK – It seemed appropriate that Gerrit Cole was on hand to observe Sunday’s action from the dugout at Yankee Stadium, marking one of the ace’s first in-uniform appearances since Opening Day. While Max Fried has been excellent, the ripple effect of the Yankees’ pitching losses are noticeable at the back of the rotation.

Will Warren was knocked for five runs (three earned) in 4 2/3 innings as the Yankees fell to the Rays, 7-5, dropping their second consecutive series – both to American League East rivals, following a pair of losses in Baltimore earlier this week. The Yankees are a perfect 7-0 in Fried’s outings, but 12-15 when anyone else starts.

Despite that early deficit, the Yankees clawed back. Cody Bellinger connected for his 200th career homer, a two-run shot in the sixth inning, while Jorbit Vivas collected his first Major League hit -- a two-run single -- in a three-run eighth.

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“This team, we battle with the best of them,” Aaron Judge said. “Even if we get down early, we’ve got faith in everybody in this lineup, up and down. We know what we’re capable of doing. We were able to rally there the last couple of innings. We gave ourselves a chance.”

The hole was ultimately too much to dig out from. The 25-year-old Warren showed off his swing-and-miss arsenal by striking out a career-high eight, accompanied by the uneven results that have produced a 5.65 ERA through seven starts.

Jonathan Aranda hit a third-inning homer as part of a three-RBI performance, and Brandon Lowe stroked a two-run single to highlight the attack against Warren, who scattered seven hits and walked three in a 102-pitch effort (62 strikes).

Manager Aaron Boone said Warren was “singled to death,” and he wasn’t alone -- in all, the Rays collected 16 hits Sunday, matching their season high.

“I feel like the whole day was a little up and down,” Warren said. “They hit the ball where we weren’t, and then I think I had three free passes. They were taking advantage of every little thing we gave them.”

The Yanks’ pitching depth has been impacted not only by Cole’s season-ending injury, but subsequent losses of Luis Gil and Marcus Stroman. As such, the Bombers unexpectedly opened the season with both Warren and Carlos Carrasco in the rotation.

The 38-year-old Carrasco tossed three innings in relief Sunday, displaced from the rotation when Clarke Schmidt was shifted to pitch Tuesday against the Padres.

Milestone moments
Bellinger’s blast off Taj Bradley made him the 30th player to collect his 200th home run as a Yankee, and the first since Juan Soto last Sept. 17 at Seattle.

“I think that is definitely pretty cool,” said Bellinger. “You never know, as a kid, what you can do. So I’ve just got to keep going.”

Bellinger said he swapped a selection of autographed items for the baseball, which he plans to add to his personal collection.

“I’ll just put it with the rest, and hopefully keep hitting some more,” Bellinger said.

Meanwhile, Vivas notched his first hit in his fifth Major League at-bat, a clean knock to center field off Edwin Uceta. Vivas is expected to receive significant playing time at second base with Jazz Chisholm Jr. (right oblique) on the injured list. Judge said Vivas has shown “electric at-bats” thus far.

“Every swing, I feel like he’s trying to take it out to the bleachers,” Judge said, “but he’ll take his walk when he needs to. He can hit it to the opposite field with the best of them. So it’s just been impressive to see him.”

Decisions, decisions
The Yankees closed the deficit in the eighth. Judge ripped a leadoff double off Mason Englert, extending his hitting streak to 14 games and his on-base streak to 30 games, and Bellinger walked ahead of Paul Goldschmidt’s run-scoring single.

Jasson Domínguez greeted Edwin Uceta with a single off the right-field wall, loading the bases with none out. Boone allowed backup catcher J.C. Escarra to bat in the pivotal spot, and he grounded into a double play.

Boone explained that he was deciding between using Ben Rice to pinch-hit for Escarra or Vivas, deciding to allow Escarra to hit because: “I’m just going to take the guy that’s been here and [is] more experienced.”

According to Fangraphs, Escarra’s double play dropped the Yanks’ win expectancy from 24.3 percent to 5.7 percent. Once that happened, Boone said Vivas batted because he no longer represented the tying run.

Vivas’ two-run single changed the equation, and Rice then worked a walk in place of Oswaldo Cabrera before Oswald Peraza hit into an inning-ending fielder’s choice.

With shortstop Anthony Volpe (left shoulder) unavailable, Boone said he did not want to use both Rice and Austin Wells as pinch-hitters. Wells entered to catch the ninth inning anyway, with Escarra making his first Major League appearance at third base.

“They held us down pretty well this series,” Boone said. “I liked the way we battled today to work our way back in, just being really short today. But obviously, a tough series where they were able to hold us down enough.”