I said in the game thread that today’s lineup and scheduled pitchers were clearly designed to take the load off the Yankees’ big guns, with real baseball approaching and star players being hurt all over spring training. That strategy is not commutable to winning very often, and the Yankees are lucky this game didn’t matter, because the Tampa Bay Rays exploded for 11 runs off a mostly minor-league pitching staff.
I listened to the Rays’ radio feed for most of the game rather than watching it, Sunday errands and all. The commentators remarked in the early innings that the Rays were looking to generate more contact, have better baserunners and not rely so much on the home run in 2018.