When the Yankees took the field tonight, the feeling was assuredly at once familiar and foreign. That’s because, for the first time, they played a regular-season game at George M. Steinbrenner Field, the team’s spring training facility and the usual regular-season home of the club’s Low-A Tampa Tarpons. Due to the damage that Hurricane Milton wreaked on Tropicana Field this offseason, the field has been refashioned as the home ballpark of the Tampa Bay Rays for the 2025 campaign.
In what turned into a battle of the bullpens before too long, the Yankees prevailed despite getting just five outs from rookie starter Will Warren. The offense got the hits they needed—including four from Ben Rice alone—and yeoman’s work from long man Ryan Yarbrough, winner Tim Hill, slambio king Ian Hamilton, and closer Devin Williams led the way in a 6-3 triumph.
The Yankees came out swinging in the first, stringing together three singles and pushing across a run before Tampa starter Taj Bradley could record an out.
The strong start validated manager Aaron Boone’s decision to slot Paul Goldschmidt and Rice in the first two spots in the batting order and move Aaron Judge to third, something he had only done this season when facing a lefty. The right-handed Bradley avoided the big inning, though, getting Cody Bellinger to ground out before punching out Anthony Volpe and ending the inning on a popup off the bat of Jazz Chisholm Jr.
The Rays started their half of the inning with a pair of singles of their own. But the second one ended in an assist, as Judge fired a perfect throw from right to nab Kameron Misner as he attempted to advance to third, a critical blow to a nascent rally.
Starter Will Warren was buoyed by the play, expressing his excitement on the field before retiring the next two Rays to end the inning. The rookie hurler ran into trouble again in the second, though, allowing hits to Richie Palacios and Jake Mangum before walking former Yankees backstop Ben Rortvedt to load the bases with one out.
This all set up a showdown with Taylor Walls, who took two strikes before working the count even at 2-2. After fouling off four straight pitches, the Rays’ nine-hole hitter lofted a fly ball to left that was deep enough to score Palacios and draw the score even. After walking Misner to load the bases once more, Boone had seen enough, pulling Warren after just 53 pitches and five outs.
On came Yarbrough, the former Rays swingman, to face fellow lefty Brandon Lowe. After working the count full, Yarbrough spun a nasty sweeper across the plate, striking out Lowe to keep the score knotted at one.
But after Jonathan Aranda singled in the bottom of the third, Junior Caminero hit an opposite-field homer to stake the Rays to a two-run lead.
Yarbrough then allowed a pair of singles and a walk to load up the bases for Walls. After pulling Warren in the second, Boone had little choice but to stick with the veteran, one of the few multi-inning relievers available to him. After a visit from pitching coach Matt Blake, Walls grounded into the pitcher’s best friend, a double play that ended the inning and kept the Yankees in the game.
Bradley settled in after the first until running into more trouble in the fifth. Oswaldo Cabrera struck the first blow, driving a high, 1-2 fastball deep to right center for his first homer of the year.
After Goldschmidt followed with a base hit, Rice yanked a double down the right-field line and Judge walked to load the bases for Bellinger with one out. The center fielder hit a grounder too weakly for the Rays to turn two, as Goldschmidt came around to tie the score on the fielder’s choice.
After allowing two more hits in the fifth, Yarbrough was pulled for his fellow southpaw Hill. He allowed another single to load the bases, but he then struck out pinch-hitter Danny Jansen before inducing a Walls groundout to end the inning.
With Bradley still in the game, the Yankees rallied again in the sixth, parlaying a Chisholm walk, J.C. Escarra base hit, and Jasson Domínguez RBI groundout into a Yankees lead. After walking Cabrera, Bradley’s day was done. Rays reliever Manuel Rodríguez retired Goldschmidt before Rice came to the plate with runners on second and third and two outs. He punched a 1-1 sinker the other way into the gap, scoring both runners and giving the Yankees a 6-3 lead.
After Hill retired the Rays in order, the Yankees looked to add some insurance in the seventh. With one on and one out, Chisholm took a close 2-2 heater that was called a ball. When home plate umpire John Bacon rung him up on the next pitch, another fastball that appeared to be clearly below the zone, the Yankees’ second baseman exploded in a tirade that left Bacon little choice but to toss him from the game.
It was the Yankees’ first ejection of the year and Chisholm’s first since joining the team last season.
Despite this hiccup, the score would remain 6-3 the rest of the way. One of the big reasons was the Yankees bullpen’s bailing out of Warren. After Yarbrough allowed those two runs in the third, he combined with Hill, Hamilton, and Williams to pitch 5.2 scoreless innings. Yarbrough ended up throwing 56 pitches in relief while Hill and Hamilton each reached 20, working efficiently to bridge the gap to Williams. For his part, after some harrowing appearances to start the season, Williams put in his fourth consecutive smooth outing by retiring the Rays in order in the ninth. That secured a messy-but-encouraging win, the Yankees’ fourth in a row.
The Yankees and Rays will continue the series tomorrow, with Carlos Rodón lined up to start for the Bombers. The Rays will give the ball to Drew Rasmussen, who’s allowed just one run in 15 innings across three starts this season. The game, which will air on YES, is scheduled to start at 7:05pm ET.
