New York Yankees’ title drought continues
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NEW YORK -- Max Fried gave up two home runs, the New York Yankees had one taken off the board by fan interference and then their season ended Wednesday night with a whimper.
After Anthony Volpe's would-be tying homer in the bottom of the sixth inning turned into a double on video review, the Yankees did not get a runner past second base. When leadoff hitter Trent Grisham struck out to end the ninth, it capped a 4-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 3 of the AL Division Series and a series sweep that extended the Yankees' championship drought to 17 years.
"Disappointment," Game 3 starter Max Fried said. "It's not the way that we wanted it to end, not up to what we were expecting."
After sweeping Boston in the Wild Card Series, New York never led against the Rays and has not advanced past a higher-seeded team in the postseason since 2020.
Asked to explain why the past two seasons ended without being able to get over the hump, likely AL Cy Young winner Cam Schlittler called it a great question and responded, "I don't really have an answer."
Without injured slugger Aaron Judge, the Yankees were one-hit and shut out in the opener, when catcher Austin Wells' baserunning blunder loomed large. Game 2 included four errors to get pushed to the brink of elimination.
The Yankees didn't go quietly -- at least initially. When Fried gave up a run apiece in the third and fourth innings, the bats responded each time to tie the score.
Victor Mesa Jr. crushed Fried's 80th and final pitch for a go-ahead, two-run home run that was far from a short-porch homer like Ryan Vilade's earlier.
"It's just as simple as I threw a bad pitch," Fried said. "I left it up and the guy hit a home run, which was two runs and it put it out of reach. … We played a really sound game and did enough win, and unfortunately I didn't do enough to be able to kind of hold up my end of the bargain."