Will Warren, Yankees sluggish again in ugly loss against Rays to drop second straight series

Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.Whenever trash day comes in The Bronx, the Yankees can toss most of Sunday’s game out to the curb.It was an all-around ugly day in which they struggled to pitch, catch or, until late, hit the ball.

And even when they did, some questionable decisions caused an eighth-inning rally and comeback attempt to fizzle just short.Will Warren turned in another slog of a start, but he did not get much help behind him or from his lineup until it was too late as the Yankees dropped a second straight series with a 7-5 loss to the Rays on a dreary day at the Stadium.The Yankees (19-15) have lost four of their past six against the Orioles and Rays (16-18), with their rotation outside of Max Fried and Carlos Rodón proving ineffective too often.That was the case again on Sunday with Warren, who got tagged for five runs (three earned) on seven hits and three walks across 4 ²/₃ innings.He struck out a career-high eight, but that served as little consolation on a day when his ERA grew to 5.65 and he failed to complete five innings for the fourth time in seven starts.Yankees bats, meanwhile, were held in check early by right-hander Taj Bradley.

Cody Bellinger broke up the shutout in the sixth inning with a two-run shot, his 200th career home run, to make it a 5-2 game.Then in the eighth, trailing 7-2, the Yankees mounted a rally with their first four batters reaching against the Rays bullpen.It was 7-3 with the bases loaded and no outs when J.C.

Escarra hit for himself — with Austin Wells and Ben Rice on the bench — and grounded into a 1-2-3 double play.Jorbit Vivas came up next and recorded the first hit of his big league career, a two-run single that cut the deficit to 7-5.Rice then pinch hit for Oswaldo Cabrera and worked a four-pitch walk, but Oswald Peraza grounded out to end the threat.Aaron Boone could not pinch hit Wells for Per...