TAMPA — With the Yankees playing at their spring training home on Thursday, their starter gave them a spring training-length performance.
Will Warren lasted just 1.2 innings in the Bombers’ first major league game at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Still the Yankees’ beat their tenants, the Rays, 6-3, in front of what felt like and was expected to be a home crowd.
With the Yankees up 1-0 thanks to an Aaron Judge RBI single in the first frame, Warren’s night went off the rails in the second. Richie Palacios was the first base runner of the inning, as he reached on a one-out double.
Jake Magnum then reached on a single that Warren fielded, but Paul Goldschmidt didn’t cover first base. Following a walk, Taylor Walls tied the game with a sac fly. Kameron Misner then walked.
With Warren at 58 pitches overall and 38 in the inning, Aaron Boone called on Ryan Yarbrough, who escaped a bases-loaded jam with a strikeout.
“That was more about a pitch count thing with a young pitcher,” Boone said of Warren’s quick hook. “I wasn’t gonna let him go throw 40, 40-plus pitches in an inning.”
The Rays got to Yarbrough, a former employee, in the third inning when Junior Caminero launched a two-run homer. But an Oswaldo Cabrera solo shot put the Yankees down one in the fifth before a force out off the bat of Cody Bellinger tied the game at three.
Another force out, this time off the bat of Jasson Domínguez, gave the Yankees the lead in the sixth. Then Ben Rice ripped a two-run single for his fourth hit of the night.
“It feels good here,” Rice said of hitting at GMS. “A little weird being on the visiting side today, but I’m just glad we were able to come out with a win.”
The reality is Rice has been hitting everywhere, as his average is now up .317. He’s also got a 1.064 OPS.
“Just more raking,” Boone said. “He can really hit. He’s obviously putting together great at-bats. There’s patience within there. And when he’s getting into some leverage counts, he’s obviously doing a lot of damage.”
The Yankees never looked back in their comeback effort, though they weren’t all smiles toward the end of their victory.
Jazz Chisholm Jr., in particular, became irate when home plate umpire John Bacon rung him up on a low 3-2 pitch in the seventh inning. Boone tried to intervene, but a furious Chisholm earned an ejection.
Once in the Yankees’ clubhouse, Chisholm kept arguing via social media.
“Not even f–king close,” he tweeted. While Chisholm had a point, his use of social media during a game appeared to be in violation of MLB policy. A source told the Daily News the league is looking into the matter, but that didn’t bother Chisholm.
“I don’t care,” he said. “I did what I did. I can live up to my responsibilities. It doesn’t matter to me.”
With the Yankees winning their return to GMS, they’ll look to take a two-game lead in the four-game series with Carlos Rodón on the mound Friday. Drew Rasmussen will take the ball for Tampa Bay as Boone hopes for another friendly crowd — and a better vantage point from the visiting dugout.
“I don’t like my view from the dugout,” Boone said of Thursday’s odd experience. “My spot kind of sucks actually. But it was a great environment. I mean, obviously a ton of Yankee fans, so it felt noisy and exciting, especially when we were coming back and building a little bit.”
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