Taj Bradley pitched seven innings of one-hit baseball to extend his unbeaten streak to seven starts. Randy Arozarena hit two of Tampa Bay’s four home runs as they cruised to a 9-1 win over the New York Yankees on Saturday.
“Right now, he’s dominating,” Rays manager Kevin Cash commented on Bradley’s performance.
Alex Jackson, Isaac Paredes, and Arozarena all homered off Nestor Cortes, and Arozarena added another home run against Josh Maciejewski, marking his seventh game with multiple home runs.
Arozarena matched his career-best with four hits, while Curtis Mead, making his return to the majors for the first time since May 3, contributed three hits including a double that put the Rays ahead in the third inning.
Bradley, now 5-4 for the season, allowed just one hit, a double by Ben Rice in the first inning. The 23-year-old right-hander has been outstanding lately, boasting a remarkable 0.92 ERA over his last eight starts. Since June 8, Bradley has led all major league pitchers with at least 30 innings pitched in ERA, surpassing Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes who has a 1.14 ERA.
“His cutter had different movement all day,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone noted. “He mixed speeds well, and threw a good splitter. He gave us a variety of looks and kept us off balance, preventing us from making solid contact.”
Since a tough outing where he gave up nine runs against Baltimore on June 1, Bradley has significantly lowered his season ERA from 5.81 to 2.63. With his fastball reaching speeds over 100 mph, Bradley delivered his third shutout performance in four starts, striking out five batters and walking two in his debut at Yankee Stadium.
“It was exciting. Even in warmups, I was getting some good-natured ribbing,” Bradley shared.
The Yankees’ struggles continued as Juan Soto scored on Jahmai Jones’ ninth-inning groundout, leaving them with a 9-19 record after starting the season 50-22.
Cortes, who is now 4-9 for the season, has not won in his last five starts, allowing six runs, eight hits, and two walks in 4 1/3 innings. His performance has been significantly better at home with a 4-4 record and a 2.48 ERA compared to his struggles on the road where he is 0-5 with a 6.04 ERA.
“It’s challenging to pitch in the majors when you’re not at your best,” Cortes acknowledged. “We need to improve, starting with myself.”
