Bronx Bombers Obliterate Rays in Historic Nine-Homer Hurricane
Published on: August 20, 2025
The air in the Bronx crackled with an almost palpable electricity Tuesday night. It wasn't just the humidity clinging to the late summer air; it was the anticipation, the pregnant pause before a storm. And boy, did it storm. The New York Yankees, in a display of raw, unadulterated power, unleashed a nine-homer hurricane on the hapless Tampa Bay Rays, leaving them shipwrecked and adrift in a 13-3 drubbing. Forget fireworks night, this was a full-blown pyrotechnic apocalypse.
The Rays, weary from a West Coast swing, stumbled back into the AL East cauldron hoping for a reprieve, a chance to claw back into the wild-card race. Instead, they were greeted by a firing squad of Yankee sluggers, each eager to add their signature to the historic bombardment. Even a bizarre hour-and-55-minute train delay before the game couldn’t cool the Bronx Bombers’ explosive potential.
The onslaught started early. Poor Shane Baz, the Rays’ starting pitcher, barely had time to settle on the mound before the Yankees began teeing off. Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, and Giancarlo Stanton, a Murderers’ Row resurrected for the modern era, greeted Baz with back-to-back-to-back home runs in the first inning. A feat so rare, so statistically improbable, it sent tremors through the baseball world. Baz, unfortunately, became the answer to a trivia question no pitcher wants to be associated with: the first since 1974 to surrender three first-inning dingers while also striking out three of his first six batters. Talk about a mixed bag.
Baz, bless his heart, tried to maintain a semblance of composure after the game. "I just left some pitches over the middle of the plate against a good team," he lamented, a classic understatement if there ever was one. This wasn't just a “good team” having a good night; this was a historic offensive explosion, a testament to the Yankees' resurrected power and the Rays’ pitching woes. For Baz, this marked the second time this season he'd served up nine runs, a grim statistic that underscores his recent struggles. He’s now 0-7 with a bloated 6.85 ERA over the last two months, a stark contrast to the promising 8-3 start he enjoyed earlier in the year.
The young right-hander could only last three innings, surrendering six runs before being mercifully pulled. Adding insult to injury, former teammate Jose Caballero and Jazz Chisholm also joined the home run party at Baz's expense, the latter with a two-run shot in the third. The Rays’ playoff hopes, already flickering dimly, seemed to dim even further with each crack of the bat.
But the Yankee barrage wasn't a one-man show, or even a three-man show. This was a full-team effort, a symphony of destruction orchestrated by a lineup that, on this night, looked utterly unstoppable. Rookie Ian Seymour, who had been a bright spot for the Rays since his July call-up, became the next victim. He served up home runs to Stanton and Ben Rice in the fourth, followed by another to Bellinger in the sixth. The Yankees were hitting them high, they were hitting them deep, they were hitting them often. It was a hitting clinic disguised as a baseball game.
The coup de grace came in the ninth inning, courtesy of Caballero. The young infielder, who had just two home runs to his name prior to Tuesday night’s fireworks display, launched the ninth and final homer of the game, a punctuation mark on a sentence of pure baseball dominance. "It's special to come to a place that I've been playing for a couple of seasons and have this kind of performance,” Caballero remarked after the game, a sentiment surely shared by every Yankee fan in attendance.
For the Rays, this loss was a gut punch. They now sit at a dismal 61-65, a full 12.5 games behind the division-leading Toronto Blue Jays and 7.5 games back of the Yankees. Even the final wild-card spot, currently a tie between Boston and Seattle, seems a distant 6.5 games away. The road back to October baseball looks increasingly treacherous, a winding mountain pass with few guardrails and a sheer drop-off on either side.
Despite the demoralizing defeat, the Rays have a chance to salvage some pride, and perhaps reignite a flicker of hope, in the series finale. Ace Drew Rasmussen (10-5, 2.60 ERA) takes the mound Wednesday night, offering a glimmer of optimism against the Yankee onslaught. The Bombers will counter with rookie Cam Schlittler (1-2, 3.94 ERA), setting the stage for what promises to be a compelling matchup.
But regardless of the outcome of Wednesday’s game, Tuesday night’s historic performance will be etched in the annals of baseball lore. The nine-homer hurricane that ripped through the Bronx served as a stark reminder of the Yankees' offensive potential, a potent force capable of overwhelming even the most resilient of opponents. For the Rays, it was a night to forget, a brutal reminder of the uphill battle they face in a season slipping steadily from their grasp. The baseball gods, it seems, were wearing pinstripes on Tuesday night.
The Rays, weary from a West Coast swing, stumbled back into the AL East cauldron hoping for a reprieve, a chance to claw back into the wild-card race. Instead, they were greeted by a firing squad of Yankee sluggers, each eager to add their signature to the historic bombardment. Even a bizarre hour-and-55-minute train delay before the game couldn’t cool the Bronx Bombers’ explosive potential.
The onslaught started early. Poor Shane Baz, the Rays’ starting pitcher, barely had time to settle on the mound before the Yankees began teeing off. Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, and Giancarlo Stanton, a Murderers’ Row resurrected for the modern era, greeted Baz with back-to-back-to-back home runs in the first inning. A feat so rare, so statistically improbable, it sent tremors through the baseball world. Baz, unfortunately, became the answer to a trivia question no pitcher wants to be associated with: the first since 1974 to surrender three first-inning dingers while also striking out three of his first six batters. Talk about a mixed bag.
Baz, bless his heart, tried to maintain a semblance of composure after the game. "I just left some pitches over the middle of the plate against a good team," he lamented, a classic understatement if there ever was one. This wasn't just a “good team” having a good night; this was a historic offensive explosion, a testament to the Yankees' resurrected power and the Rays’ pitching woes. For Baz, this marked the second time this season he'd served up nine runs, a grim statistic that underscores his recent struggles. He’s now 0-7 with a bloated 6.85 ERA over the last two months, a stark contrast to the promising 8-3 start he enjoyed earlier in the year.
The young right-hander could only last three innings, surrendering six runs before being mercifully pulled. Adding insult to injury, former teammate Jose Caballero and Jazz Chisholm also joined the home run party at Baz's expense, the latter with a two-run shot in the third. The Rays’ playoff hopes, already flickering dimly, seemed to dim even further with each crack of the bat.
But the Yankee barrage wasn't a one-man show, or even a three-man show. This was a full-team effort, a symphony of destruction orchestrated by a lineup that, on this night, looked utterly unstoppable. Rookie Ian Seymour, who had been a bright spot for the Rays since his July call-up, became the next victim. He served up home runs to Stanton and Ben Rice in the fourth, followed by another to Bellinger in the sixth. The Yankees were hitting them high, they were hitting them deep, they were hitting them often. It was a hitting clinic disguised as a baseball game.
The coup de grace came in the ninth inning, courtesy of Caballero. The young infielder, who had just two home runs to his name prior to Tuesday night’s fireworks display, launched the ninth and final homer of the game, a punctuation mark on a sentence of pure baseball dominance. "It's special to come to a place that I've been playing for a couple of seasons and have this kind of performance,” Caballero remarked after the game, a sentiment surely shared by every Yankee fan in attendance.
For the Rays, this loss was a gut punch. They now sit at a dismal 61-65, a full 12.5 games behind the division-leading Toronto Blue Jays and 7.5 games back of the Yankees. Even the final wild-card spot, currently a tie between Boston and Seattle, seems a distant 6.5 games away. The road back to October baseball looks increasingly treacherous, a winding mountain pass with few guardrails and a sheer drop-off on either side.
Despite the demoralizing defeat, the Rays have a chance to salvage some pride, and perhaps reignite a flicker of hope, in the series finale. Ace Drew Rasmussen (10-5, 2.60 ERA) takes the mound Wednesday night, offering a glimmer of optimism against the Yankee onslaught. The Bombers will counter with rookie Cam Schlittler (1-2, 3.94 ERA), setting the stage for what promises to be a compelling matchup.
But regardless of the outcome of Wednesday’s game, Tuesday night’s historic performance will be etched in the annals of baseball lore. The nine-homer hurricane that ripped through the Bronx served as a stark reminder of the Yankees' offensive potential, a potent force capable of overwhelming even the most resilient of opponents. For the Rays, it was a night to forget, a brutal reminder of the uphill battle they face in a season slipping steadily from their grasp. The baseball gods, it seems, were wearing pinstripes on Tuesday night.
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