The New York Yankees lost to the Tampa Bay Rays 6-4 on Tuesday. They dropped to 50-41 and are now 4 games behind Tampa Bay for the lead in the American League East. The Yankees are on a disappointing stretch, going 2-8 in their last 10 matchups.
While the loss stings, some players are taking it harder than others, including first basemanPaul Goldschmidt. The 38-year-old went 0-for-4 at the plate on Tuesday, striking out in each at-bat. While he would have liked to play better against the Rays, the seven-time All-Star is in a major slump.
His last hit was against the Boston Red Sox on June 25. Since June 26, he's gone on a 0-for-30 stretch, according to FanGraphs.
© Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
Tuesday's four-strikeout-game against the Rays marked one of his toughest performances in an already difficult stretch. After the loss, Goldschmidt spoke to reporters and took full responsibility for his struggles at the plate.
“Obviously, the performance tonight especially was terrible,” Goldschmidt said. “I mean, I would like to try to be more positive than that, but you strike out four times, and there was guys on base, just really just a bad performance, and last night was the same. Just haven’t played well this last week plus, and I’m just gonna try to do everything I can to play better tomorrow.”
While his recent performance hasn't been impressive, the 16th-year veteran has been a key piece to the Yankees lineup this season. He has accumulated 31 runs scored, 59 hits, 14 home runs and 41 RBIs in 226 at-bats.
Goldschmidt is also slashing .261/.320/.496. His .816 OPS is the third highest on the team among players with at least 200 at-bats, behind first baseman Ben Rice (.941) and right fielder Aaron Judge (.908).
While the slump lives on, he has the opportunity to turn things around against the Rays on Wednesday. It is Game 3 in a four-game series with first pitch scheduled for 6:40 p.m. ET at Tropicana Field.
