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Pedro Martínez faults Yankees’ mental mistakes after Game 2 loss

Pedro Martínez praised Tampa Bay’s execution and said New York’s defense let Cam Schlittler down after a 5–2 loss left the Yankees trailing 2–0 in the ALDS.

By The Sporting Page Editorial StaffTSP Original
Editorial composite with Pedro Martínez on the left and Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees player imagery on the right.
Pedro Martínez, left, with Yankees–Rays promotional player imagery on the right. Composite of supplied TNT Sports images, assembled with AI assistance. · Credit: TNT Sports / publisher-supplied images; TSP composite

“But the mental mistakes from the Yankees is what really upsets me, the way they are playing the game,” Pedro Martínez said on TNT Sports after ALDS Game 2.

Tampa Bay beat New York 5–2 at Tropicana Field on Monday to take a 2–0 lead in the best-of-five series. The Yankees committed four errors. TSP’s final Game 2 report has the scoring and pitching record.

“And they have been together now for a while, that core has been together for a while, they should know how they want to handle pretty much every situation, and they hadn’t,” Martínez said. “And they may be eliminated because of the mental mistakes, not the physical.”

He contrasted that with Tampa Bay’s execution: “Plays defense, pitch, they run the bases well, they have the best manager, the best pitching coach, they have roles that are really defined.”

Martínez also discussed Cam Schlittler, who allowed four runs, two earned, and struck out two in 4⅓ innings.

“It was all on him. He was executing the entire game. But his defense and mental mistakes let him down. By the 5th inning he was just tired,” Martínez said. “Because he was battling his way around a real good team that doesn’t strike out much, doesn’t miss much, and makes things happen around the bases.”

Comparing the outing with Schlittler’s performance against Boston, Martínez said: “A guy that just struck out 10 Red Sox and he can’t get those guys to whiff. That’s the kind of team Tampa Bay is.”

Source note: This report uses TNT Sports postgame excerpts supplied to The Sporting Page. Game statistics were checked against MLB’s official game record.

Aaron Boone on the Yankees’ response

Aaron Boone at the postgame press conference after Yankees–Rays ALDS Game 2.
Aaron Boone speaks after the Yankees’ 5–2 loss to Tampa Bay in ALDS Game 2 on October 5. Credit: TNT Sports / MLB; publisher-supplied broadcast screenshot.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after the game: “I mean obviously a really rough night to say the least for us. We gotta get over it. We’ve responded all year to difficult times, and we gotta do that again.”

Sources and notes

  1. TNT Sports postgame excerpts supplied and verified by publisher. Official Final and game statistics: https://www.mlb.com/gameday/849839. Contextual recap: https://thesportingpage.com/yankees-at-rays-alds-game-2-live-score-and-updates/. Cover is an AI-assisted editorial composite of the supplied broadcast images, not a single game photograph.