Yankees, Jazz Chisholm Jr. explain bizarre final play in extra-innings Rays loss

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The only opportunity for the New York Yankees to push Saturday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays deeper into extra innings required an excellent play by Jazz Chisholm Jr. That did not happen, and it led to some confusion about what transpired afterward. Tampa had the bases loaded and one out with Jonathan Aranda at the plate. Aranda is one of the slowest players in the sport, ranking in the seventh percentile in sprint speed, so the Yankees could have turned a double play and extended the game with the right batted ball. The Yankees brought Cody Bellinger in from left field to play with a five-man infield, so they could throw Chandler Simpson out at home plate. Aranda then hit a chopper off the Tropicana Field turf toward Chisholm at second base. Bellinger leapt in front of Chisholm’s line of sight to try to field Aranda’s chopper, but the ball got past him. And because of how high the ball bounced off the turf, throwing out Simpson — the fastest player in baseball — at home was impossible. That left only one chance for the Yankees to extend the game. However, Chisholm did not field the ball cleanly. If he had, it’s plausible he could have tagged out Yandy Díaz, who was running from first base. Chisholm could have then thrown Aranda out at first base, and the game would have gone to the 11th inning. But Chisholm was at first confused with all of his possibilities if he had fielded the ball. IS IT NOT CLOCKING TO YOU pic.twitter.com/8MB1t339tG — Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) April 12, 2026 “I was really gonna tag the runner and throw it to first,” Chisholm said at his locker after the game. “I don’t know what the rule is, if I went to first base first and threw it back to second if it’s an out. Is it still a double play? I don’t know. Does it count as not an RBI?” Center fielder Trent Grisham, who was sitting next to Chisholm in the Yankees’ clubhouse, overheard Chisholm’s response and interjected. “No, they’ll score,” Grisham said. “They’ll still score?” Chisholm asked. “He’ll get there before the tag at third,” Grisham said. “Well, that’s what I was trying to do in my mind,” Chisholm said. If Chisholm had thrown the ball to first base before tagging Díaz, the force play would have gone away, Simpson would have scored and the game would have been over. The only play for Chisholm to make was to tag Díaz and throw Aranda out at first. So, even if Chisholm didn’t fully know all of the rules, he still had the right idea in the end. “The best thing I was going to do is try to swing at (Díaz) and hopefully he backed out of the line and they call him out of the baseline and throw it to first base and get that double play,” Chisholm said. “That was the best chance we had. If I didn’t get the tag or the out of the baseline (call), it would’ve been the same result. I don’t know if he was close. I don’t know. You guys would have to tell me because I didn’t get to really look up. The ball was on the ground.” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he didn’t have a good angle on the play watching from the dugout, so he was unsure if it was possible to tag Díaz out if Chisholm had fielded the ball. “Once he got off balance and to the ground — I think as soon as it was chopped, as the fielder, you realize you’re up against it there,” Boone said. “I have to look back and see Yandy.” Even with how the final play transpired, the Yankees had numerous opportunities to win Saturday. They were 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left 12 runners on base. In the ninth inning, the Yankees had runners on the corners with two outs when Randal Grichuk, who had pinch-run for Giancarlo Stanton in the eighth inning, flew out to center field to end the inning. That was a decision that Boone second-guessed. Boone said he considered pinch-hitting Paul Goldschmidt for Grichuk, who is now 0-for-10 to begin the season. Boone called it a “fair question” when he was asked why he ultimately stuck with Grichuk in that spot. “I felt like it was a good spot for him, too,” Boone said. The Yankees have now lost four straight games, and Saturday’s series-clinching loss to Tampa was the ugliest of the season so far. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Chris Kirschner is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the New York Yankees. He previously covered the Atlanta Hawks from 2018-2022 for The Athletic. Chris was named Georgia's Sportswriter of the Year in 2021 for his work covering the Hawks. Chris is a native of Bronx, NY. Follow Chris on Twitter @chriskirschner