Four Yankees errors, four hits, and now one game from elimination.

Four errors. Four hits. A 5-2 loss. The Yankees did not simply fall behind 2-0 in the American League Division Series on Monday night. They handed Tampa Bay too many extra chances and produced too little offense to survive them.

The first inning looked ready to become a disaster. Ryan McMahon made a fielding error, Jazz Chisholm Jr. was charged with a throwing error, and an overturned call produced catcher interference on Austin Wells. Cam Schlittler threw 19 pitches, 17 for strikes, and allowed only one unearned run. George Lombard Jr. made the force play at second that kept the inning from becoming much worse.

Schlittler survived the first mess

That escape mattered because Ben Rice tied the game with a solo home run in the fourth. For a moment, the Yankees had erased the ugliest inning of their season. Then Tampa Bay put the game away in the fifth.

Jonathan Aranda scored on Liam Hicks' groundout. Junior Caminero scored on Chandler Simpson's fielder's choice. Richie Palacios followed with a two-run single. Lombard's throwing error helped extend the inning, and the Rays left it with a 5-1 lead.

The fifth inning finished the job

Schlittler finished with six hits and four runs allowed in 4 1/3 innings, but only two of the runs were earned. He struck out two, walked one and threw 56 strikes among 76 pitches. The rookie was not magic. He was better than the defense behind him gave him room to be.

Rice homered again in the eighth and finished 2-for-3 with a walk and both New York runs batted in. The rest of the Yankees combined for two hits. That is the other half of this loss. Four errors made the night harder, but four total hits made a comeback nearly impossible.

Rice supplied all the offense

Tampa Bay now leads the best-of-five series 2-0. Game 3 is scheduled for Tuesday at 8 p.m. Eastern at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees are not searching for a complicated answer. Catch the ball, create traffic and stop asking one hitter to carry an October lineup.