Rays 4, Yankees 2
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Tampa Bay Rays entered Tuesday's contest against the New York Yankees with a 1-6 record against their American League East rivals and seemed to be on the verge of adding to their dismal mark after falling behind 2-0 in the first inning.
Two runs in the seventh followed by two more in the eighth changed things, though, as the Rays earned a 4-2 comeback victory to move back to three games behind the division leading Yankees.
Facing a 2-0 deficit to Yankees starter Nathan Eovaldi, the Rays finally got to the right-hander in the seventh when DH David DeJesus continued his recent tear at the plate by lining a single to center to score two runs.
In the eighth, the Rays took the lead when center fielder Kevin Kiermaier walked with one out and advanced to third on a single to right by right fielder Steven Souza Jr. After Yankees reliever Dellin Betances entered the game for Eovaldi, Kiermaier scored on a sacrifice fly to center by third baseman Evan Longoria.
With Rays second baseman Logan Forsythe batting, Betances threw a wild pitch that plated Souza.
Rays starter Chris Archer loaded the bases to start the game by giving up singles to Yankees center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury and left fielder Brett Gardner and a walk to designated hitter Alex Rodriguez. The Yankees then plated two runs behind run-scoring singles from catcher Brian McCann and right fielder Carlos Beltran.
They seemed to be on the verge of a bigger inning, but Archer struck out Yankees third baseman Chase Headley, induced second baseman Stephen Drew into a flyout to center and forced first baseman Garrett Jones into a groundout to second.
After escaping damage in the second inning following consecutive one-out singles, Archer went the rest of his 105-pitch outing by giving up just one hit. Archer went seven innings and surrendered seven hits and one walk while striking out eight.
Eovaldi was in the zone until the seventh inning. After giving up an infield single to Souza Jr. with one out in the first frame, the right hander stuck out Longoria and picked off Souza at first to end the inning.
Eovaldi then retired the next 10 batters before allowing another infield single to Forsythe and a broken bat single to center by DeJesus with one out in the fifth. Eovaldi got out of the inning, though, by forcing shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera into a fielder's choice out before striking out left fielder Brandon Guyer.
NOTES: Yankees RHP Ivan Nova (Tommy John surgery in April 2014) threw 33 pitches over three innings in an extended spring training game Tuesday in Tampa, Fla. He is scheduled to pitch again Monday. ... Yankees RHP Masahiro Tanaka threw a 30-pitch bullpen session, his first since landing on the disabled list in late April due to a strained right forearm and tendinitis in his right wrist. His next step will be determined after Wednesday. ... Manager Joe Girardi and a plethora of Yankees players sent Yogi Berra a happy birthday greeting via FaceTime on Tuesday. ... Rays manager Kevin Cash still has not decided on Thursday's starter. The options are RHP Erasmo Ramirez, RHP Matt Andriese and RHP Andrew Bellatti. ... Rays 3B Evan Longoria likely will hit third in the batting order moving forward, according to Cash. Before Tuesday, Longoria was batting .182 (2-for-11) in the third hole and .293 (29-for-99) batting fourth this season.