Yankees rally to top Rays
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Trailing in the seventh inning, the New York Yankees got three singles to tie the Tampa Bay Rays, then a three-run home run from Gary Sanchez to rally for a 5-3 win Tuesday night at Tropicana Field.
The Yankees (78-72) bounced back from a four-game sweep against Boston that had them losing seven of eight games and falling to 4 1/2 games back in the wild-card chase. The Rays (64-86) had won four of six coming in but couldn't play the spoiler role they've played with the rest of the American League East in the past month.
Tampa Bay had a 2-1 lead in the seventh, thanks to a strong start from lefty Drew Smyly, who held the Yankees to four hits in six innings. Reliever Brad Boxberger matched that in the seventh alone, giving up singles to Ronald Torreyes, Mason Williams and Brett Gardner, the last tying the game at 2-2. With two outs, Rays pitching coach Jim Hickey visited the mound and opted to keep Boxberger in, and Sanchez crushed the next pitch for a three-run home runs -- his 17th this season -- for a 5-2 lead.
The Rays scored a run in the eighth when Logan Forsythe tripled off the wall in left field and scored on a wild pitch, cutting the lead to 5-3. Yankees closer Dellin Betances pitched a scoreless ninth for his 12th save of the season.
Smyly, who came in with a 2-0 record and 2.08 ERA against the Yankees this season, was sharp again Monday, holding New York to one run on four hits through six innings.
He worked out of jams in the first and sixth. Aaron Hicks singled and Billy Butler doubled in the first, but with two in scoring position, Mark Teixeira popped out to third to end the inning. In the sixth, Sanchez walked and Butler again doubled, but this time the Rays walked Teixeira to load the bases with two outs. Smyly came through again, getting Didi Gregorius to pop out to left field and preserve a 2-1 lead.
The Rays were held in check for the most part by Yankees starter Michael Pineda, but they scored two runs in the third with a two-out rally. Logan Forsythe singled and Evan Longoria reached on an infield single where Donovan Solano's throw to first was high, pulling Teixeira off the base. That kept the inning alive for Brad Miller, who tripled off the wall in left-center to score both runners for a 2-0 Rays' lead.
The Yankees answered in the fourth on a solo home run by Teixeira, his 13th of the season, to make it 2-1.
NOTES: Two Rays players underwent season-ending surgeries on Tuesday. OF Steven Souza had surgery on his left hip in Nashville, Tenn., and 1B Logan Morrison had surgery on his left wrist in Orlando, Fla. That's three season-ending surgeries in two weeks, following SS Matt Duffy (heel). ... UTIL Nick Franklin had an MRI on Sunday that showed a moderate strain of his left hamstring. ... INF Donovan Solano made his Yankees' debut Sunday, the 53rd player to suit up for New York this season. The most the Yankees have used in a season is 58 in 2014, with 56 playing last season. ... DH/1B Billy Butler had hit safely in his first four games with New York entering Tuesday's contest, going 4-for-9 with a home run and four RBIs. He's the first player to open his Yankees' career with a four-game hit streak since Chase Headley had eight straight in 2014.