ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ If you can't beat 'em, bullpen 'em.
The Yankees took a page from the Rays and the A's on Monday night, choosing an "opener" rather than a traditional starter to face Tampa Bay.
"Hopefully it's something we can do half as effectively as the Rays," Aaron Boone said beforehand.
That they did.
Boone went with righty reliever Jonathan Holder to start Monday night, the beginning of a phalanx of eight pitchers who effectively shut down the Rays in the Yankees' 4-1 victory in front of 13,832 at Tropicana Field. Tampa Bay managed only two hits and struck out 13 times.
It was a successful start to a seven-game trip to end the regular season. The Yankees (96-60), who entered the night 1 { games ahead of the A's in the battle for the top wild-card spot, lowered their magic number to four to clinch home-field advantage on Oct. 3. Oakland faced the Mariners in Seattle late Monday night.
It was a potentially costly victory as center fielder Aaron Hicks left the game with a tight left hamstring in the fourth inning. His immediate prognosis was not immediately known. However, for one night, the injury _ perhaps incurred when Hicks beat out a double-play ball in the third inning _ didn't hurt the Yankees.
Brett Gardner, whose second-half slump has severely limited his playing time of late, replaced Hicks in center. He drove in a run with a two-out single in the fifth and scored on Giancarlo Stanton's double to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead, then saved at least two runs later on with a terrific grab in center field as he ran into the wall.
The Rays (87-69), who entered the game with 16 victories in their last 21 games, were officially eliminated from playoff contention. They have been a thorn in the Yankees' side all season, having won five of the previous six games against them at Tropicana Field.
"There's no question they started this and have had a lot of success, so teams have followed," Boone said before the game of bullpen-ing a game, something the manager said is not a consideration for the Yankees for the wild-card game against the A's. "I think it's triggered a lot of conversation. Copy-cat league, I guess, as they say."
After Holder stranded two in a scoreless first, rookie call-up Stephen Tarpley pitched a scoreless second. Sonny Gray gave up one run in two innings, allowing the only two hits the Rays managed in the game, and Chad Green struck out the side in the fifth. David Robertson was the recipient of Gardner's save in the sixth and Aroldis Chapman turned in a scoreless seventh, walking one and striking out two. Dellin Betances breezed through the eighth and Zach Britton did the same in the ninth.
After Tarpley set down the Rays in order on 10 pitches in the second, the Yankees grabbed the lead in the third when Andrew McCutchen crushed a full-count fastball from righty Hunter Wood to left for his 20th homer.
The Rays tied it against Gray in the fourth. Tommy Pham led off with a double and went to third on Gary Sanchez's league-high 16th passed ball, tying his total from last season. Joey Wendle reached when Gray was slow covering first on a grounder to Luke Voit, putting runners at the corners. Gray got Brandon Lowe to hit into a double play but Pham scored to tie it at 1.
The Yankees retook the lead against lefty Ryan Yarbrough. Aaron Judge (two walks, RBI double) walked with two outs and went to second on a passed ball. Gardner got ahead 2-and-0 before muscling a blooper to center for an RBI single that made it 2-1. Stanton then roped a double into the gap in left-center for a 3-1 lead.
Green provided a dominant shutdown inning, striking out the side in the bottom half.
In the sixth, which included Sanchez's second passed ball of the night, the Rays had runners at the corners with one out. Robertson struck out Joey Wendle, but Lowe tattooed a drive to dead center. Gardner sprinted back, chased the ball down a step in front of the wall, crashed into the wall and crumpled to the ground. A worried Robertson shot both arms skyward like a referee signaling a touchdown, and the Yankees' dugout erupted.
One-out doubles by McCutchen and Judge in the seventh made it 4-1.
