ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ Inside Tropicana Field on Friday night, the Yankees' power to change the game with one swing was on full display.
Leading off the 11th inning, Aaron Judge's second home run of the night _ on the first pitch by right-hander Ryne Stanek _ gave the Yankees their first lead since the fifth inning.
Later in the inning, Brett Gardner's three-run shot cemented an 8-4 victory over the second-place Rays, now a season-high 8.5 games behind the AL East-leading Yankees.
But it was Aaron Hicks' pinch-hit home run that first ignited the visiting bench and triggered the vocal throng of Yankees fans among 22,182 patrons at the Trop.
Leading off the eighth inning, Hicks' game-tying shot cued another Yankees comeback on a night when manager Aaron Boone's high-leverage setup relievers _ Zack Britton, Tommy Kahnle, Adam Ottavino and Chad Green _ were unavailable.
Replacing starter Masahiro Tanaka in the seventh inning, and the Yanks clinging to a 3-2 lead, Nelson Cortes Jr. allowed two inherited runners to score on Kevin Kiermaier's go-ahead, two-run ground single to left.
But David Hale pitched out of a ninth-inning jam with the winning run at third, getting Tommy Pham on a tricky groundball to shortstop Didi Gregorius before pitching a perfect 10th against the heart of Tampa Bay's order.
Aroldis Chapman was summoned for the final two outs as the Yanks took a second straight extra-inning game from the Rays, by the same score.
Batting as the tying run, Pham lined out to end it.
Bouncing back from his London debacle, Masahiro Tanaka generally pitched well over 6 1/3 innings despite yielding two solo home runs.
Nate Lowe's first MLB homer came on a 10-pitch at-bat, leading off the fourth inning.
And No. 9 hitter Mike Zunino led off the fifth by connecting on a 1-and-2 pitch, making it a 2-2 game.
The Yankees strung four singles off rookie lefty Brendan McKay in their half of the fifth, taking a 2-1 lead on Mike Tauchman's two-run ground single to right.
Judge had connected on a solo homer to right in the first inning, the first big league run yielded by McKay, who was making his second MLB start.
A two-way player, McKay's first big league start on Saturday was a gem versus Texas, as he took a perfect game into the sixth inning and picked up a win.
Tanaka's last start was a clunker against the Red Sox, yielding six runs to the Red Sox and failing to get out of the first inning at London Stadium after the Yanks spotted him a 6-0 lead.
Hicks and catcher Gary Sanchez were each rested from Friday's starting lineup by Boone, who also intends to rest Gregorius this weekend. Sanchez popped out as a pinch-hitter in the 10th and remained in the game.
The looming four-day All-Star break has no bearing on these decisions for Boone, who rested Judge from Thursday's lineup.
As a pinch-hitter on Thursday, Judge wound up drawing a key, 10-pitch walk in the 10th inning of the Yankees' 8-4 win against the Rays.
"Trying to ease him along," Boone said of Judge, activated on June 22 after a two-month stay on the injured list due to an oblique strain.
The same is true of Gregorius, activated on June 7 after rehabbing from Tommy John surgery to his right elbow.
"(We're) trying to be mindful our guys are built up for the long haul," Boone said. "Especially the guys who are returning from some (medical) things."
Hicks is also in that boat, having spent the first month-and-a-half on the injured list due to a strained lower back.
Sanchez had two stints on the injured list last year _ both right groin strains _ in a largely lost 2018 season.
Since last Sunday's game at London against Boston, Sanchez has been dealing with soreness in his left thumb.
"It's not 100 percent, but it's not going to prevent me from doing my job," Sanchez said through an interpreter after walloping a 461-foot home run _ a three-run shot _ in Thursday night's 10th inning.
Before that homer, Sanchez was in a 4-for-40 slide with no extra-base hits, two RBIs and 13 strikeouts since hitting last home run on June 21.
"We're always trying to make smart decisions (which will) help in the long haul," Boone said. "We're certainly hopeful of playing in October and a long time in October.
"So, I think the length of the season, playoffs included, is all mindful (in the club's decisions)."
