NEW YORK — After a rough series against the Rangers, maybe this was all the Rays needed to get right, another high-intensity matchup with their rabid rivals.
Or perhaps it was just the break of beating up on the team with the worst record in the American League.
Either way it worked, as the Rays rolled to a second straight win, beating the Yankees 6-3 behind an eventful five-inning effort by Tyler Glasnow and homers from Francisco Mejia, Manuel Margot and Joey Wendle.
The victory assured the Rays (7-8) of a sixth straight series win over the Yankees (5-9), and gave them 14 wins in their past 17 meetings. Add in October’s American League Division Series, and it’s seven series and a 17-5 record dating to late 2019.
Glasnow, who had a 14-strikeout performance Monday, was not the dominant pitcher from his first three starts. But he got through five innings, navigating a 30-pitch first inning and an odd incident during the fifth, when he suddenly bent over in what looked to be severe pain, grabbing his left (non-throwing) hand for what appeared to be cramping.
Glasnow was quickly checked on the mound and, after gulping several bottles of water, stayed in to finish the inning, striking out Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton.
For all the drama, he allowed only one run, with two hits and four walks, striking out seven while throwing 105 pitches, improving to 2-0, though his ERA rose from 0.46 to 0.73.
The Rays took a 1-0 lead in the second when Mejia homered with two outs off Jordan Montgomery. Mejia has shown well in limited duty, and that was his first homer for the Rays since being acquired in the Blake Snell trade. He also doubled in a run in the ninth inning.
The Yankees came right back to tie it as Glasnow struggled a bit with command, walking Gary Sanchez, then Gio Urshela to start the home second, and allowing a one-out RBI single to DJ LeMahieu.
Having also walked Gleyber Torres in the first, in a span of four batters Glasnow matched his total of free passes from his first three starts combined.
The Rays went back ahead in the fourth, when Meadows drew a one-out walk and Margot delivered a two-out homer, jumping on a first-pitch change-up. They added to the lead in the seventh when Margot reached — on another successful replay challenge — overturning what was called a double play, then another homer from Wendle, whom manager Kevin Cash calls the “Big Bopper.”
The Yankees made it a little more interesting. Rougned Odor blasted a 443-foot homer off Jeffrey Springs, and Aaron Judge doubled in a run after Collin McHugh gave up a single to LeMahieu. Ryan Thompson got the Rays to the eighth.
The first inning set the tone that Saturday wasn’t going to be a day in the park for Glasnow.
After two quick outs, he allowed a single to Aaron Hicks. Wendle then made a rare throwing error on a ground ball to third that should have been the third out, then the walk to Torres loaded the bases. Glasnow got Brett Gardner on a groundout to escape without a run scoring, but had to throw an additional 14 pitches to do so.
