ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ You knew the Rays would make it difficult.
They'd lost enough games to the Yankees that it wasn't going to be easy to end the mastery and the misery. So after they blew a lead in the ninth, they came back to win it in the ninth, with a two-out walk-off homer by Travis d'Arnaud, 4-3.
The Rays looked to have finally beaten the Yankees earlier. A two-run homer by rookie Nate Lowe with two outs in the seventh had given them a one-run lead. Patchwork relief work after Jose Alvarado left injured by Jake Faria and Oliver Drake got them two outs in the ninth.
Then manager Kevin Cash brought in rookie lefty Colin Poche to turn around switch-hitter Aaron Hicks. And Hicks turned the game around with a homer that tied it 3-3.
The victory may have felt like the promised land as the Rays had lost their last six to the Yankees, and nine of 11 on the season. And they've looked pretty bad in doing so, repeatedly giving the Yankees opportunities that they took advantage of, especially late.
"They just seem to have that aggression when games are getting tight, they have that, they smell blood, so to speak," said Rays pitcher Charlie Morton, who starts Sunday's series and pre-All-Star break finale. "So those kinds of teams are dangerous. Those offenses are very dangerous. You get into that situation with those guys you know you've got to play a little bit better."
The Yankees took a 1-0 lead when perpetual pest Brett Gardner homered with two outs off Rays starter Blake Snell. The Rays came right back to tie it, when rookie Mike Brosseau walked, went to third on Kevin Kiermaier's single and scored on a two-out knock by Travis d'Arnaud. Lowe was then hit by a pitch to load the bases, but the Rays didn't take advantage as Guillermo Heredia struck out.
The score stayed tied as Snell worked through five strong innings, but no more as he ran his pitch count to 93, and into the seventh.
That's when manager Cash made a curious decision, bringing in Alvarado, their embattled unofficial closer. Cash said he planned to find a softer spot for Alvarado, who'd struggled in three outings after a month away to tend to family medical issues. A 1-1 game in the seventh against the Yankees didn't seem like it.
Alvarado started by allowing a single to Gio Urshela, then threw a wild pitch before walking No. 9 hitter Mike Tauchman.
A ground ball that shortstop Willy Adames turned into a nifty double play was promising. But then Alvarado walked Aaron Judge and gave up a run-scoring single to Aaron Hicks, putting the Yankees up 2-1.
Alvarado threw one pitch to Gary Sanchez then winced and seemed to grab his side. He was removed from the game, and the Rays announced later he sustained a right oblique strain which, depending upon the severity, could keep him out into September.
Faria got the Rays out of that inning, then Oliver Drake got them two outs into the ninth before Cash brought in Poche.
The Rays took the lead in the seventh. D'Arnaud got them started again, with a two-out single. Lowe, who was called back up Thursday and hit his first big league homer on Friday, delivered. Down 0-2 to Sabathia, he took a ball, then cut loose on a slider, knocking it over the fence.
Coming off a strong outing Sunday that gave the Rays confidence he was back on track, Snell delivered five strong innings on Saturday, allowing just one run. The problem was that he had to work so hard to get out of trouble that he didn't get to work anymore, lifted after five innings and 93 pitches.
Snell allowed his only run in the second, when Gardner homered to right on a 1-1 slider. But it wasn't easy.
In the third, he gave up a one-out double to Tauchman, then got out top AL hitter DJ LeMahieu (fly out) and dangerous Judge (strikeout). In the fourth, he allowed a leadoff double to Hicks, then struck out Sanchez, got Edwin Encarnacion on a ground out and Gardner on a fly to left.
In the fifth, a leadoff walk, one-out single and another walk loaded the bases, and Snell battled his way through again, getting Judge to fly out and Hicks on a comebacker.
The teams wrap up the series and the pre-All-Star break portion of their schedules at 1:10 Sunday. Charlie Morton is pitching for the Rays, James Paxton for the Yankees.
