SAN DIEGO _ The Rays were better at being the Yankees on Tuesday than the Yankees were at being the Rays.
And because the Rays were more effective at hitting homers than the Yankees were of being creative with their pitching strategy, the American League Division Series is tied 1-1, with Game 3 on Wednesday night.
A lot went into the Rays' 7-5 win at Petco Park. There was Tyler Glasnow striking out a Rays postseason-record 10 over five strong innings, spoiled only by two Giancarlo Stanton homers.
There was Nick Anderson earning what amounted to a save in the seventh inning, coming in with two on and striking out Gary Sanchez, DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Judge in order.
And there was the very Yankees-like four homers the Rays hit, with red-hot rookie Randy Arozarena, Mike Zunino, Manuel Margot and Austin Meadows combining to tie a team postseason record.
After winning Monday's opener, the Yankees plotted what appeared to be a Rays-like pitching strategy, starting rookie right-hander Deivi Garcia, then switching after one inning to veteran lefty J.A. Happ in a bid designed to get the matchup advantage.
That didn't work out too well, as between them they gave up five runs in three innings.
The Rays seemed to have a sense before the game something was up, and they certainly looked ready.
Arozarena was, homering in the first off Garcia, the 21-year-old who became the Yankees' youngest postseason starter. That was the second straight game with a homer for Arozarena and third with multiple hits.
Then the Rays went after Happ, foiling the Yankees' strategy.
In the second, lefty swinging Joey Wendle singled and with two outs Zunino homered to give them a 3-1 lead. The Rays struck again in the fourth, as lefty Ji-Man Choi walked, then Margot homered to make it 5-1.
Cash said after Monday's loss that Glasnow was "the right guy on the mound" for a need-to-win game. And he looked that way over his five strong innings, except when Stanton was up.
Against the other eight in the Yankees lineup, Glasnow allowed one hit and struck out 10, a Rays record for a postseason game. Against Stanton, he gave up a solo shot in the second, then a massive 458-foot three-run shot that made it 5-4.
The Rays extended the lead to 6-4 on a Kevin Kiermaier RBI single and 7-4 on a homer by Meadows, an unexpected addition to their roster after a faster-than-expected recovery from a Sept. 17 oblique strain.
The big challenge came in the seventh, after Diego Castillo allowed the first two Yankees to reach. Anderson did what he usually does, which is allow nothing. He simply struck out three of the Yankees' most dangerous hitters, then worked a 1-2-3 eighth as well.
Overall, Rays pitchers struck out a major-league record 18 for a nine-inning postseason game.
