ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ Gary Sanchez might have arrived late to the AL Rookie of the Year award conversation, but he keeps on slugging his way into consideration.
The Yankees catcher belted two more home runs Wednesday night, and drove in five runs while leading his team to an 8-5 victory over the last-place Rays before 12,192 fans at Tropicana Field.
Sanchez now has five home runs in his last four games _ including the go-ahead shot in Tuesday's series-opening win. And he's kept the Yankees' faint heartbeat going in a thick AL wild-card race.
With 11 games remaining _ seven of those against wild-card leading Toronto and Baltimore _ the Yankees (79-72) are 2{ games behind the Orioles for the final spot, though Seattle, Houston and Detroit remained ahead of Joe Girardi's club.
Before the game, Girardi said of Sanchez's accomplishments: "I think you kind of say, 'What's next?' because of what we've seen in these 160 to 170 at-bats. It's been fun to watch."
The joyride resumed in Wednesday's first inning, as Sanchez (3-for-4, walk) had one of the Yanks' three RBI singles in a three-run frame against right-hander Alex Cobb.
In his next at-bat, Sanchez smashed a three-run homer off Cobb (1-1).
Sanchez crushed a sixth-inning, 0-and-2 pitch off lefty Justin Marks for his 19th homer of the year in just his 44th big league game. The solo shot gave the Yanks an 8-4 lead on a night when Masahiro Tanaka was less than sharp.
In six innings, Tanaka (14-4) surrendered four solo home runs _ all of them coming in the third inning, and three of them hit consecutively by Evan Longoria, Brad Miller and Corey Dickerson.
Miller's second homer of the night, off Adam Warren, cut the lead to 8-5 in the eighth.
But Sanchez has eight homers in his last 12 games after his third multi-homer game of the year. Designated hitter Brian McCann had four hits and an RBI for the Yankees.
When the subject of his Rookie of the Year qualifications came up after Tuesday night's game, Sanchez wouldn't entertain any thoughts about the award.
"My focus is to win ballgames," Sanchez said through his interpreter after his 17th homer of the year had lifted the Yankees to a 5-3 win at Tropicana Field.
But Sanchez ought to figure prominently in the voting even if he plays in just 54 games this year.
In 1959, the San Francisco Giants' Willie McCovey won the NL Rookie of the Year award by playing in just 52 games.
McCovey won it unanimously by hitting .354 with 13 homers and 38 RBI in 192 at-bats.
Among AL position players who have won the award since it was inaugurated in 1947, the Rays' Wil Myers played in the least amount of games _ 88 in 2013. The Phillies' Ryan Howard also won the NL award in 2005 by playing in 88 games.
Girardi is on record as saying that Sanchez should be in consideration despite playing one-third of the MLB season, a testament to his impact as the Yankees' No. 3 hitter.
"Give him 600 at-bats; that's what you do," said Girardi, when asked about Sanchez's .327/.399/.710 slash line through 162 at-bats.
The manager has also praised his young catcher's ability to handle a veteran staff, and Sanchez's throwing arm has already been compared to a young Pudge Rodriguez by former teammate Mark Teixeira.
"He's carried us," Teixeira said of Sanchez's presence. "We're not even close to talking about a playoff berth if Gary doesn't come up and do what he does.
"And that's the fun thing about power hitters. When you're on a streak like that, you can carry a team for a month and he's done that."
As Sanchez's teammate for less than a week, Billy Butler has been suitably impressed by the rookie's approach.
"I've seen him hit every type of pitch out," Butler said. "Basically, if you're the opposing pitcher and you go over the middle of the plate, it's got a good chance at being damaged (by) him. He's one of the strongest guys I've seen in the box."
