New York Yankees defeat the Tampa Bay Rays in rubber game to take over first place

The New York Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday afternoon.  The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York and the final score was 13-5.  Chad Green started as the opener for the Yankees and he didn’t pitch great, Nestor Cortes Jr. started out bad but kept the Yankees in the game and Chance Adams pitched well out of the pen.  Brett Gardner had three hits and three RBI and DJ LeMahieu, Gary Sanchez and Gleyber Torres each had two hits. 

Green pitched two innings giving up three hits and two runs with a walk and a strikeout.  Cortes Jr. pitched four innings giving up three hits and three runs with two walks and six strikeouts and Adam Ottavino won his second game of the season pitching 1/3 of an inning with a walk and a strikeout.  Adams earned his first career save pitching three innings and giving up a hit and a walk with four strikeouts. 

Charlie Morton pitched four innings giving up four hits and five runs with three of them being earned.  He walked four and struck out six.  Diego Castillo lost his third game of the season pitching 1 1/3 innings giving up two hits and three runs with three walks, Ryne Stanek pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and three runs with two walks and Casey Sadler pitched 2 1/3 innings giving up five hits and two runs with three strikeouts. 

LeMahieu had two hits and an RBI, Aaron Hicks had a hit, two RBI and drew two walks and Luke Voit had an RBI and drew two walks.  Sanchez had two hits and drew a walk, Kendrys Morales had a hit, two RBI and drew a walk and Torres had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk.  Gio Urshela drew a walk, Thairo Estrada had a hit and three RBI and Gardner had three hits and three RBI.  Clint Frazier drew a walk, Estrada and Gardner each hit a double.  Sanchez hit his first career triple and Hicks, LeMahieu and Gardner each hit a homerun.  The Yankees were 4-14 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base.  Gardner had a stolen base. 

Austin Meadows drew two walks, Tommy Pham had a hit and drew a walk and Yandy Diaz had a hit.  Brandon Lowe had a hit and three RBI, Travis d’Arnaud drew a walk and Kevin Kiermaier had a hit and an RBI.  Willy Adames had two hits and an RBI, Daniel Robertson had a hit and drew a walk and Pham and Diaz each hit a double.  Adames, Lowe and Kiermaier each hit a homerun and the Rays were 1-7 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base.  Meadows was caught stealing and Diaz and Heredia each committed an error. 

In the first Morales hit an RBI single to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead.  IN the second Kiermaier hit a solo homerun to tie the game at one.  Adames hit a solo homerun to give the Rays a 2-1 lead.  In the bottom of the second Gardner hit a two-run homerun giving the Yankees a 3-2 lead.  In the third Lowe hit a three-run homerun giving the Rays back the lead at 5-3.  In the fourth Hicks hit a two-run homerun to tie the game at five.  In the sixth Voit drew an RBI walk, Morales drew an RBI walk and Torres hit an RBI single to make it 8-5.  Estrada hit a three-run double, Gardner hit an RBI double and it was 12-5 Yankees.  In the seventh LeMahieu hit a solo homerun to push the lead to 13-5 and that was the final score. 

The Yankees took two out of three in the series to move into first place in the AL East and they will head to Baltimore for a four-game series beginning on Monday night.