Yankees offense explodes in 9-2 win over Rays

The Yankees dismantled the Rays 9-2 and now have a chance to win the series tomorrow. Gerrit Cole got the starting nod and faced off against Mason Englert.

In the top of the first inning, Cole worked around a leadoff walk and recorded his first strikeout of the night to help work a scoreless inning. 

Ben Rice led off the bottom half of the first inning with a solo shot to right field, his 40th home run of the season giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead. 

“I mean, it didn't really have any kind of goal in mind going into this year,” Rice said of reaching 40 homers. “But as you start to get closer to a number like that, you really want to reach it. So I was really hoping I would get it in these final few games. Happy to not waste too much time in the first inning there.”

Cole faced the minimum in the top of the second thanks to a perfect throw from Ali Sánchez to gun down a runner trying to steal second for a shutdown inning. 

Spencer Jones led off the bottom of the second inning with a double, then with two outs, Ryan McMahon drove in Jones with an RBI single. 

Cole worked a nice and easy 1-2-3 shutdown top of the third inning and notched his third strikeout of the night. 

George Lombard Jr. led off the bottom of the third inning with a solo shot to right field to make it 3-0. Luis Garcia Jr. and Jazz Chisholm Jr. each singled, then José Caballero worked a walk to load the bases with two outs. McMahon sent a grand slam into the short porch in right field to extend the Yankees' lead to 7-0. 

The Rays got a run back in the top of the fourth inning due to a bad route from Heliot Ramos, allowing Jonny DeLuca to pick up an RBI double. 

But the Yankees got that run right back in the bottom half of the inning thanks to Rice’s second home run of the night and 41st of the season. 

“Just same approach as always,” Rice said. “Just, you know, staying disciplined in my lanes up there and trying to get a good pitch to hit, hopefully execute.”

Cedric Mullins launched a solo home run in the top of the fifth inning, cutting the Yankees' lead to 8-2. 

Brent Headrick replaced Cole on the mound with two outs in the top of the sixth inning and allowed a single, then induced a groundout to strand runners on first and second. 

Final line for Cole: 5.2 innings pitched, three hits allowed, two earned runs, walked three, and struck out eight on 105 pitches. He threw his fastball 55% of the time, the slider 22%, the knuckle curve 18%, and the changeup 5%. Cole topped out at 97.6 mph, sitting at 95.9 mph on his heater, and had nine whiffs. 

“It was a good night overall, a little disappointed with the three walks, but I thought this stuff was good,” Cole said. “It was really windy tonight. It was kind of blowing myself and the ball a little bit all over the place, so it was a fun challenge to work through.” 

John Schreiber came in relief for the top of the seventh and it looked like he picked up the first out, but an error from Lombard allowed the leadoff man to reach. Schreiber picked up the first out and allowed a single to end his night. Tim Hill came in and induced a couple of groundouts to strand both runners. 

Paul Blackburn came in for the top half of the eighth inning and navigated around a two-out base-knock, working a scoreless frame. 

The Yankees closer David Bednar got the call for the top half of the ninth inning in a non-save situation and picked up the final three outs. 

The Yankees will look to win the series tomorrow with Cam Schlittler on the mound facing off against Ian Seymour. First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m. ET on the YES Network. 

My thoughts on the game: Great win for the Yankees tonight. Cole looked solid; I would like to see less walks from him, but it was nice to see him throw 105 pitches. The bullpen did their job as Headrick, Schreiber, Hill, Blackburn, and Bednar combined for 3.1 shutout innings. The offense showed up in a big way with 12 hits and three runs. Three of those hits came from Rice, as he also launched a pair of homers. Lombard also went deep, his third in the last six games; it's nice to see him heating up. McMahon had a five-RBI performance highlighted by a grand slam; it would be nice to see him heat up going into October. Ramos had a couple of hits and an RBI on a sac fly; he has been so much better recently after a brutal start to his Yankee tenure. Just a great night all around from the offense, as eight of the nine starters had a hit. Also, Aaron Judge said earlier today that he would be ready for the Wild Card Series, so we will see next Tuesday if that is true. On to tomorrow, as the Yankees will look to win the series. 

“My goal is to come back as soon as I can,” Judge said. “That's what we're doing right now. If [Boone] says I'm not gonna be ready, I've got no control over that. I've got control over what I can do to try to get back.”