Rallying Rays don't let third chance slip away

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays loaded the bases twice in the first five innings Sunday afternoon at Tropicana Field and came away with nothing both times.

The way they’re playing right now, they weren’t going to make the same mistake three times.

Down by two runs in the sixth inning, Tampa Bay stormed back to take the lead with a two-out rally keyed by the top three hitters in the lineup: Randy Arozarena, Harold Ramírez and Brandon Lowe. Arozarena’s infield single loaded the bases, Ramírez displayed his remarkable bat-to-ball ability with a game-tying single, and Lowe smacked a go-ahead two-run single in the Rays’ 7-4 win over the Yankees.

“It stinks when you're leaving guys on base, but to be in those situations and everything else, we're bound to break through at some point,” Lowe said.

The victory, which got heated in the final innings, sealed the Rays’ fifth straight series win -- the first time they’ve won five consecutive series since July 5-25, 2021. They are 8-1 over their past nine series, having gone 18-9 overall during that stretch. Sunday’s win, combined with the Orioles’ 4-3 loss to the Rockies, pulled the Rays (80-52) within two games of the top spot in the American League East standings.

Tampa Bay’s go-ahead rally in the sixth began with a single by Christian Bethancourt off reliever Ian Hamilton. Jonathan Aranda was hit by a pitch, one of four plunkings the Rays endured on the day and one of five in this series.

Arozarena smacked a single to shortstop and hustled to first, keeping the inning alive. Then Ramírez dug a two-strike slider out of the dirt and blooped it over second baseman Gleyber Torres’ head for a tying two-run single.

“He just made a very good pitch,” Ramírez said. “I just tried to make contact to bring the runners in.”

“I don't know how he does that,” marveled Rays manager Kevin Cash. “That is rare.”

The Yankees turned to lefty reliever Wandy Peralta against Lowe, but the second baseman pulled a 2-2 sinker to right field for a tiebreaking single.

“To get those big hits in certain situations, to watch Harold's at-bat, just honestly kind of in awe of that,” Lowe said. “But as a whole, just honestly a really, really good team win.”

The Rays’ season series finale against the Yankees, who have lost 12 of their past 14 games, couldn’t have gotten off to a much better start.

Arozarena reached on a leadoff single then wreaked havoc on the basepaths to create a run. Arozarena stole second, trotted to third when catcher Kyle Higashioka’s throw sailed into center field then dashed home after third baseman Oswald Peraza couldn’t handle Harrison Bader’s throw from center field.

“Got a good jump and then didn't assume anything. Balls were going all over the place,” Cash said. “Great slide there at the end to go to the inside where their catcher was on the outside.”

Lowe didn’t make the first inning any easier on Yankees starter Carlos Rodón, bashing his 17th home run of the season a Statcast-projected 433 feet into the netting above the Rays’ Touch Tank in right-center field. It was Lowe’s first home run off a lefty pitcher since May 7, 2022, when he took the Mariners’ Marco Gonzales deep twice.

“Tried to let Cashy and the other guys know that maybe I can hit lefties now and I can play a little bit more often,” Lowe said, smiling.

Tampa Bay then loaded the bases, but Rodón wriggled out of the jam by retiring Jose Siri and Bethancourt, beginning a streak of 11 batters retired in order by the Yankees’ southpaw.

The Rays then loaded the bases in the fifth on two walks and a hit batter, as Isaac Paredes took a pitch from Hamilton off his helmet with two outs. But pinch-hitter Josh Lowe struck out, ending the threat.

Meanwhile, the Yankees built a two-run lead by bashing a trio of homers off Rays starter Zack Littell. Higashioka and DJ LeMahieu went deep back-to-back in the third inning, then Anthony Volpe clubbed a two-run shot in the fourth. Littell allowed only one other hit, one walk and one hit batter while striking out four on a career-high 92 pitches over a career-high-tying six innings.

“Zack had to grind a little bit. I don't think he was quite as crisp as maybe we've seen over his last couple starts, and that's OK,” Cash said. “But we can kind of overcome some solo shots, and [he] kept us in the game, so impressed that he was able to do that and get through six innings.”