Suddenly hot Randy, Rays beat Yanks again

NEW YORK -- Randy Arozarena is starting to get hot. So are the Rays.

Arozarena launched a three-run homer in the first inning Tuesday night, his fourth home run in his last six games and his second three-run homer in three days. The Rays only managed one hit the rest of the way, but they rode Arozarena’s blast and another excellent all-around pitching performance to their fourth straight win, a 3-1 victory over the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.

Tampa Bay has won eight of its last 12 games after a 3-8 stretch to start the second half. After taking two of three from the Orioles at Tropicana Field over the weekend, winning the last two nights in the Bronx guaranteed the Rays their first back-to-back series victories since July 11-17.

“We need to feel good about ourselves. It's been a grind a little bit from the All-Star break,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “And wins in this ballpark against this team, they can elevate you a little bit, make you feel that much better.”

And don’t look now, but the Rays’ deficit in the American League East is down to single digits -- nine games, the lowest it’s been since June 13 -- behind the suddenly slumping Yankees, who have dropped 11 of their last 13. They’d surely love to close that gap and win a third straight division title, but their focus Tuesday night was much more immediate.

“We have to just depend on ourselves. We can't rely on just trying to reach the Yankees and just reach them,” Arozarena said through interpreter Manny Navarro. “We're trying to just win every game so that we can move up in those standings and be playing for the postseason.”

Fittingly, Arozarena might be rounding into his typical postseason form in the final third of an overall streaky season. His offensive production has come in fits and starts, hot spurts followed by stretches with far more strikeouts than big hits. But Arozarena has hit safely in nine of his last 11 games, slashing .295/.354/.636 with 14 RBIs during that stretch.

“Hopefully that's the trend, that he's kind of heating up. We know when he gets going, he can carry just a massive load for us,” Cash said. “Don't want to put the pressure on him to do it, but we certainly will take it.”

Arozarena provided all the offense the Rays’ pitching staff needed on Tuesday night. He came to the plate with two on and one out in the first inning against Yankees starter Nestor Cortes and clubbed a 1-1 fastball out to left field for his team-leading 16th home run.

“I was looking for a pitch to connect on. I was hoping to hit a home run,” Arozarena said through Navarro. “But I'm mostly just happy we got the victory.”

Still, this recent home run barrage could bode well for Arozarena, who tends to build confidence with each ball he hits out of the park. So as the Rays’ offensive reinforcements arrive -- first Brandon Lowe, now Harold Ramírez, soon Manuel Margot and Wander Franco -- they might also be getting the best version of the reigning AL Rookie of the Year.

“Randy is starting to really get on a tear,” Rays starter Jeffrey Springs said, “and everybody knows what he can do when he does.”

As he proved in the 2020 postseason, Arozarena can carry the Rays when he’s hot and they’re pitching like they have in this series. Springs held New York to one run on two hits over five innings, then relievers Pete Fairbanks, Brooks Raley, Shawn Armstrong and Jason Adam combined to allow only two singles the rest of the way.

“They're unbelievable,” Springs said. “The numbers back it up. The results back it up. If we can hand the ball off to them with a lead, we've got a really good chance to win.”

After a two-out single by Gleyber Torres off Armstrong in the eighth, Adam entered the game to face Aaron Judge. The Rays’ top high-leverage reliever coaxed a ground ball from Judge to escape, struck out two in a clean ninth, secured his seventh save and kept the Rays’ momentum rolling into Wednesday night’s series finale.

“We're in a great position. If you look at our schedule, the ball's in our court,” Adam said. “We’ve just got to do what we need to do to win each game, give ourselves a chance each game, and I think we'll be sitting in a good spot come the end of the year.”