NEW YORK -- Anthony Rizzo stood near home plate for a few extra beats to admire the flight of his second home run of the evening, stamping his Star Wars “Mandalorian” bobblehead night with an exclamation point. Indeed, for the slugger and the Yankees, This is the Way.

Rizzo enjoyed the 22nd multihomer game of his career, slugging a solo blast in the first inning and a go-ahead two-run shot in the eighth, helping the Yankees surge for a 6-5 victory over the American League East-leading Rays on Friday evening at Yankee Stadium.

“It was electric tonight,” Rizzo said. “There was extra juice behind the fans; we recognized that right away. I think this division is really good for the game right now; it's a dogfight every night. I feel like as this season goes on, none of these teams in the division will back down, that's for sure.”

Anthony Volpe also homered and drove in a pair of runs for the Bombers, who bounced back against their division rivals after absorbing a six-run drubbing in the series opener. Volpe credited a pulsing crowd of 46,130 for creating an atmosphere that the rookie described as “goosebump stuff.”

“Look, it hasn’t been easy for us. It hasn’t been perfect,” said manager Aaron Boone. “We’ve been beat up at different times, but this group is really competing well, and that rang true tonight. You just keep on playing. It was just a gutsy win by a lot of guys stepping up there when it’s not easy.”

Sparked by the coveted Rizzo giveaway, which depicts the first baseman in Mandalorian garb, a festive gathering began lining up at Yankee Stadium’s gates hours early -- many in full Star Wars costumes.

Han Solo, Princess Leia, Darth Vader and other characters from the movies strutted around the field as players warmed up about a half-hour before first pitch, gyrating to Meco’s 1977 release, “Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band.”

“It started with the fans, even before the game,” Volpe said. “They brought the energy, and I think everybody definitely fed off it.”

A bumpy beginning provided a bad feeling about this. Randy Arozarena created a near-instant Rays lead by swatting a Gerrit Cole offering into the second deck in left field. Though Arozarena paused to flex at third base, Cole said he wasn’t offended by the display: “He does that all the time, right? That’s predictable.”

Rizzo returned fire in the home half, reaching the right-field seats with a Statcast-projected 348-foot drive off Rays opener Trevor Kelley. Cole permitted a second-inning blast to Jose Siri, then held the damage, grinding through five innings. Cole has allowed four homers in his past two starts (all to the Rays) after surrendering none through his first seven.

“That’s an extremely good ballclub that plays everybody tough,” Cole said. “If you want to get where you want, you’re going to have to go through really good clubs. It just so happens they’re in our division and they’re playing great baseball.”

This is where the fun begins, at least for Volpe, who has seen increasingly hard contact lately. Facing Josh Fleming in the fifth, Volpe dug out a 91.7 sinker to slash a game-tying drive over the right-field wall for his fifth big league homer, then added a go-ahead RBI single facing Kevin Kelly in the seventh.

“I’m always staying the course, working every day and trying to find the right approach and the right game plan,” Volpe said.

Josh Lowe briefly gave Tampa Bay the lead in the eighth, swatting a three-run homer off right-hander Michael King. But the Force was again with Rizzo, who was in the midst of what Cole called “one of his top career games.”

In the home half of the eighth, Rizzo lifted Jason Adam’s changeup a projected 398 feet into the right-field seats for a two-run shot. As Rays manager Kevin Cash said, “We've seen it time and time again. It seems like he rises to the occasion, and he certainly did tonight.”

“I hit it really well; just high,” Rizzo said. “I thought I got enough of it, for sure. King has been so good for us, last year and this year, coming back from injury. It just felt good to put us back on top there.”

The man of the hour had spoken, noting that he’d never experienced a better promotional giveaway in his honor. But was he actually a Star Wars fan?

“I am now,” Rizzo quipped.