ST. PETERSBURG -- When the Rays signed Charlie Morton to a club-record two-year, $30 million deal in the offseason, the hope was that the right-hander’s leadership, ability on the mound and invaluable experience would help Tampa Bay get into the postseason for the first time since 2013.

Immediately, Morton became a clubhouse leader for a young Rays team and he has backed it up on the mound, serving as the constant piece of a rotation that has been decimated by injuries all season.

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Morton has been worth every penny this season, but the 35-year-old put a stamp on a successful first regular season with Tampa Bay on Wednesday. In his 33rd start of the year, which extended a career high, Morton delivered six shutout innings to help the Rays sweep the two-game series against the Yankees with a 4-0 win at Tropicana Field, as four relievers finished off the one-hitter.

“Unbelievable. Amazing. I’m speechless just with the performance when we need him the most,” said Rays manager Kevin Cash. “We’ve been saying that for a month or six weeks -- every time he takes the ball, we really need him to step up. He certainly did tonight and quieted arguably the best lineup in baseball. Outstanding performance.”

The win gave the Rays a 1 1/2-game lead over the Indians, who lost to the White Sox, for the second American League Wild Card spot. Tampa Bay remained a half-game behind the A’s, who defeated the Angels, for the top AL Wild Card spot. With just three regular-season games left for the Rays, their magic number is down to three, which means Tampa Bay controls its own destiny this weekend in Toronto.

“I like our chances against any team,” said Rays infielder Joey Wendle. “Any pitcher we throw out there, I like our chances. We’re playing good baseball.”

Through five innings, Morton held a dangerous Yankees lineup without a hit. In fact, the Yankees didn’t record a hard-hit ball -- 95 mph or higher -- off Morton until Luke Voit hit a 101.4 mph groundout to Willy Adames to end the fifth inning. The Yankees didn’t record a hit until DJ LeMahieu laced a two-out single to right in the sixth.

Morton allowed just one hit through six innings and was able to keep the Yankees’ hitters off-balance all night, recording nine strikeouts. The right-hander recorded 16 swings and misses, 11 of them coming on his signature curveball.

“I think we did a pretty good job of mixing and I think I located decently and was aggressive,” Morton said. “I think we had a pretty good game plan and executed well.”

Behind Morton, the Rays’ offense was able to do enough against Yankees opener Jonathan Loaisiga. Wendle immediately gave the Rays the lead with a leadoff home run, and Brandon Lowe tacked on a second run in the first with an RBI single to give Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead. In the sixth, Matt Duffy added on with an RBI double to make it 3-0, and Avisaíl García capped it off in the eighth with a solo home run that struck the C-ring catwalk at Tropicana Field to give the Rays a 4-0 lead.

With the Rays holding on to a three-run lead in the eighth, Nick Anderson recorded one of the biggest outs of the game, striking out Aaron Judge swinging on a 2-2 fastball with two on to end the inning.

“I know today wasn’t a no-hitter or a perfect game, but I would be hard-pressed to think of a better-pitched game than tonight,” Wendle said. “From start to finish, that was one of the most impressive things.”

Just how impressive was the performance by the Rays’ pitching staff?

The Rays joined the Rangers as just the second team to complete a shutout against the Yankees this season. Tampa Bay also became the first team to hold New York to one hit since Boston on Aug. 3, 2018. Perhaps more impressive is that the Rays held the Yankees to just one run in 21 innings over the two-game set.

“They have such a good staff,” LeMahieu said. “I don’t know if it’s the building or the pitchers. Maybe it’s a little bit of both. Overall, it was a weird couple of days for us offensively.”

On Wednesday, that all started with Morton, who won his 16th game of the season, which set a new career high. Morton became just the third pitcher this season to go at least six scoreless innings against the Yankees, joining Texas’ Mike Minor and Minnesota’s Jake Odorizzi.

It was likely the last outing of the regular season for Morton, barring something unlikely. The next time that the Rays would have Morton back on the mound could be for the AL Wild Card game on Oct. 2. With the way he pitched on Wednesday -- and all season -- it’ll be hard to imagine anybody other than the veteran on the mound.

“Whatever game I pitch in next is going to be a big game, it doesn’t matter,” Morton said. “It’s a game that needs to be approached with the same amount of importance as any game that I’ve ever pitched.”

Choi exits game

First baseman Ji-Man Choi left the game in the eighth inning after fouling a pitch off his left foot. X-rays were negative for Choi and he is considered day to day.

“X-rays were negative, so that’s good,” Cash said. “But I would imagine he will be pretty sore.”