NEW YORK -- The Rays and Yankees found themselves in another dogfight on Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium. Like Friday night, New York came out on top -- this time by the score of 9-8. Tampa Bay has lost four of its past five games to drop to 30-11, still the best record in the Major Leagues.        

Saturday’s game -- in which the Rays blew a 6-0 lead after dominating for 4 1/2 innings -- may go down as Tampa Bay's most shocking loss of the season.

Left-hander Shane McClanahan shut the Yankees down for the first four innings and was given a comfortable lead in the top of the fifth. Yandy Díaz’s grand slam off left-hander Nestor Cortes gave Tampa Bay a 5-0 lead. The Rays added on that inning when Wander Franco scored on an infield single by Randy Arozarena.

“Nestor has been pretty good against us, but I felt we had a good approach [on Saturday],” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “Sometimes you don’t want to let a guy get deep in the count. You want to get after it early. I felt we were ready to go. A lot of aggressive swings, and then Yandy with the big one.”  

But, suddenly, McClanahan couldn’t get anybody out in the fifth inning. By the time he left the game, Tampa Bay’s lead was cut to 6-4. Kyle Higashioka and Aaron Judge both hit two-run homers. 

“Just good at-bats by the Yankees,” Cash said. “We didn’t execute a couple of pitches. They were able to get some guys on base by laying off some pitches -- 3-2 counts. A bunch of good hitters came to the plate and capitalized.”

Said Judge, “We just got into good counts. Against a pitcher like [McClanahan], we had to lay off some tough pitches and get ourselves in some good hitters' counts. We did that, and when he had to come in the zone, we took advantage of it. I think that's what really got us going there in that one inning to put some runs up against him. All year and even in the beginning of the game, he was pretty lights out."

McClanahan didn’t have any excuses. He said he didn’t make quality pitches.

“I have to do better than that,” McClanahan said. “The team expects it. I expect it. The fans expect it. Terrible. … I have to do a better job of a lot of things. I have to right the ship. I have to be better than that.”      

In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Yankees took the lead by scoring five runs against right-hander Ryan Thompson. Judge highlighted the scoring with a two-run homer, which gave New York a 7-6 lead.

“Throughout the inning, I got a little tired,” Thompson said. “I wasn’t really throwing as many strikes as I was hoping to. The pitch clock kind of got me a little on that 3-2 count to [Gleyber] Torres [who walked], and I threw a really bad pitch to one of the best players in the game. He made me pay for it.”

Right-hander Javy Guerra allowed a two-run single to Oswaldo Cabrera to make it a 9-6 game. Both runs were charged to Thompson.

However, Tampa Bay didn’t go down easily. The Rays made it a one-run game in the seventh when Arozarena singled up the middle off Clay Holmes, scoring Francisco Mejía and Díaz.

In the ninth with left-hander Wandy Peralta on the mound for the Yankees, the Rays had Arozarena representing the tying run on first base after he walked with two outs. But Brandon Lowe flied out to left to end the game.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was the Rays’ first loss after having a lead of six or more runs since July 27, 2019, against the Blue Jays.

“We have been one of the best pitching staffs in baseball for a really long time,” Thompson said. “So when they beat us, it’s not because they are good, it’s because we are making mistakes.

“I think if we do what we do, we are going to win the majority of the time. This is a game of baseball. [Friday] night with [Anthony] Rizzo, today with Judge, they are taking advantage of bad pitches. That’s what good players do. That’s why they are some of the best in the league.”