Tyler Glasnow’s first three starts this season were downright poetic. The 6-foot-8 right-hander was playing loose and relaxed, striking out everyone in sight and seeing positive results follow promptly.

Saturday’s box score suggested more of the same, but Glasnow took a much bumpier road to achieve a similarly excellent result. He battled every inch of the way through a five-inning, one-run outing during a 6-3 win against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. The Rays will have a chance to sweep their American League East rivals on Sunday.

• Box score

“I would just say that whole start was a grind,” Glasnow said. “Out of 30 starts or whatever a year, you’re gonna have some like that. This one, from start to finish, was pretty taxing.”

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Glasnow left the bases loaded after a 30-pitch first, and he stranded runners on the corners in a 24-pitch second. Those frames marked the highest one-inning pitch counts Glasnow has thrown this season, and both innings featured a mound visit from pitching coach Kyle Snyder.

Glasnow spiked sliders and sailed four-seamers. After yielding just three walks in three starts, he allowed three walks to the first eight Yankees hitters he faced Saturday.

In the mind of Rays manager Kevin Cash, Saturday’s adversity created a chance for Glasnow to take another step toward becoming one of the league’s most imposing pitchers.

“Maybe the biggest step is that he went out there, didn’t have his command, he wasn’t in sync, just didn’t feel right,” Cash said. “Didn’t look right, perform right, anything we’d seen over the last couple starts. But he held it together enough to buy some time to get it going. And then he got really, really dominant.”

Glasnow regained his release point and settled in by leaning on his high-90s fastball. The pitch, which had yielded a 2-for-25 (.080) result from opposing batters entering the day, per Statcast, was used to fan three Yankees throughout perfect third and fourth innings.

After setting a franchise record with 27 swings-and-misses his last time out, Glasnow settled for 13 whiffs on Saturday. But he also held the Yankees to just three hard-hit balls in play, none of which yielded hits.

All good then, right? Not exactly.

In the first at-bat of the fifth, Glasnow grimaced in pain and shook off his glove, clutching his left hand. What seemed like a scary situation at first turned out to be a bout of cramps, which Glasnow addressed by quickly downing water, Gatorade and a Right Stuff energy packet.

“It was so bad, I couldn’t stretch it out,” said Glasnow, who attributed the cramp to a pre-workout supplement he took in the fourth inning. “And then it just kept getting worse and worse.”

Third baseman Joey Wendle lightened the mood with a 1990s movie reference: “I said he looked like Jim Carey from 'Liar Liar' when he’s doing 'The Claw.'"

Glasnow begged Cash to let him stay in, and the skipper complied. Though Glasnow walked DJ LeMahieu two pitches later, he struck out two of the next three hitters to finish the frame. He needed a career-high-tying 105 pitches to do it, but the Rays’ ace found a way.

Offensively, Tampa Bay was ultra efficient. Its first three hits left the yard and produced enough run support to carry the team through a franchise-record sixth consecutive series win against the Yankees.

Glasnow, too, built on his recent dominance of the Yankees: He’s now 7-0 in his past 12 starts against them. He described his day as “weird,” “uncomfortable” and “sluggish,” but ultimately, he tamed New York’s potent lineup with relative ease.

Glasnow has already shown what he can do when everything is working. Saturday, he showed that even when it's not, the results are still favorable.

“I’m glad I got to go and battle,” he said. “Those honestly end up being the more memorable, meaningful starts for me. Just knowing I’m gonna have to go out there and work a little harder.”