With Gerrit Cole on the mound, manager Kevin Cash said the Rays needed to do all the little things well in order to win a game anticipated to be a low-scoring affair.

That’s exactly what happened in the 4-2 victory over the Yankees on Wednesday at Yankee Stadium, as the Rays got stellar starting pitching from Tyler Glasnow, clutch hitting against Cole and the Yankees' bullpen and another solid performance by Tampa Bay’s high-leverage relievers.

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“Very high level of confidence in the clubhouse, for sure,” said Rays utilityman Michael Brosseau. “The combination of knowing that we’re really good and having that confidence and also putting it out on the field as far as pitchers doing their things, hitters coming up with timely hits and everybody is doing their part -- it’s a dangerous team, for sure.”

The Rays came into the three-game series against the Yankees looking to make up ground against New York in the American League East standings, and they’ve done exactly that. With the win, the Rays clinched just their second series win at Yankee Stadium since the start of the 2015 season and are now just a half-game behind the Yankees for first place.

Tampa Bay also improved to 5-1 against the Yankees this season and became the first visiting team to win a series in the Bronx since the White Sox from April 12-14, 2019, snapping a 27-series home unbeaten streak.

“There’s a lot of confidence right now, and for good reason,” said Rays manager Kevin Cash. “They’re playing really, really well.”

Let’s take a look at three keys to the Rays’ win over the Yankees on Wednesday.

1) Timely hitting

Ji-Man Choi and Mike Zunino have struggled offensively this season, but both players came up big against Cole, giving the Rays a much-needed early lead. Choi launched a solo home run off Cole in the second inning, recording just his second homer of the season. Zunino tacked on, giving the Rays a 2-0 lead with a solo homer of his own in the third.

While Zunino and Choi provided the power against Cole, the Rays’ offense also got some timely hitting against the Yankees’ bullpen. Like most teams, hitting with runners in scoring position has been the key for the Rays’ success this season.

Coming into Wednesday’s game, the Rays were batting .296 (40-for-135) with runners in scoring position in the 15 wins, compared to just .193 (11-for-57) in the nine losses. On Wednesday, the Rays were just 2-for-7 with RISP, but Brosseau and Willy Adames delivered RBI singles off Zack Britton in the eighth inning, giving the Rays the decisive 4-2 lead.

“That was big,” Cash said, when asked about Brosseau’s at-bat. “We’re facing as good as anybody in baseball with the back end of their bullpen, and Brosseau, credit him a lot for laying off two pitches and getting the ball up. We know how good Britton can be, but when you expand with him, that’s when he really induces a lot of weak contact, and Bross did not.”

2) Glasnow bounces back

On Wednesday, Glasnow looked more like the pitcher the Rays have come to expect.

He entered Wednesday’s start with a 7.04 ERA and 10 walks over his first four starts after dealing with command issues, particularly with his fastball. Against the Yankees, Glasnow still walked three, but allowed just two runs on two hits and struck out eight over 5 2/3 innings.

“The highlight for me, and probably for all of us, was Glasnow,” Cash said. “He looked the part. We’ve kinda been waiting to see that, really encouraged by his performance and just an outstanding job strike-throwing and just overall stuff.”

Glasnow threw 88 pitches on Wednesday and had all three of his pitches working for the first time this season. Glasnow threw 48 fastballs, topping out at 99.4 mph and recording 13 called strikes on the pitch. The fastball opened up Glasnow’s curveball, with which he recorded six swings-and-misses. It also allowed the right-hander to throw seven changeups -- a pitch he only throws about 3 percent of the time -- five of them landing for strikes.

“Much better. I think that was the first time I started to feel comfortable on the mound,” Glasnow said. “It started out relatively good, and as the game went on, it got a little better. As far as the consistency and the strike-throwing goes, it was much more consistent today.”

3) The ‘pen answers the call … again

With the game tied at 2 in the sixth, Cash turned to his bullpen to slow down the Yankees’ offense. And they answered the call, much like they’ve done over the last few seasons.

Pete Fairbanks, who is getting more high-leverage opportunities with the injuries to Andrew Kittredge, Oliver Drake, Colin Poche and José Alvarado, had a big strikeout against Aaron Hicks in the seventh to keep the game tied.

After Fairbanks, Nick Anderson did Nick Anderson things, striking out two in the eighth. He has yet to allow a run in 11 appearances this season. In the ninth, after Chaz Roe got into some trouble, Jalen Beeks came in and got Miguel Andújar and Thairo Estrada to strike out swinging to end the game. The Rays’ bullpen now has 134 strikeouts this season, most in the AL.

“Outstanding,” Cash said. “We’re going to need guys to step up with some of these injuries we’ve had. Jalen can be a big part of that.”