The Yankees got a run in the 1st inning, on a sacrifice fly by Gary Sanchez. The 5th inning turned out to be the key. With 1 out, the Yankees got 4 straight singles, from Gleyber Torres, Cameron Maybin, DJ LeMahieu and Luke Voit. That turned a 2-1 Tampa lead into a 3-2 New York lead. Aaron Hicks struck out, but Sanchez singled home LeMahieu to make it 4-2.
The Rays got a run back in the 7th, but home runs by Maybin and Edwin Encarnacion, his 1st as a Yankee, forged the final score. Yankees 6, Rays 3. WP: Happ (7-3). SV: Aroldis Chapman (19). LP: Chaz Roe (0-3).
With this win, and the Minnesota Twins' 17-inning win over the Boston Red Sox despite an amazing catch by Jackie Bradley Jr., the Yankees now lead the Rays by 2 1/2 games and the Red Sox by 6 1/2 -- by 3 and 8, respectively, in the all-important loss column.
The Yanks-Rays series concludes this afternoon, weather permitting. The scheduled starters are CC Sabathia for us, and Blake Snell for them.
To paraphrase Sir Paul McCartney -- whose 77th birthday was yesterday -- Maybin, I'm amazed. He certainly is making his case to stay on the roster once Aaron Judge comes back. Who would get sent down instead? Is it too much to hope for that it's Luis Cessa and his gasoline can arm?
The U.S. men's soccer team opened the CONCACAF Gold Cup by beating Guyana 4-0 at Minnesota United's stadium in St. Paul. The women's team completes the Group Stage of the Women's World Cup tomorrow afternoon (our time), playing Sweden in Le Havre, France.