Yankees score twice in ninth but fall short against Rays
The Yankees' Gary Sanchez returns to the dugout after striking out against the Rays during the ninth inning of an MLB game at Yankee Stadium on Friday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The Yankees will have to keep the champagne on ice a little longer.
They had a magic number of two to clinch a wild-card spot going into Friday night’s game against the AL East champion Rays, but there was no celebration in the Bronx as Tampa Bay beat the Yankees, 4-3, before 41,469.
The Yankees went into Friday knowing they would clinch a playoff spot with a win and either a Boston or Seattle loss. They also could have clinched the wild-card home game with a win and a Boston loss. But that didn’t happen.
With two games remaining, the Yankees fell to 91-69, one game ahead of the Red Sox (90-70), who beat the Nationals, 4-2. Toronto (89-71) earned a 6-4 victory over Baltimore to move into a tie with the Mariners (89-71), who lost to the Angels, 2-1. Two of the teams will make it. The other two will go home.
"We need these next two, for sure,'' said Giancarlo Stanton, who had two hits and his 97th RBI. "Tonight is over with. We’ve got another one in 12 hours."
"I don’t think there’s disappointment,’’ Yankees starter Nestor Cortes said. "We came in with a plan and obviously you wanted to win, knowing what was at stake. But you know what? We have an opportunity to do it again tomorrow."
Each team scored twice in the ninth. The Yankees were a strike away from bringing a 2-1 deficit into the bottom of the inning, but Wander Franco’s two-out, two-run single on a 3-and-2 pitch from Albert Abreu gave the Rays a 4-1 lead, with the runs charged to Domingo German.
The Yankees — who had gone 1-for-9 with runners on base to that point — made it exciting in the bottom of the inning. Stanton doubled with one out, took third on defensive indifference and scored when — with the left side of the infield completely open — Joey Gallo bunted the ball hard for a single that reached the grass in shallow leftfield. Gio Urshela followed with a single to right and Brett Gardner did the same to bring the Yankees within 4-3.
But with the tying run at second and the winning run on first, Andrew Kittredge struck out pinch hitter Gary Sanchez on three pitches and Rougned Odor on four pitches to end it.
"That’s one of the things that made them the division winners and the best team in the league," Aaron Boone said. "They’ve always obviously been good at that run prevention and they were able to hold us down. I thought a number of guys hit some balls really well . . . Just couldn’t break through enough. Love the fight there at the end and the quality of at-bats there at the end. Just couldn’t break through."
German struck out three of the first five batters he faced in his first appearance since July 31 but allowed a pair of one-out walks in the ninth. Abreu then got a forceout at second before allowing Franco’s key hit.
On using German in 2-1 game, Boone said, ‘’Like I’ve been saying every day when asked about him, he’s going to be in some difficult situations. We’ve got to lean on everyone down there. I thought he came in and threw the ball well. Obviously, the walks there hurt him to knock him out of the game, but I thought overall he threw the ball pretty well."
Tampa Bay took a 1-0 lead in the first on Nelson Cruz’s 32nd home run, a two-out blast to left, but the Yankees tied it in the bottom of the inning. Gleyber Torres doubled on lefthander Shane McClanahan’s first pitch of the game and scored on Stanton’s two-out single to right.
Tampa Bay took the lead back in the second on Kevin Kiermaier’s two-out single over the head of shortstop Urshela.
With the bases loaded in the seventh, Jonathan Loaisiga struck out Franco on a 3-and-2 pitch. Kiermaier tripled with two outs in the fifth, but Clay Holmes struck out Randy Arozarena on a 3-and-2 pitch.
"We’ve put ourselves in a pretty good position here heading into the weekend," Boone said before the game. "But I think everyone in that room understands that we’re not even close to having accomplished anything or, certainly, what our ultimate goal is. We’re really are just trying to focus in each and every day on the task at hand. I like where our mindset is, where our focus is, where our preparation is."
Standing on the other side of that were the Rays (99-61), who probably would love nothing more than to prevent the rival Yankees from making the playoffs. Tampa Bay, which will play the winner of Tuesday’s wild-card game in the Division Series, used its ‘’A’’ lineup against Cortes.
"I would expect them to come in here and be very competitive and want to win these games," Boone said. "I’m sure if there’s anything that they’re worried about with any guys physically, they’ll probably be cautious in those areas, but I’m sure they’re out to come beat us."
With DJ LeMahieu out of the lineup and unavailable because of a hip injury, Boone went with a funky-looking batting order. Torres was in the leadoff spot for only the third time this season and the fifth time in his career. Odor started at third base, only his second start since Sept. 9. Gallo, who didn’t start Thursday’s game in Toronto because of a sore forearm, returned to the lineup. And Kyle Higashioka started for the third straight game behind the plate.
Boone said before the game that LeMahieu — who left Thursday’s game in the sixth inning — was set to meet with the team doctor, who would determine the extent of his injury.
Anthony Rieber covers sports media and business and professional sports (you know, games and trades and things). He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since Jan. 1, 2026.
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