The New York Yankees (12-7) defeated the Tampa Bay Rays (8-11) 6-3 on Thursday night at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. It was the third straight loss for Tampa Bay, who dropped the final two games of their three-game series against the Red Sox.
After Aaron Judge drove in a run for New York in the first inning, the Rays rallied to a 3-1 lead thanks to a sacrifice fly from Taylor Walls in the second and a two-run homer from Junior Caminero in the third. It was then New York's turn to rally, getting two runs in the fifth and three in the sixth to turn this game into a 6-2 win.
Taj Bradley (2-1, 5.24) took the loss for the Rays, allowing six earned runs on nine hits in five and one-third innings of work while striking out three and walking four.
The Rays and Yankees now meet in the second game of the four-game series coming up on Friday night. Drew Rasmussen (1-0, 0.60) is scheduled to start for the Rays and face Carlos Rodon (1-3, 5.48) for New York. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM on Friday night - pregame coverage begins with Ronnie Lane hosting the Inside Pitch at 6:00 PM on 95.3 WDAE & AM 620, your Home of Rays Baseball.
COVER PHOTO COURTESY GETTY IMAGES