Scoring the bulk of their runs early on, the Yankees out-slugged the Rays in a 9-2 win, one that helped Gerrit Cole move above .500 with his tenth win of the season. However outdated that stat is to evaluate an individual performance, Cole certainly appreciates making it eight of eight winning seasons since leaving the Pirates.
Dominant and facing a team willing to run its starter into the ground, the Yankees had a small home run derby, averaging one homer per inning through the first four to set
up this dismantling of the AL East champs. Rays starter Mason Englert saw his outing begin by allowing a milestone homer to Ben Rice — his 40th on the season — and come to an end in a fourth inning in which he also allowed a solo shot to Rice.
This was only Rice’s second multi-homer game this year, showing he has spread out his home runs quite nicely, but even more surprisingly, they both came against the Rays. Oh, and in the middle of Rice’s two solo homers, Englert allowed another six runs to put this game to bed before it could truly be a contest, five of them also coming via the long ball.
Playing with a point to prove hitting in the second spot in the order for the first time this season, George Lombard Jr. left the yard in the third. Later in that same inning, the Yankees loaded the bases for Ryan McMahon, normally not the most daunting of statements, but not the case tonight. The Yankees’ starting third baseman seized the opportunity and got ahold of one Joey Gallo-style with a 40-degree launch angle, keeping it fair for the Yankees’ third grand slam of 2026 — this from a team that, prior to the final month of the season, hadn’t hit one in 2026.
Initially, McMahon’s home run felt like your traditional Yankee Stadium special, but upon a visit to Baseball Savant, it actually would have gone out in 13 other ballparks, even more impressive than it looked. As far as this general power surge goes, while the Yankees were on fire, we’d be remiss not to mention Englert’s recent struggles to keep the ball in the yard — this being his second straight road outing against an AL East team with three or more home runs allowed.
Securing a massive lead after three frames, the Yankees set up an ideal platform for Gerrit Cole to attack the zone, but that’s not exactly what we saw. Cole kept the Rays in check with just two runs in 5.2 innings but ran a high pitch count with one of his lowest Zone% of the season, leaving the game with 105 pitches.
The Cedric Mullins Jr. solo shot aside, this approach — however intentional it was — paid off for Cole, with the Rays earning just three hits off the Yankees starter. Cole could’ve left the game with 90-plus pitches after five in a blowout, but Aaron Boone gave him at least the chance to start the sixth. Brent Headrick, John Schreiber, Tim Hill, Paul Blackburn, and David Bednar followed in that order to keep the Rays at just a pair of runs.
Touching base again on the lineup test, while Lombard certainly impressed with that solo shot, it must be noted he finished the game with a golden sombrero, striking out in his other four at-bats. Ali Sánchez looked set to be the only Yankee not to reach safely in this game, but a leadoff single in the eighth prevented that from happening.
Tomorrow is another day, bringing another starter/long reliever taking the ball for the Rays and an ace-caliber pitcher going for the Yankees. Lefty Ian Seymour and his impressive 29.0 percent K% in well over 100 innings will meet Cam Schlittler, putting the finishing touch on a Cy Young-worthy campaign. It’ll be the last time these two teams face each other in the regular season, but hopefully not in the year, as the Yankees must go through the Red Sox before an eventual date with the Rays in the ALDS.
Box score
