The Yankees may be reaching a turning point. 

It is a small sample, less than a week out of a 162-game season, but after two Aaron Judge home runs and the legs of Anthony Volpe led the Yankees to a second straight comeback, feel-good victory over the Rays, 9-8 on Saturday afternoon in The Bronx, the window of opportunity looks to have opened. 

Asked afterward whether it was the most impactful win of the season, Judge paused and rocked back and forth on his feet. 

“It’s tough to say,” he said. “It was a big one for sure, especially going against a guy [Rays starter Shane McClanahan] that’s leading every single category pitching-wise in the AL so far. … A lot of good team at-bats. Guys moving runners over, seeing guys lay bunts down, just keeping them guessing out there is huge. This is a big win.” 

Almost immediately after Nestor Cortes allowed a five-spot in the top of the fifth on Saturday, which gave the Rays a 6-0 lead and could have brought an end to the competitive proceedings, the Yankees refused to bow down and rallied for the second straight game to beat Tampa Bay. 

Kyle Higashioka and Judge cut the deficit to 6-4 in the bottom half of the inning with a pair of two-run home runs that chased McClanahan and set the tone for the rest of the afternoon. 

Volpe got the Yankees within 6-5 in the sixth inning by manufacturing a run all by himself: He legged out a bunt single, stole two bases, then raced home on a wild pitch. 

After Ryan Thompson walked Gleyber Torres, that brought up Judge, who sent a 1-2 slider into the second deck in left field at 113.5 miles per hour for his second home run pf the day and a 7-6 lead.

Oswaldo Cabrera, who had been inserted into the game for Isiah Kiner-Falefa in left field just an inning earlier, added two insurance runs by driving in Anthony Rizzo and DJ LeMahieu with a base hit through the four-hole. 

“When Judge made it 6-4 with that home run, kinda had the feel of last week when they came back on Gerrit [Cole],” Rizzo said. “Kinda talking about that in the dugout a little bit.” 

Replicating what Tampa Bay did to the Yankees last weekend in rallying for back-to-back wins was not going to be easy.

The Rays clawed back to within a run as Randy Arozarena singled home two runs in the seventh, putting the Yankees within spitting distance of blowing the game. 

But Clay Holmes escaped the seventh without any further damage, then worked in and out of trouble in the eighth.

That left the ninth for Wandy Peralta, who slammed the door. 

“I feel like with this team and our offense we’re never out of a game,” Judge said. “Especially with the bullpen arms we got there to give us a couple zeroes, it’s about us getting something as an offense. [Reliever] Jimmy Cordero came in and, 6-0 game, he’s like ‘Hey guys, we got this, we got this.’ That kinda pumped everybody up hearing that message.” 

After navigating the first four innings while giving up just one run, Cortes hit a wall in the fifth, loading the bases by walking Margot and Jose Siri before giving up a single to Francisco Mejia.

Yandy Diaz then belted a grand slam off a 2-1 cutter. 

On a day when he finished with just three strikeouts, flirting with hard contact until disaster struck, Cortes was hooked after 4 ¹/₃ innings, credited with allowing six earned runs. 

Wander Franco, who doubled off Cortes before the pitcher was removed, came around to score on an infield single from Arozarena, a play which Rays manager Kevin Cash successfully challenged. 

At that point, the game looked on course for the sort of loss that would have wiped the morale-boosting victory from Friday clean and inspired speculation of whether sweeping the Athletics earlier in the week was worth anyone’s time. 

“Not ideal,” manager Aaron Boone said. “But again, with what I’ve been seeing with these guys, after what’s been going on — the hookup in the dugout, the compete has been there.” 

It was there on Saturday, just as it has been as the Yankees have won five of their past six games.

They are guaranteed at least a split with the Rays, with a chance to take three of four with a victory Sunday afternoon.

They are seven games behind the AL East leading Rays, which could be six by the end of Sunday. 

And maybe by then, the sky will no longer be falling over The Bronx.