Logo

The addition of Edwin Encarnacion and the return of Giancarlo Stanton will no doubt add power to an already powerful Yankee lineup.

But on Tuesday, the Yankees’ key hits were singles and they came from familiar faces, as DJ LeMahieu tied the game in the fifth and Luke Voit followed with the go-ahead hit in a 6-3 win over the Rays on a rainy night in The Bronx.

The victory was the fourth straight for the Yankees after they dropped three straight on the road and pushed their lead atop the AL East to 2½ games over Tampa Bay, who have now lost 14 of the last 15 series at Yankee Stadium.

“They’re a tough team to score runs against,’’ manager Aaron Boone said. “We’ve done our fair share of striking out this year and I know that’s always a subject with our team, but I feel like we’ve done a good job in spots of coming up with two-out, two-strike [hits].”

Once again, Cameron Maybin was in the middle of much of the action.

Maybin, who was stuck in the minors with Cleveland when the Yankees picked him up out of desperation because their outfield was ravaged by injuries, had three more hits — including a homer in a fourth straight game — and scored twice.

“Since we got him, he’s been a quality at-bat,’’ Boone said.

Now that Stanton is back and Aaron Judge could return as soon as Friday, Maybin’s roster spot will soon be in jeopardy.

J.A. Happ allowed two runs in five innings.Paul J. BereswillJ.A. Happ allowed two runs in five innings.Paul J. Bereswill

“We’ll see where we are as we work our way through this,’’ Boone said. “Those decisions, we don’t have to make any tonight or [Wednesday].’’

After the start of the game was delayed 76 minutes due to the weather, the Yankees took an early lead against Tampa Bay opener Ryne Stanek in the bottom of the first.

LeMahieu led off with an infield single and moved to second when Voit walked. Aaron Hicks grounded into a forceout, sending LeMahieu to third.

Gary Sanchez followed with a sacrifice fly to deep center, scoring LeMahieu.

Stanton, in his first at-bat since returning from the injured list, popped out to the catcher in foul territory to end the inning.

The Rays got to J.A. Happ in the second with three straight singles. The final hit was a rocket up the middle by Mike Zunino that drove in Kevin Kiermaier.

Stanek and Ryan Yarbrough kept the Yankees’ bats quiet after Voit’s walk, retiring 12 of the next 13 batters before the Yankees singled Chaz Roe to death in the fifth.

LeMahieu’s hit was yet another with runners in scoring position and scored Torres and Voit followed with another single to knock in Maybin.

After Hicks struck out, Sanchez grounded a single through the right side of the infield vacated by the shift. LeMahieu scored to make it 4-2.

The rally made a winner of Happ (7-3), who didn’t allow a homer for the first time since May 9. The left-hander also didn’t walk a batter after bases on balls had gotten him into trouble in his previous outing.

He allowed two runs in five innings before Boone turned to his bullpen, with Adam Ottavino tossing a scoreless sixth.

Tommy Kahnle struggled in the seventh, giving up a leadoff walk to Joey Wendle before Travis d’Arnaud doubled to left, plating Wendle to cut the Yankees’ lead to 4-3. Kahnle recovered to strike out Tommy Pham and Brandon Lowe before getting Avisail Garcia to ground out, preserving the one-run advantage.

Maybin struck in the bottom of the inning with a long homer to left. He briefly stared at the shot and Tampa Bay right-hander Oliver Drake threw his next pitch up and in to LeMahieu.

Zack Britton entered in the eighth and after a leadoff single by Willy Adames, the lefty made a bad throw on Kiermaier’s comebacker, but

Didi Gregorius scooped it for the first out and then Gregorius and Torres turned a nifty double play to end the inning.

Encarnacion got his first hit as a Yankee — a homer — in the eighth and said he feels like he’s fit in.

I don’t feel pressure. I just try to have fun,” he said. “That’s what it’s all about. … It’s pretty great. You feel better when you win.”

Comments
anonymous profile image
Powered by RoundtableBuilt on infrastructure designed for real-time media. Learn more at RTB.io.© Roundtable 2026. By using this site you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy