Masahiro Tanaka started for the Yankees, and got into the 7th inning. He allowed 4 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks, with 5 strikeouts. But he did not leave with the lead.
That wasn't Aaron Judge's fault. He hit an opposite-field home run in the 1st inning. It wasn't Mike Tauchman's fault, either, as he hit a 2-run single in the 5th.
No, Tanaka, as he occasionally does, did it to himself by giving up home runs, to Nate Lowe in the 4th and Mike Zunino in the 5th, to make it 4-3 Tampa Bay. (I saw the latter name, and it reached the soccer fan part of my brain, and I thought he was a Brazilian: "Zuninho.")
But Aaron Hicks hit a home run to tie the game in the 8th. Nestor Cortes finished the 7th and the 8th for the Yankees, and David Hale finished the 9th and the 10th.
In the 11th, Judge struck again, blasting one to center field. Gleyber Torres and Gio Urshela got aboard, and Brett Gardner hit a home run. For the 2nd night in a row, the Yankees smacked the Rays' bullpen around in extra innings.
Hale got the 1st out in the bottom of the 11th, but followed that by allowing a pair of singles. Aaron Boone decided that Hale had done his bit for and country, and, having held him back following his 9th inning collapse in the previous game, brought in Aroldis Chapman. He got a strikeout, then walked the next better to load the bases. Now, the tying run was at the plate, and it was, "Aw no, here we go again." But he got the next man out to end it.
Yankees 8, Rays 4. WP: Hale (2-0). SV: Chapman (24). LP: Ryan Stanek (0-2). The Yankees' lead over the Rays is now 8 1/2 games. The Boston Red Sox won last night, so they remain 11 games back.
The series continues this afternoon at 4:10 PM. CC Sabathia starts against Blake Snell.
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