The Rays spent Sunday trying to turn a bullpen game into a series win, but the Yankees had other plans and walked out with a 12-4 victory in the finale.
Tampa Bay opened the day with exactly the kind of start it wanted. Drew Rasmussen worked a clean first inning, and in the bottom half Junior Caminero jumped on a pitch for a solo homer with two outs. That early burst, though, didn’t last long.
The game flipped hard in the third. Max Schuemann opened the inning with a double, Ryan McMahon followed with another double to bring him in, and Trent Grisham singled home McMahon.
Then Ben Rice launched a home run that stood after review, adding two more runs. Jasson Dominguez singled, stole second, and later scored on a Cody Bellinger single.
Jose Caballero, now on the other side of the matchup, singled in another run, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. added a sacrifice fly. By the time Caballero moved up on a throwing error from Nick Fortes, Rasmussen was done after a rough inning that sent Cam Booser in to clean up.
The Rays answered right back against the Yankees’ bullpen. Nick Fortes walked, Yandy Diaz and Jonathan Aranda singled to load the bases, and Caminero’s fielder’s choice brought home Fortes.
Victor Mesa Jr. then lined a ground-rule double to score Diaz. It was only two runs, but it at least kept Tampa Bay within reach after the early damage.
That hope didn’t hold for long. Austin Wells hit a solo homer in the fourth, and the Yankees kept stacking traffic in the sixth when Wells walked, Grisham doubled, and Rice homered. Tampa Bay did get a run back in the bottom of that inning when Chandler Simpson tripled and Ben Williamson singled him home, but the Rays still trailed 10-4 after six.
The middle and late innings belonged to New York’s depth. Casey Legumina escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fifth without allowing a run, but Craig Kimbrel gave up another RBI double to McMahon in the seventh. Chris Roycroft then allowed Rice to walk, Dominguez to single, and Bellinger to drive in another run with a single in the eighth.
The Rays’ final turn with the bats came and went quietly, and then the ninth brought one last odd twist: Ben Williamson took the mound for Tampa Bay and got the Yankees in order. Tim Hill handled the final frame for New York, and although Aranda picked up a two-out single, the Rays never threatened again.
The Yankees took the game, and the four-game series ended in a draw.
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