ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Before Saturday’s game, Aaron Boone, while discussing Gleyber Torres’ early-season struggles, noted that several good Rays hitters got off to slow starts as well.
Two of the most notable hitters, Yandy Diaz and Randy Arozarena, spent the next few hours working with the Yankees.
Diaz and Arozarena both hit home runs off Nestor Cortez and continued to play for the rest of the game to lead the Rays to a 7-2 victory over the Yankees at Tropicana Field.
Diaz, who won last year’s AL batting title, entered Saturday’s game with a batting average of .237 and an OPS of .595. Arozarena was even calmer going into the game, hitting .143 with a .555 OPS.
But on Saturday, the top two members of the Rays’ batting lineup went 5-for-7 with three doubles, two home runs, five RBIs, and six RBIs to even the series ahead of Sunday’s softball game.
Anthony Volpe had three hits for the Yankees (26-15), but the rest of the lineup had only two hits.
In the seventh inning, with the Yankees trailing 4-2, Juan Soto appeared to be winning the game with a three-run homer, but his deep fly ball went just short of the center field wall.
The Rays (20-20) then broke the game open in the bottom of the inning with Diaz and Arozarena coming off the bench against reliever Dennis Santana.
For Cortes, Diaz’s big day was all too familiar.
The first baseman entered the game with a .370 batting average and 1.097 OPS against Yankees left-handed pitchers, and that trend continued Saturday as Diaz crushed the first pitch of the game and hit a home run.
After that, Cortez issued two walks in the first two innings and didn’t get into any more trouble, but he got a walk in the third inning.
Cortes led off by giving up a walk to No. 9 batter Jose Siri in the third inning, and Diaz followed with a double against the left field wall.
Arozarena came up next and dove on a fastball up the middle for a three-run home run, putting the Rays back up 4-2.
After falling behind in the early going, the Yankees came back in the second inning against tough right-hander Zach Littell and took the lead.
Anthony Rizzo gave up a walk, Austin Wells hit a double into space, and Trent Grisham loaded the bases with a two-out walk.
Volpe then singled to left-center field to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead, but Grisham circled wide around second base and was eventually tagged out for a pickle, so the chance for an extra point was quickly lost. disappeared.
