ST. PETERSBURG. Fla. (AP) Travis d’Arnaud hit a two-out homer off Chad Green in the bottom of the ninth inning, lifting the Tampa Bay Rays past the New York Yankees 4-3 on Saturday.
Aaron Hicks had tied it at 3 in the top of the ninth for the Yankees, homering on a 2-2, two-out pitch from Colin Poche (2-1).
D’Arnaud’s winning homer against Green (2-3) into the right-field seats got the Rays back within 7 1/2 games of the AL East-leading Yankees, who had won the first two games of a four-game series in extra innings. Tampa Bay is 3-9 against New York this season.
It was just New York’s third loss in its last 19 games.
Nate Lowe hit a go-ahead two-run homer off CC Sabathia in the seventh that gave Tampa Bay a 3-2 lead. He hit his first big league homer Friday night off Masahiro Tanaka.
Sabathia went a season-high seven innings, giving up three runs and seven hits.
The Yankees went up 2-1 in the seventh on Hicks’ RBI single off Jose Alvarado, who left with two outs with a right oblique strain.
Blake Snell, last year’s AL Cy Young Award winner, kept the game tied at 1 by getting a shallow fly to right from Aaron Judge and Hicks’ comebacker with the bases loaded in the fifth.
Judge, who fanned in his other two at-bats against Snell, is 1 for 12 with eight strikeouts overall against the left-hander.
Snell allowed one run and five hits over five innings. He went 2-3 with a 9.64 ERA in six starts last month.
Brett Gardner put the Yankees up 1-0 on a second-inning homer.
D’Arnaud had an RBI single later in the second for the Rays.
MCKAY MOVEMENT
After starting Friday night and not being available to pitch again before the All-Star break, the Rays optioned two-way player Brendan McKay to Triple-A Durham and recalled reliever Ian Gibaut. McKay is expected to pitch in Game 1 of a doubleheader next Saturday at Baltimore.
YANKEES MOVES
New York optioned INF Mike Ford to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after Friday night’s game. … LHP Daniel Camarena was signed to a major League contract before the game Saturday and selected to the Yankees’ 25-man roster from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
LATE ADDITION
Yankees RHP Masahiro Tanaka was added to the AL All-Star team as an injury replacement for Toronto’s Marcus Stroman. ”It will be a great thing if I can actually pitch in the game,” Tanaka said through a translator. ”When you look at your baseball career, it would be something that I can be proud of.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Yankees: 1B Luke Voit (abdominal strain) remains on target to be back right after the All-Star break.
Rays: Reliever Diego Castillo (right shoulder inflammation) threw batting practice and should be back Friday. … INF Matt Duffy, on the IL all season with a strained left hamstring, will join Class A Charlotte Monday.
UP NEXT
Rays All-Star RHP Charlie Morton (9-2) and Yankees LHP James Paxton (5-3) are Sunday’s starters.
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