Bauers Smacks 12th Inning Homer As Rays Complete 3-Game Sweep Of Yankees
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Rookie Jake Bauers led off the 12th inning with a home run and the Tampa Bay Rays completed a three-game sweep of the New York Yankees with a 7-6 victory Sunday.
The Yankees, with the best record in the majors, also lost catcher Gary Sanchez when he appeared to injure his groin trying to beat out a double-play grounder in the 10th.
Giancarlo Stanton doubled twice and homered while going 5 for 5 for New York. The Yankees had been the only team in the majors that hadn't lost three in a row this year — this was the latest into any season they had gone without losing three straight since August 1954.
Bauers, who tripled earlier, homered on the first pitch from Chasen Shreve (2-2). Five previous New York relievers held Tampa Bay hitless for eight innings.
Brett Gardner opened the 12th with a bunt single that saw Rays reliever Jonny Venters strain his right hamstring and depart the game.
Ryan Yarbrough (7-3) replaced Venters and worked out of a first-and-third jam by getting a two-out grounder from Austin Romine, who replaced Sanchez.
Stanton hit a solo homer in the eighth off Vidal Nuno that made it 6-all. He reached on an infield single in the 10th before Sanchez hurt himself.
Nuno allowed one run over four innings.
Yankees pinch hitter Clint Frazier lofted a towering fly in the ninth that struck a speaker hanging from an overhead catwalk and shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria, as allowed by the ground rules at Tropicana Field, caught the carom for an out in shallow left.
Tampa Bay tied it in the second on Hechavarria's solo homer, and went up 6-3 when Carlos Gomez had an RBI single and Jesus Sucre drove in two with a double off Domingo German during the third.
Didi Gregorius and Stanton had consecutive run-scoring double in the fifth to make it 6-5. Miguel Andujar put the Yankees ahead 3-2 with a three-run homer in the second.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Yankees: RHP Masahiro Tanaka, on the 10-day disabled list since June 9 with strained left and right hamstrings, threw 26 pitches in his first bullpen session. He will get on the mound again Tuesday.
Rays: Gomez started after missing Saturday's game with a sore left wrist. He was hit by a pitch from CC Sabathia on Friday.
FIRST START
Yankees RHP Luis Cessa (0-0) will make his first start this season Wednesday night at Philadelphia. The move allows Sabathia to get a couple extra days of rest and start the opener Friday night of a three-game series with Boston at Yankee Stadium.
UP NEXT
Yankees: RHP Jonathan Loaisga (1-0) makes his third major league start Monday night against Philadelphia RHP Vince Velasquez (5-7).
Rays: LHP Blake Snell (9-4), with an extra day of rest, faces Washington LHP Gio Gonzalez (6-4) on Monday night.
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