Rays beat Yankees 5-2 in Game 2, take 2-0 ALDS lead

The Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees 5-2 on Monday night in St. Petersburg, Florida, to take a 2-0 lead in their American League Division Series, according to the Associated Press, Reuters, The Boston Globe and Fox News. The Rays are one win from the AL Championship Series. Game 3 in the best-of-five series is Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium, the AP and The Boston Globe reported. Fox News reported the Game 3 pitching matchup will be Yankees ace Max Fried against the Rays’ 15-game winner, Nick Martinez. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]

Richie Palacios hit a two-run single in a four-run fifth inning, the AP and The Boston Globe reported. The Boston Globe described the sequence: Jonathan Aranda singled, Junior Caminero doubled, and Liam Hicks hit a grounder that scored Aranda. Chandler Simpson then hit a grounder that shortstop George Lombard Jr. booted, scoring Caminero; the play was initially ruled a hit, then an error, then a fielder’s choice. After Simpson stole second, Jonny DeLuca reached on a grounder when Lombard’s throw to first was wide for New York’s fourth error, and Palacios followed with a single to make it 5-1. Fox News reported a different account of the errors, saying three first-inning defensive errors gave Tampa Bay an early 1-0 lead when Junior Caminero hit into a fielder’s choice. Fox also reported the Yankees loaded the bases in the fifth but Cody Bellinger flied out, and the Rays then scored on an RBI groundout by Hicks, an RBI infield hit by Simpson and Palacios’s two-run single. [ 1 , 4 , 5 ]

Freddy Peralta started for the Rays and allowed one run and three hits in 4⅔ innings, the AP and The Boston Globe reported. Cam Booser pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth, and Ian Seymour gave up one run. The Yankees started Cam Schlittler, whom The Boston Globe described as the likely AL Cy Young Award winner; Brent Headrick replaced him and struck out Victor Mesa Jr., according to the AP and The Boston Globe. [ 1 , 4 , 5 ]

Ben Rice hit a pair of home runs for the Yankees, the AP, The Boston Globe and Fox News reported. The Boston Globe noted Rice is from Cohasset, Massachusetts. The Yankees are on the verge of elimination, which would extend their World Series drought to 17 seasons, the AP and The Boston Globe reported. They were dominated by Drew Rasmussen in the series opener and have scored just two runs in two games, with three-time AL MVP Aaron Judge out of the lineup due to a calf injury, according to those outlets. Fox News reported that the loss marked the fifth postseason game in Yankees franchise history with four or more errors, and that New York’s frustration peaked when Spencer Jones hit a fly ball that struck the Tropicana Field catwalk for an out under ‘live-play’ rules. [ 1 , 4 , 5 ]