After a day off, the New York Yankees (14-6) rallied late to defeat the Tampa Bay Rays (11-10) on Friday night at Yankee Stadium.
Coming off their first series loss in Toronto, the Yankees offense was mostly silent until the seventh inning. A solo home run from Rays left fielder Richie Palacios gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead in the sixth inning. The Yankees then pushed across five runs in a big inning in the bottom of the seventh, highlighted by a monster home run from none other than Juan Soto.
MORE: Juan Soto's electric homer is further proof Yankees need to extend him
Clarke Schmidt got the start for the Yankees and while it was a solid start, he still ran into some trouble during his third time through the order. Still, he gave the Yankees a chance to win for the majority of his start.
For more Yankees coverage, check out Kevin Hickey's work on Sporting News.
Yankees - Rays box score recap
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| TB | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 2 |
| NYY | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | - | 5 | 5 | 0 |
Top performers of the game
- OF Juan Soto: He only had one hit, but it was an electric home run in the bottom of the seventh inning. He also made a beautiful catch near the wall in right field to rob an extra-base hit.
- 3B Oswaldo Cabrera: He was credited with one hit, but he hit a hard chopper in the seventh inning to get the Yankees on the board with runners in scoring position. It was credited as an error, but it was a nice piece of hitting in a crucial spot.
- CP Clay Holmes: He worked around two leadoff singles to get out of the jam without allowing a run scored. He still has not allowed an earned run this season.
Clarke Schmidt's solid start
Schmidt got himself into some trouble early allowing baserunners in scoring position both in the first and second innings. However, he was able to get out of both jams, including three strikeouts in the second inning. It wound up being a solid start for Schmidt until the sixth-inning home run he gave up to Richie Palacios. After an infield single on a bobbled ball by Oswaldo Cabrera, Schmidt's night was done.
Here's the final line for Schmidt:
| IP | H | R (ER) | BB | K | HR | Pitches- Strikes | Whiffs | |
| Clarke Schmidt | 5.1 | 7 | 1 (1) | 0 | 7 | 1 | 102 - 69 | 13 |
Quick Hits
- Anthony Rizzo collected his 216th hit-by-pitch, which is eighth all-time and the current active MLB leader. He also rocked a Taylor Swift hoodie upon the release of her new album, "The Tortured Poets Department"
- Clarke Scmhidt's 102 pitches Friday night were a career-high. He also allowed nine hard-hit balls.
- Anthony Volpe's go-ahead RBI single in the seventh inning snapped an 0-for-14 skid.
- Juan Soto's seventh-inning home run was 110.9 miles per hour off the bat and traveled 409 feet.
- All five of the runs the Yankees scored in the bottom of the seventh inning were unearned.
- Clay Holmes' eighth save of the season makes him MLB's leader in saves.
- Juan Soto is one of two Yankees players with at least five home runs and 20 RBI in his first 20 games with the team. The other is Glenallen Hill (Sarah Langs).
- This win now makes the Yankees tied for the best record in the American league.
What’s Next?
The Yankees and Rays continue with Game 2 of the series Saturday at 1:05 p.m. ET. Before the game, the Yankees will honor longtime radio broadcaster John Sterling after he announced his retirement.
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