NEW YORK (AP) — Ryan McMahon drove in the winning run in the 11th inning with a single to deep center field, and the New York Yankees edged the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 on Wednesday night in a back-and-forth finish.
Trent Grisham hit a tying homer in the eighth, Anthony Volpe did the same in the ninth and Cody Bellinger evened the score again for the Yankees with an RBI triple in the 10th.
Moments later, New York took advantage of a critical balk by reliever Kevin Kelly (0-3) to remain four games behind first-place Toronto in the AL East.
Grisham’s leadoff homer in the eighth and Giancarlo Stanton’s run-scoring single off Bryan Baker gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead.
Josh Lowe put Tampa Bay back in front with a two-run homer off closer Devin Williams in the ninth, but Volpe went deep against Pete Fairbanks with one out in the bottom half.
Jonathan Aranda hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly against Luke Weaver in the 10th to put the Rays ahead 4-3 — but Jasson Domínguez made a terrific leaping catch at the left-field wall to prevent additional damage on the play.
Bellinger tied it with his triple to right-center off Edwin Uceta in the bottom half.
Kelly’s balk advanced runners to second and third with nobody out in the 11th, forcing the Rays to play their outfield shallow. McMahon, acquired last week from Colorado, hit a long fly to center that landed just shy of the warning track.
Tim Hill (4-3) worked a scoreless inning for the win, aided by McMahon’s leaping grab at third base to snag Lowe’s leadoff line drive.
Brandon Lowe doubled home a third-inning run for the Rays in his return from the injured list.
Key moment
Volpe hit his sixth homer in 12 games but committed his third throwing error in two nights at shortstop. He leads the majors with 16 errors.
Key stats
The Rays (54-55) dropped below .500 for the first time since May 24. They have lost eight of 10 and are a major league-worst 8-20 since June 27 following an MLB-best 25-9 stretch. … Grisham set a career high with his 18th home run.
Up next
Rays RHP Ryan Pepiot (6-8, 3.42 ERA) faces RHP Marcus Stroman (2-2, 6.09) in the finale of the four-game series Thursday afternoon.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
