Jonathan Aranda chopped an infield single against a five-man infield with one out in the 10th inning and the Tampa Bay Rays outlasted the New York Yankees for a 5-4 victory on Saturday night in St. Petersburg, Fla.
The Rays scored twice off David Bednar (0-2) without hitting a ball out of the infield. The hosts forged a 4-4 tie when automatic runner Cedric Mullins scored on a soft bunt single as Bednar’s throw to the plate was late.
After Yandy Diaz was intentionally walked, Bednar struck out Hunter Feduccia. Aranda swung and missed at a fastball but on the next pitch he chopped a splitter to second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr.
Chisholm charged in and bobbled the ball as he attempted to field it in the baseline and Chandler Simpson easily scored the game-winning run.
Aranda’s hit capped a day when the Rays came back from three one-run deficits.
Cole Sulser (1-0) allowed Jose Caballero’s two-out RBI single in the top half of the 10th but gave the Rays a chance to rally by retiring Amed Rosario on a groundout.
Caballero also hit a two-run double in the eighth off Bryan Baker but the Rays tied it at 3 in the bottom half when Simpson scored on Diaz’s infield single to first baseman Ben Rice.
Aranda lifted a sacrifice fly to give the Rays a 2-1 lead in the sixth and Jonny DeLuca hit a tying RBI single in the second.
Austin Wells homered in the second but the Yankees went 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position, stranded 12 and lost their fourth straight while failing to come through in clutch spots.
In the fifth, the Yankees loaded the bases and chased Tampa Bay starter Nick Martinez, but. Giancarlo Stanton struck out with the bases loaded to end the inning against Kevin Kelly.
Cody Bellinger struck out on three pitches to end the seventh against Ian Seymour with Aaron Judge on first.
New York starter Max Fried allowed three runs on six hits in eight innings. Fried struck out six and walked one.
Martinez gave up one run on five hits in 4 2/3 innings. The veteran right-hander struck out four and walked three.
