– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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NEW YORK — Keeping in line with the coexistence between the two American League East rivals, the headlines before and after tonight’s game were dominated by New York Yankees, yet the wins and better execution were pulled off by the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday evening.
Richie Palacios smacked a go-ahead two-run single as the key hit during a four-run eighth inning for the Rays, who defeated New York 4-2 inside Yankee Stadium. Jonathan Aranda tied the game one batter before with a run-scoring single as the rally started not long after Yankees starter Gerrit Cole exited his first Major League appearance in 569 days after throwing six scoreless innings for the Yankees.
The Rays have won four in a row and are a scintillating 16-3 in May.
Cole, the former Cy Young Award winner and future Hall of Famer, looked his normal self even though he was making his first start since Game 5 of the 2024 World Series, and left the game after allowing the Rays just two hits and keeping them scoreless after six innings.
Tampa Bay proceeded to bang out six hits in the last three innings, but their game-winning rally started with an error made by Yankees shortstop Jose Caballero on a hard-hit grounder by the speedy Chandler Simpson. The next four batters also reached base to turn the tide, with Junior Caminero’s single to set up a first-and-third situation immediately preceding Aranda’s double. After Yandy Diaz was intentionally walked, Palacios grounded a ball past reliever Tim Hill and a drawn-in infield to give Tampa Bay the lead for good.
One of the two hits Cole gave up tonight was to lead-off the game, a Simpson single to left center, but then didn’t allow his other base knock until one out in the fifth.
Nick Martinez, who came into tonight with the second-lowest ERA in the American League, navigated through trouble all evening as he also went six innings while allowing nine hits yet just one run — an Austin Wells solo shot to begin the fifth inning to open the scoring.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Friday evening’s game, with photos taken by staff photographer Chris Gonzalez. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 26 pictures in total.
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