Rays do what they do well, lead Yankees 2-0 in AL Division Series

Sports admin October 6, 2026 0 Comments

Rays do what they do well, lead Yankees 2-0 in AL Division Series

The Rays figured to need some help Monday against Yankees ace Cam Schlittler, the clear American League Cy Young Award favorite, in Game 2 of the AL Division Series.

And they got some, most notably the Yankees making a postseason-record-tying three errors in the first inning.

But the Rays only got one run out of New York’s early defensive deficiencies. And when the Yankees tied the game in the fourth on a Ben Rice homer, then threatened in the fifth while chasing Tampa Bay starter Freddy Peralta, it looked like the Rays may have blown their chance.

But here’s a thing about the Rays throughout this AL-leading season – give them a chance, and they often will find a way to beat you.

And Monday night they did just that, combining three hits, a few ground balls and their usual aggressive chaos-causing baserunning for a four-run fifth inning and a 5-2 win before a second straight Tropicana Field sellout crowd announced at 40,226.

“Just put it in play and make something happen,” said catcher Liam Hicks. “That’s kind of how this team plays.”

Now they only have to beat the Yankees one more time in three games – albeit with the next two slated for New York – to play for the American League pennant.

Teams that take a 2-0 lead in best-of-five postseason series, per mlb.com, go on to win 89.2% of the time (83 of 93), and teams that do so at home win 91.7% of the series under the current 2-2-1 format (33 of 36).

In other words, the chances are a lot better than being tied 1-1.

“It’s pretty significant,” manager Kevin Cash said. “We’re getting ready to go to a place that obviously they play well there. They have a tremendous fan base that really supports them. It’s going to be challenging.

“But we’ve set ourselves up in a good way by getting on a plane here up 2-0.”

And while they have three shots at that one needed win, outfielder Jonny DeLuca said, “hopefully we can get it done Wednesday.”

The Rays started the fifth with the second single of the night by Jonathan Aranda, who came into the game 1-for-8 against Schlittler with six strikeouts. A double by Junior Caminero set them up to score.

Hicks bounced a 55.1 mph ball to second, and with Aranda breaking on contact – a play the Rays put on often – New York’s Jazz Chisholm Jr. could only get the out at first.

Chandler Simpson then did what he does so well, slapping a 64.8 mph ball to the left side with his speed forcing the defense into another mistake. Shortstop George Lombard Jr. couldn’t make the play and Caminero, also moving on contact, raced home to make it 3-1.

“It was was timely on our part, given you could feel a momentum shift after Ben’s home run,” Cash said. “But Cami, Aranda both set the tone. We probably had the right guys coming up. I know they didn’t knock the cover off the ball.

“But putting pressure on the defense with Chandler and Hicksy, we value those guy a lot just from moving the baseball. We talk about it a lot, and they did.”

That was important, because it ended the night for Schlittler, who got serenaded again after what one veteran New York writer called “A-Rod-level booing” during pregame introductions.

They added on from there, as DeLuca reached on the Yankees’ fourth error, an off-target throw by Lombard.

Richie Palacios, a native New Yorker, delivered what Cash called “probably the biggest hit in the game,” a two-run single to expand the lead to 5-1.

Cash praised the tenacity of the lineup.

“It’s infectious how they go about the lineup, knowing when that guy’s on base, there’s a job to get done and they work really hard to get it done,” Cash said.

Peralta enjoyed the show: “We’re amazing. These guys, you can see the confidence when they are going to the plate, doing the little things in every at-bat.”

Palacios’ hit was the Rays’ first with a runner in scoring position, as they’d been 0-for-10 to that point. But they had a plan against Schlittler, and it was working, evidenced by only two strikeouts, his fewest of the season. He averaged 11.1 K’s per nine innings and had at least five in 30 of his 33 starts.

“That was part of the plan, just touching the ball off him,” hitting coach Chad Mottola said. “Obviously, he’s an elite pitcher with an elite fastball. The approach was just to move the ball forward. Don’t try to do too much with it.

“We left some runners on, but each inning it was not striking out, moving the ball and hopefully finding holes eventually. It finally happened in the fifth inning. Even the two infield RBIs with the infield in, it was moving the ball forward.”

Though Peralta didn’t get through the fifth, he did enough to give the Rays a chance to win. “I thought he threw the ball incredibly well,” Cash said. “It was a tough decision.”

Cam Booser walked Rice but got out Cody Bellinger on a deep fly to center, leaving the bases loaded.

And then lefty Ian Seymour, who had the best numbers of any Rays pitcher against the Yankees with no specific role, played a huge one, getting nine outs while allowing an eighth-inning homer to Rice. Closer Bryan Baker finished.

“That’s kind of what (we’ve) been doing all year,” Booser said. “Just finding a way, finding a way, finding a way. You put pressure on them, and before you know it you look up and you’ve got a couple of runs on the board.”

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This story was originally published October 5, 2026 at 11:35 PM.