Rays Sweep Yankees

Tampa Bay finished a three-game sweep of the New York Yankees on Sunday with a 5-4 win at Tropicana Field, the club’s first sweep of New York since April 16-18, 2021. (mlb.com) Drew Rasmussen threw six scoreless innings, allowed one hit, struck out seven and did not issue a walk in his first win of the 2026 season. (mlb.com) The Rays won the opener 5-3 on Friday after Yandy Díaz hit a tying two-run homer in the first inning, then took Saturday’s game 5-4 before closing the sweep with another 5-4 result on Sunday. (apnews.com) (mlb.com) (apnews.com) Sunday’s win pushed Tampa Bay above.500 at 8-7, while New York fell to 8-7 during a five-game losing streak. The two clubs ended the day tied with Baltimore atop the American League East. (apnews.com) (espn.com) The series stood out because Tampa Bay had not swept the Yankees in a three-game set in nearly five years, a stretch that ran back to the Rays’ April 2021 sweep in St. Petersburg. (mlb.com) Rasmussen’s outing came after he missed time for the birth of his daughter. He returned Sunday, retired 18 of 19 batters and threw 76 pitches, 51 for strikes. (mlb.com) The Yankees nearly erased the deficit in the ninth inning Sunday when Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer, but Tampa Bay held on by one run. Giancarlo Stanton also had a pinch-hit run-scoring grounder in the comeback attempt. (espn.com) New York heads home to open a series against the Los Angeles Angels on Monday, while Tampa Bay travels to face the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday. The sweep left both clubs at 8-7, but Tampa Bay carried the momentum out of St. Petersburg. (espn.com)