NEW YORK — Rookie Victor Mesa Jr. belted a tiebreaking two-run homer in the sixth inning and the Tampa Bay Rays earned a 4-3 victory over the New York Yankees on Wednesday to complete a three-game sweep of their American League Division Series.
The Rays are headed to the AL Championship Series for the third time in club history and will host the Chicago White Sox or Cleveland Guardians in a best-of-seven series that begins Monday.
“The way our pitchers just executed multiple times through that lineup was really, really impressive, but we did it for the most part by just limiting walks,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “If you don’t walk them, you’re going to give yourself a chance.”
Tampa Bay also celebrated at Yankee Stadium for the second time this season after clinching the AL East title with a 6-1 win over the Yankees on Sept. 22.
The Yankees were thwarted in part by a fan-interference call that overturned a potential game-tying homer from Anthony Volpe in the bottom of the sixth.
New York starter Max Fried (1-1) quickly got the first two outs of the sixth but allowed a single to Junior Caminero that whizzed over the left-hander’s head and past second baseman Volpe’s diving attempt behind the bag on the outfield grass.
On the next pitch, Mesa crushed a sweeper into the right-center-field seats for his first career postseason homer.
“(Once) I hit it, I knew it was going out,” Mesa said. “When you don’t even feel the bat, that means that you got good contact. And just blessed to be here and help the team. That’s my goal is (to) help the team, defense, offense, whatever it is to get the win.”
It was the second big play Mesa made in the series after his strong throw from right field led to Austin Wells being thrown out at third in the eighth inning in Game 1 on Saturday.
Tampa Bay’s Jonathan Aranda delivered an RBI single in the third and Ryan Vilade hit a homer that just cleared the right field fence in the fourth.
Ben Rice had an RBI single in the third and Spencer Jones hit an RBI double in the fourth, but the Yankees were swept in a division series for the first time in team history. New York lost in the ALDS for the fourth time in nine seasons under manager Aaron Boone and 11th time in team history.
“I thought we had some good at-bats tonight,” Boone said. “Gave ourselves some opportunities, hit some balls on the screws again, but ultimately not enough. We gotta be more complete offensively, defensively, pitching. We did a lot of really good things this year, but ultimately not good enough to beat a really good Rays team tonight.”
Volpe nearly hit a tying two-run homer with two outs in the sixth off Griffin Jax, but a fan reached over the left field fence and the ball caromed off the spectator’s palm. Volpe was originally awarded a home run, but following a crew-chief review, he was placed on second with an RBI double.
Volpe said, “(I was) just seeing it through the replay and just hoping for the best, but … crazy.”
Boone said of the umpires’ ultimate verdict, “I thought they got it right.”
After going 5-for-58 in the first two games, New York made a few tweaks to its struggling order. Trent Grisham batted leadoff while Volpe replaced Jazz Chisholm Jr. at second base and Jose Caballero replaced Ryan McMahon at third.
Grisham went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts. Volpe finished 2-for-4, and Caballero went 0-for-2.
Tampa Bay’s Nick Martinez allowed two runs on five hits in 3 2/3 innings. He exited after Volpe’s comebacker hit him on the lower back.
Ian Seymour (1-0) followed Martinez with 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Jax tossed two innings, allowing the run on Volpe’s overturned homer. Cam Booser got the first two outs of the eighth before Kevin Kelly struck out pinch hitter Giancarlo Stanton.
Bryan Baker stranded a runner in the ninth to notch his third save of the series by striking out Grisham on a changeup.
Fried allowed four runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. He fanned seven without issuing a walk.
–Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media
