Tampa Ba’s Randy Arozarena, right, celebrates with Isaac Paredes after hitting hit a three-run home run against the New York Yankees in the first inning Tuesday night at New York. Frank Franklin II/Associated Press

NEW YORK — Randy Arozarena hit a three-run homer off Nestor Cortes in the first inning and the Tampa Bay staff made it stand up, leading the Rays over the skidding New York Yankees 3-1 Tuesday night.

Starter Jeffrey Springs (5-3) and four relievers combined on a four-hitter, and the crowd of 41,083 at Yankee Stadium booed their AL East leaders at times.

The Yankees have lost 11 of 13 and are 8-17 since reaching the All-Star break at 64-28.

Tampa Bay got only four hits in winning its fourth straight and closing within nine games of the Yankees – New York’s smallest margin since also being nine ahead on June 15. The Rays trailed by 15 1/2 games after getting swept at Cincinnati July 8-10.

New York lost its fifth straight series and was held to three runs or fewer for the seventh straight game.

New York avoided being blanked in three straight games for the first time since 2016 when Andrew Benintendi tripled in the fifth and scored on a fielding error by third baseman Yandy Diaz on a grounder by Miguel Andujar.

Advertisement

Some fans booed when Andujar struck out to end the seventh with Josh Donaldson on third, and there were more when Jose Trevino struck out to end the game.

Diaz and Issac Paredes started the game with singles. One out later, Arozarena gave the Rays a 3-0 lead by lifting a 1-1 fastball into the left-field seats for his 16th homer. It was Arrozarena’s fourth homer in five games after the right fielder went homerless in 16 straight games.

Cortes (9-4) allowed three runs and four hits in seven innings. He struck out three, walked none and retired 19 of his final 21 hitters.

Springs (5-3) got 10 outs on the ground and held New York to one run and two hits in five innings.

Pete Fairbanks pitched a perfect sixth, Brooks Raley got the first two outs of the seventh after Donaldson singled and Shawn Armstrong got the next three outs.

Jason Adam needed four pitches to retire major league home run leader Aaron Judge with a runner on to end the eighth.

Advertisement

Adam also fanned two in a perfect ninth for his seventh save.

ORIOLES 4, BLUE JAYS 2: Cedric Mullins and Adley Rutschman hit back-to-back home runs, Ramon Urias drove in the tie-breaking run in the sixth inning and the Orioles won at Toronto – its 10th win in 14 August games.

Dean Kremer (5-4) matched his career high by pitching seven innings, winning for the second time in three starts.

Ryan McKenna had an RBI hit as the Orioles (61-55) closed to within one-half game of Toronto (61-54). The Blue Jays hold the third and final spot in the AL wild-card standings, trailing Tampa Bay and Seattle.

Dillon Tate worked the eighth and Felix Bautista struck out a pair in the ninth for his seventh save in eight chances.

The slumping Blue Jays lost for the ninth time in 12 games. Toronto is 4-9 in August.

Advertisement

NATIONAL LEAGUE

BRAVES 5, METS 0: Charlie Morton was dominant on the mound, Matt Olson and Robbie Grossman went deep, and host Atlanta won its eighth straight, blanking NL East-leading New York.

After dropping 4 of 5 in New York less than two weeks ago, the Braves haven’t lost since. They made it two in a row over the Mets at Truist Park, pulling within 3 1/2 games of the division leaders.

New York has been outscored 18-1 at the midway point of the four-game series.

MARLINS 4, PADRES 3: Nick Fortes hit two solo homers and scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, leading Miami over visiting San Diego.

Peyton Burdick hit a tie-breaking RBI double that scored Fortes, who had singled against Padres reliever Luis Garcia (4-6) and advanced on a groundout before Burdick’s line drive bounced inside the foul line in right.

Advertisement

The Marlins ended a stretch of scoring three runs or fewer at 16 games, the second-longest drought in the division era. Miami also clinched its first series win at home since a three-game sweep of Colorado on June 21-23.

PHILLIES 11, REDS 4: Rhys Hoskins homered twice and drove in five runs as visiting Philadelphia posted the 10,000th win in franchise history, beating Cincinnati.

Philadelphia became the last of the original eight National League franchises to reach the mark. At 10,000-11,163, the Phillies are the only team among them with a losing record.

The New York Yankees are the lone American League team to top the five-figure win total.

NOTES

PIRATES: Infielder Rodolfo Castro was suspended for one game by Major League Baseball for having a cellphone in his back pocket during a game last week.

Advertisement

The penalty, which included an undisclosed fine, had been set to take effect Tuesday night when the Pirates hosted Boston. The 23-year-old Castro appealed and can play until the process is complete.

“I just really want MLB to hear my version of the story and make sure they understand my heart behind everything,” Castro said through an interpreter before the game against the Red Sox.

“None of this was intentional, I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

Castro’s phone flew from his pocket when he made a head-first dive into third base at Arizona on Aug. 9.

The play drew plenty of attention at the ballpark and beyond in the sports world. Many cringed while others laughed it off as the video clip was seen by millions.

Castro apologized after the game, saying it was an honest mistake. He said he put his oven mitt-like sliding glove in his pocket and forgot about the phone, which now had some cushion.

Advertisement

“I just remember getting dressed, putting my pants on, getting something to eat, using the restroom,” Castro said after the Pirates lost 6-4 to Arizona. “Never did it ever cross my mind that I still had my cellphone on me.”

Castro is hitting .239 in 27 games in his second major league season.

Asked about the penalty, Pirates Manager Derek Shelton said “we respect MLB’s decision” and left it at that.

BRAVES: The Atlanta Braves juggled their roster, calling up pitching prospect Freddy Tarnok and selecting infielder Ryan Goins to the major league roster.

Tarnok gives the Braves a fresh arm with the team in the midst of playing 14 games in 13 days.

ATHLETICS: The Oakland Athletics released veteran outfielder Stephen Piscotty and cleared way for top prospect Shea Langeliers to gain key experience down the stretch for the last-place team in the AL West.

Advertisement

Langeliers, a 24-year-old catcher and left fielder selected ninth overall in the 2019 draft out of Baylor, hit .283 with 19 homers and 56 RBI in 92 games for Triple-A Las Vegas after being acquired from Atlanta in the March trade that sent Matt Olson to the Braves. Langeliers was expected to make his major league debut as designated hitter for the A’s at Texas on Tuesday night.

General Manager David Forst thanked 31-year-old Piscotty for his impact on the club dating to his arrival ahead of the 2018 season in a trade from St. Louis that brought him back close to his home in Pleasanton. His mother, Gretchen, died in May that year from Lou Gehrig’s disease and Piscotty helped raise awareness for ALS. Major League Baseball held its first Lou Gehrig Day last year.

He helped lead the A’s back to the playoffs in 2018 after a three-year drought with career highs of 27 home runs and 88 RBI.

Oakland also recalled David MacKinnon from Las Vegas. The A’s also placed center fielder Ramon Laureano on the injured list with left side soreness. He was out of the lineup Monday a day after he felt discomfort on a swing during his at-bat in the fourth inning at Houston and exited.

Laureano was scheduled for an MRI exam Tuesday. He will be examined by a team doctor back in the Bay Area, Forst said.

METS: Pitcher Carlos Carrasco is expected to miss up to a month after straining his left oblique, the team announced in another setback for its rotation.

Advertisement

The 35-year-old Carrasco, 13-5 with a 3.92 ERA in a resurgement season for the NL East leaders, was hurt Monday night in a game at Atlanta.

The Mets said Carrasco had an MRI that showed a low-grade strain on the left side. The club said a typical timeline for this sort of injury was 3 to 4 weeks.

Carrasco gave up three runs in two innings in a 13-1 loss to the Braves, who trail New York by 4 1/2 games in the division. His outing was interrupted by a 55-minute rain delay in the second inning – he came back after the break and got the last out, but winced on his final pitch and was pulled.

Carrasco had been 5-0 with a 1.69 ERA in his previous seven starts.

PADRES: The San Diego Padres have replaced a planned Fernando Tatis Jr. bobblehead night with a Juan Soto T-shirt giveaway after the superstar shortstop was banned 80 games Friday following a positive test for a performance-enhancing drug.

Tatis, a 23-year-old sensation and one of the brightest stars in Major League Baseball, was on the cusp of returning to the Padres from a broken wrist that had sidelined him all season. He was on track to rejoin the team well before the Sept. 7 bobblehead night – until the positive test.

Advertisement

Instead, the Padres will offer fans shirts in the club’s City Connect color scheme with Soto’s name and No. 22 on the back before they play the Arizona Diamondbacks.

DODGERS: Cody Bellinger, the 2019 NL MVP whose production has fallen off dramatically since, was benched by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts said Bellinger might sit out the final three games of the team’s series at Milwaukee.

“I just wanted to give him a little bit of a reset,” Roberts said. “He’s been grinding a lot.”

Bellinger is batting .206 with 15 homers and 50 RBI. He started in center field Monday night against the Brewers, going 0 for 4 with two strikeouts, and has two hits in his last 19 at-bats.

Chris Taylor shifted from left field to center for Tuesday’s game, with Joey Gallo joining the lineup in left.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.