The New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-1 on Friday night to keep pace in the American League West. At 59-40, they are 1.0 game behind the Baltimore Orioles for the division lead.
New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells (28) is greeted in the dugout after scoring a run in third inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium on July 19
After the loss, the Rays are 48-49 on the year. They are in fourth place in the division after winning 99 games a season ago.
In the win, the Yankees got a 4-for-4 night from Juan Soto and a 2-for-4 night from Aaron Judge. In addition, catcher Austin Wells filled the stat sheet in historic fashion.
Per Yankees Insider Katie Sharp on social media:
Austin Wells #FunFact
Wells is the first Yankee with 3+ Walks, 1+ Runs and 0 At-Bats in a game since Derek Jeter on Sept. 12, 2006
Yup, Wells did not record an official plate appearance in the win. He's hitting .216 for the season with six homers and 20 RBI. A first-round pick of the Yankees back in 2020, he made his major league debut a season ago.
The Yankees and Rays will play again on Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium with first pitch coming at 1:05 p.m. ET. The Rays will send youngster Taj Bradley to the mound while the Yankees will send Nestor Cortes to the bump.
Bradley is 4-4 on the year with a 2.90 ERA while Cortes is 4-8 with a 3.67.
These games have extra meaning for the Rays, who could be sellers at the trade deadline if they don't get back into the race in the next week for so.
They are 5.5 games back in the wild card race.
