ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays had already blown a late lead when the bottom of the eighth inning rolled around Saturday night at Tropicana Field. They were still facing Yankees left-hander Max Fried, who has been unbeatable and virtually untouchable against them. The odds were hardly in their favor.
And they found a way to win, anyway.
Yandy Díaz tied the game in the eighth with an infield single off Fried that scored speedster Chandler Simpson from third base, and the Rays erased a one-run deficit in the 10th to escape with a 5-4 victory, their first walk-off win at Tropicana Field since Aug. 18, 2024.
The Rays scored two runs in the 10th without getting a ball out of the infield. Their three balls in play that inning went 3 feet, 6 feet and 4 feet, according to Statcast.
With automatic runner Cedric Mullins at second base, Simpson led off the 10th with a perfectly executed bunt to third base. Mullins advanced to third, and Simpson beat Amed Rosario’s throw to first. After Simpson stole second, Taylor Walls dropped another bunt that bounced back to the mound, giving Mullins plenty of time to score the tying run.
The Yankees intentionally walked Díaz to load the bases, at which point they deployed a drawn-in five-man infield. David Bednar struck out Hunter Feduccia, but Jonathan Aranda chopped a ball over Cody Bellinger that Jazz Chisholm Jr. couldn’t handle. Had he fielded it cleanly, he would have had a chance to tag Díaz and throw out Aranda for an inning-ending double play.
Instead, the Rays walked off as the winners of a dramatic back-and-forth affair.