ST. PETERSBURG -- Slotted into the fourth spot in the batting order for the first time in 18 months, Yandy Díaz took the title of “cleanup” hitter to heart in the Rays’ 5-3 win over the Yankees on Friday night.
The Rays made a mess of the first inning, with their poor defense once again threatening to be their undoing. Aaron Judge singled, stole second, reached third on a missed catch error by shortstop Taylor Walls then scored on a sacrifice fly before Giancarlo Stanton walked and scored from first on a ball that left fielder Chandler Simpson misplayed into an RBI triple.
Enter Díaz, the cleanup man.
With two outs and a runner on first in the first inning, the veteran DH lashed at a high 0-1 slider from starter Luis Gil and ripped it out to right-center for his third home run of the season. Just like that, all the Rays’ early mistakes were washed away, and they outplayed the Yankees the rest of the way to win their first American League East matchup of the season before a crowd of 20,511 at Tropicana Field.
“Definitely saved me,” Simpson said, smiling. “The fact that it was a reset for everybody, especially me … I was like, ‘Shoot, I get to start a game over.' So, thankful for Yandy for that, for sure.”
That wasn’t the only change manager Kevin Cash made to the top of the order as he looked to spark the lineup after a couple of quiet nights at the plate.
Simpson moved into the leadoff spot, an ideal position for his combination of contact hitting and speed. Junior Caminero hit second, giving him some protection in the form of No. 3-hitting Jonathan Aranda. And Díaz moved into the cleanup spot for the first time since Sept. 14, 2024.
Those changes might not be permanent, Cash cautioned before the game, adding, “We'll see how it goes.” But it went pretty well this time. Díaz’s third home run of the season halted the Yankees’ momentum, Simpson drove in two runs and Tampa Bay’s pitching staff took care of the rest.
“Chandler's a very talented young hitter. And Yandy, I think he probably can hit anywhere,” Cash said. “We'll continue to mix [and] match. But I didn't think either one of them was going to think too much of it, and it didn't feel like they did.”
Díaz was the Rays’ leadoff man in each of their first 12 games this season, and he hit first, second or third in his 150 starts last year. He didn’t let his spot in the order affect his approach against Gil, though.
Díaz credited assistant hitting coach Ozzie Timmons for this particular home run, pointing at him in the dugout as he trotted down the first-base line. They worked before the game on keeping his swing short, Díaz said, and Timmons made a prediction.
“He said a ball was going to fly out today,” Díaz said through interpreter Kevin Vera, “and it did.”
Simpson also did his part to make Cash’s lineup switchup look like the right move. He’s the only Rays hitter as hot as Díaz to start the season, as they both have the same number of hits (19, tied for fourth most in the Majors) and identical .373 averages.
With runners on the corners and one out in the second inning after a perfectly executed hit-and-run by Walls and Nick Fortes, the speedy Simpson beat a potential inning-ending double-play grounder to first base to score Walls. Simpson drove in another run on a single to center in the sixth and has now reached safely in each of the Rays’ first 13 games.
“Definitely thought we just relied on each other, just passed the baton, one after the other,” Simpson said. “Didn't really try to do too much. Really just AB by AB, trying to get runs in.”
That was enough for Steven Matz and the Rays’ bullpen. Matz didn’t yield another hit after the first, struck out seven -- including Judge twice -- and leaned heavily on his changeup to rack up 16 swinging strikes over five strong innings to earn his third win in as many starts.
Relievers Griffin Jax, Ian Seymour, Hunter Bigge and Bryan Baker combined to allow just one run the rest of the way. Baker made it interesting in the ninth, putting two runners in scoring position with one out, but struck out Randal Grichuk and retired Trent Grisham to seal the victory.
“It feels really good,” Baker said. “I think the adrenaline and everything else just kind of gets you to where you need to be. You have the weight, I guess, of securing the 'W' for the team, and it's something I take pride in.”