ST. PETERSBURG -- If you want to see small ball at its finest, a perfect blend of speed, athleticism, ability and a little bit of good fortune, take the time to watch the Rays’ game-winning rally in the 10th inning Saturday night at Tropicana Field.
You won’t find many innings that unfolded quite like the one the Rays put together to beat the Yankees, 5-4, in their first walk-off win at the Trop since Aug. 18, 2024.
Three balls in play that landed a combined 13 feet away from home plate. Two beautifully executed bunts. A stolen base from arguably the game’s fastest player. A chopper into the heart of a five-man infield.
Not a single ball left the infield. But the Rays eventually made their way onto the outfield grass as their walk-off celebration got started down the right-field line.
“I think it just says that small ball can equate to just as many wins as the long ball does, which I appreciate,” said Chandler Simpson, who scored the winning run on Jonathan Aranda’s fielder’s-choice grounder. “It was good to see.”
The entire game was a thriller and an early testament to the Rays’ resilience. The Yankees scored in the second inning, and the Rays immediately answered against dominant left-hander Max Fried. Tampa Bay pulled ahead in the sixth, allowed two in the eighth and again responded by tying the game in the next half-inning.
There were highlights throughout the night, from Kevin Kelly striking out Giancarlo Stanton with the bases loaded in the fifth to Griffin Jax retiring Cody Bellinger after walking Aaron Judge in the seventh. Nick Fortes hit a leadoff double to start the game-tying rally in the eighth, and the pinch-runner Simpson moved up on a sacrifice bunt and scored on an infield single by Yandy Díaz.
“Very happy with the way the guys responded after it could have been easy to be frustrated, given how we felt like we were in control or had the lead there at the end and then gave it away,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “But they stayed at it.”
That was especially true after reliever Cole Sulser allowed one run in the 10th. Here’s how it went down against Yankees closer David Bednar.
With automatic runner Cedric Mullins at second base, Simpson led off with a bunt to third base. Mullins advanced to third, and Simpson beat Amed Rosario’s throw to first. Cash said the Rays wanted Simpson “to do what he was comfortable with,” and Simpson said he went to the plate knowing he’d be bunting to at least move Mullins closer to scoring the tying run.
“I'm glad I was able to get it down, and glad I was able to cause some havoc and get on first,” Simpson said.
The chaos continued after Simpson stole second. Taylor Walls planned to bunt but first took two pitches well out of the strike zone. He took a curveball for a strike, then the bunt was back on. With fast runners on second (Simpson) and third (Mullins), Cash said they would “take a gamble.”
“If he gets thrown out at home, we still have got somebody really fast at third with Yandy coming to the plate,” Cash explained.
That speed made Walls’ job easy, in his opinion. And the outcome was ideal, as his bunt bounced back to the mound, giving Mullins plenty of time to score as Simpson sped to third and Walls dashed to first.
“It's kind of a breath of fresh air when you have guys like Chandler or Cedric there at third,” Walls said. “Just get the ball pretty much anywhere in between the lines, and they'll probably make it.”
The Yankees intentionally walked Díaz to load the bases, then deployed a drawn-in five-man infield, with Bellinger coming in from left field to man the gap between second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. and first baseman Ben Rice. They’d do whatever it took to keep the speedster Simpson from scoring from third.
“He puts so much pressure on the defense,” Cash said. “Even when he was at third, it's a byproduct of what he does to put pressure on the pitcher and the defense.”
Bednar struck out Hunter Feduccia, but Aranda chopped a ball over Bellinger that Chisholm couldn’t handle. Had he fielded it cleanly, he would have had a chance to tag Díaz -- or force him out of the baseline -- and throw out Aranda for an inning-ending double play.
“That was the best chance we had,” Chisholm said.
Instead, it was an exhilarating win for the Rays -- and for small ball.
“That's why I really say, a lot of the time, it's just really important to put the ball in play,” Aranda said through interpreter Kevin Vera. “That's exactly what we were trying to do, and obviously it worked.”