Randy Arozarena homered twice and tied a career high with four hits as the Tampa Bay Rays rolled to a 9-1 rout of the host New York Yankees on Saturday afternoon.
Arozarena hit a solo homer off New York starter Nestor Cortes (4-9) in the fifth inning and a two-run drive in the seventh. He also singled in the first and doubled in the ninth.
It was Arozarena’s seventh career multi-homer game and first since April 29, 2023. The outfielder secured got his seventh career four-hit game and first since Aug. 4, 2022.
Alex Jackson hit a three-run homer in the fourth and Isaac Paredes went deep in the fifth two batters before Arozarena’s first homer.
Tampa Bay starter Taj Bradley (5-4) allowed a leadoff double to rookie Ben Rice and little else in seven innings. After Rice’s double, the Yankees were 0-for-17 against the right-hander and generated three base runners the rest of the way, including two that were erased on double plays.
Bradley struck out five, walked two and got 13 outs on the ground while matching his longest career outing. Bradley also improved to 4-0 in his past seven starts.
Jackson, who entered the game hitting .082, gave the Rays a 4-0 lead by lifting a full count cutter off Cortes to the short porch in right field.
Paredes pulled a sweeper down the left-field line for a 5-0 lead as his ball bounced out of a fan’s hands in the first row. After Paredes hit his 16th homer and halted a 3-for-34 slide, Arozarena chased Cortes by lifting a sweeper into the Tampa Bay bullpen in left center.
Arozarena added a two-run homer in the seventh inning. The Rays went deep four times for the second time this season and first since April 14 against the San Francisco Giants.
Curtis Mead had an RBI double for Tampa Bay’s first run of the game. He was called up after Yandy Diaz went on the restricted list for personal reasons.
The Yankees fell to 9-19 in their past 28 games and avoided getting blanked when Juan Soto tripled and scored on a groundout by Jahmai Jones.
Cortes allowed six runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings. The left-hander also tied a career high by allowing three homers for the fourth time and first since April 30.
–Field Level Media
