 and C. J. Cron added a solo drive against Jonathan Holder.Romo relieved Jose Alvarado with two on and one out in the eighth, allowed Giancarlo Stanton's sacrifice fly and struck out Gleyber Torres, who went 0 for 3 with a walk in his return from a strained right hip that caused the rookie to miss 15 games. He also made a nifty play up the middle on Matt Duffy's first-inning grounder.Venters, a left-hander, relieved to start the ninth and induced a groundout from left-handed hitter Greg Bird. The right-handed Romo returned to the mound, and Adeiny Hechavarria entered at shortstop as Duffy shifted back to third.Miguel Andujar singled and took second when Duffy was charged with an error for dropping a throw at second on Aaron Hicks' grounder. Pinch-hitter Austin Romine fouled out on a sliding catch by first baseman Jake Bauers, and Gardner worked the count full before striking out on a sinker that was well outside. Romo got his 12th save in 18 chances.Diego Castillo (2-1), the second Rays reliever, worked two scoreless innings.Cessa, recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to replaced Domingo German in the rotation, allowed two runs and four hits in 5 1/3 innings.POWER OUTTAGEThe Yankees have hit just one homer in five games since the All-Star break. They had 30 over the first 15 games this month.TRAINER'S ROOMYankees: General manager Brian Cashman expects C Gary Sanchez (right groin strain) to be back in last August or early September. ... Hicks (sore left shoulder) was out of the starting lineup for the second straight game but entered as a pinch hitter in the seventh. ... INF Brandon Drury, whose left hand was bruised when hit by a pitch Tuesday, should avoid the DL, according to manager Aaron Boone. ... INF Tyler Wade was optioned to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.Rays: AL All-Star C Wilson Ramos (left hamstring strain) will catch when LHP Vidal Nuno (right hamstring strain) throws batting practice Saturday and could start a minor league rehab assignment Monday. ... Venters (right hamstring strain) was activated from the 10-day DL by the Rays, who recalled RHP Austin Pruitt from Triple-A Durham and optioned RHP Chih-Wei Hu to the International League club.UP NEXTYankees: RHP Sonny Gray (7-7) starts against Kansas City and RHP Jakob Junis (5-10) in the opener of a four-game series.Rays: Open a four-game set Thursday night at Baltimore.---More baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball)
After acquiring Britton, Yankees face Rays 2h ago• 3 min read ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The New York Yankees ended a five-game losing streak against the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night, and while that game took place, they put even more distance between them and their divisional rivals.The Yankees announced late Tuesday they acquired Zach Britton from the Baltimore Orioles for three minor league pitchers, adding another reliable arm with closing experience to an already loaded bullpen.After getting Britton, the Yankees close out a three-game series with the Rays on Wednesday afternoon.The Yankees acquired Britton about two hours after Masahiro Tanaka fired a three-hitter in a 4-0 victory. Tanaka's gem occurred a night after Tampa Bay opened the series with a 7-6 win."That's the AL East," Rays rookie left fielder Jake Bauers said. "You can never take a night off." Britton is two years removed from having 47 saves, and he's been limited by injury this year, with a rather ordinary 1-0 record with a 3.45 ERA. He hasn't allowed a run in the month of July, however, and the Rays know him well as an American League East mainstay -- he's 2-3 all-time with a 2.63 ERA against Tampa Bay, and his 54 strikeouts are the most he has against any opponent."That'll be pretty crazy," New York reliever Dellin Betances said. "Obviously Britton has been one of the best arms of the last four or five years. To add a guy of his caliber would be huge. We could kind of start our own game as a bullpen." The Yankees won't use a bullpen game in their 100th game of the season but will recall right-hander Luis Cessa from Triple-A Scranton and he will make his third start. Cessa is taking the turn of Domingo German, who was optioned to the minors after struggling in a 7-5 loss to the New York Mets on Friday.Cessa is 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA this season, his only action against the Rays coming in a two-inning relief appearance June 22, not allowing a run or hit.He is 3-0 with a 1.42 ERA in three starts in Triple-A.For his career, he's 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA against Tampa Bay.The Rays (51-50), in danger of falling back to .500, will turn to a familiar face for Yankees fans: Nathan Eovaldi (3-4, 4.26 ERA), who pitched for New York in 2015-16, going 14-3 in 2015.Eovaldi has been alternately dominant and middling this season, with three starts allowing one hit or less, making him a potential trade chip for the Rays before next Tuesday's non-waiver trade deadline.Eovaldi, recovering well after missing all of 2017 recovering from Tommy John surgery, pitched well in his last start, throwing six inning against the Marlins and allowing only one run while striking out eight in a no-decision.The right-hander faced the Yankees on June 15 in New York when he allowed five runs on eight hits in 7 1/3 innings in a 5-0 loss.After Tuesday's win, the Yankees now have a 6-5 edge in the season series, and they'll host the Rays from Aug. 14-16 before returning to Tropicana Field in the final week of the season for four games Sept. 24-27. After Wednesday's getaway game, they'll return home for four against the Royals and two against the Orioles -- who just traded them Britton in a rare inter-division trade.The Rays, almost sure to be major sellers in the next week before the deadline, go to Baltimore next for four games against those same Orioles, then returning home for the next nine, including three more against Baltimore.
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