Rays Sweep Yankees in ALDS After Fan Interference Review

By
Harris
-
19

Key Points

  • The Rays beat the Yankees 4-3 on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium and swept the AL Division Series, 3-0.
  • Victor Mesa Jr.’s two-run homer off Max Fried in the sixth broke a 2-2 tie.
  • Anthony Volpe’s fly ball was first called a home run, then ruled an RBI double after a fan-interference review. New York trailed 4-3.
  • Tampa Bay hosts ALCS Game 1 on Monday at Tropicana Field against the winner of the Guardians-White Sox series. It is the Rays’ first ALCS since 2020.
  • The Yankees have gone 17 seasons without a World Series title. Aaron Judge missed the series with a calf strain.

The Tampa Bay Rays are going to the American League Championship Series after a three-game sweep of the New York Yankees. They closed it Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium, 4-3, and no later game has changed the series. It ended in three.

What happened

The Associated Press, in an account published by FOX 35 Orlando, said New York did not lead at any point in the series. Jonathan Aranda opened the scoring with an RBI single in the third. Ben Rice tied it for the Yankees in the bottom of the inning. Ryan Vilade put Tampa Bay ahead with an opposite-field homer in the fourth, a 340-foot drive that barely cleared the right-field wall. Spencer Jones later doubled home Anthony Volpe to tie the game again before the sixth.

Victor Mesa Jr. broke the 2-2 tie with a two-run homer off Max Fried in the sixth. ESPN reported that Fried was still in the game with Paul Blackburn warming, and that manager Aaron Boone stayed with the left-hander. Mesa told ESPN, “That’s the stage you dream of.”

In the bottom of the sixth, Volpe drove a ball toward the left-field wall. A fan reached over the wall and caught it above Mesa’s glove. The call on the field was a home run, which would have tied the game. After a video review, umpires ruled fan interference: the ball would not have cleared the wall, and Mesa would not have caught it, the AP reported. Volpe was awarded an RBI double. George Lombard Jr. scored, and the Yankees trailed 4-3 instead of being even. Reliever Griffin Jax then struck out Spencer Jones to end the inning.

Bryan Baker finished it. He struck out Trent Grisham for the final out, ESPN reported, and he had the save in all three games of the series. Kevin Kelly had struck out pinch-hitter Giancarlo Stanton in the eighth with a runner on.

Latest development

The result is final. MLB.com reported that Game 1 of the ALCS is set for Monday at Tropicana Field, with the Rays hosting the winner of the Cleveland Guardians-Chicago White Sox series. MLB.com’s story, timestamped 5:30 a.m. UTC Thursday, said Chicago led that series 2-1 at the time. A later result in the Guardians-White Sox series is not included here.

MLB.com also called the sweep the first in a best-of-five postseason series in Rays history, and only the second time the Yankees have been swept in a best-of-five series, along with the 1980 ALCS. The AP said it was New York’s first best-of-five postseason sweep since that 1980 loss to Kansas City, and that the Yankees have now gone 17 consecutive seasons without a World Series title.

Why it matters

The Yankees are out, and the title wait that dates to 2009 is now 17 seasons. They reached this round after sweeping Boston in the Wild Card Series, the AP reported, and they did it without captain Aaron Judge, who strained his calf on Sept. 16. Boone’s summary to ESPN was short: “They beat us.”

For Tampa Bay, this is the first ALCS since 2020. MLB.com noted the club had advanced past the ALDS only twice before, in 2008 and 2020, and went to the World Series both times. Manager Kevin Cash told MLB.com the message does not change: “Let’s continue what we’re doing.”

What happens next

The Rays have four days off before Monday’s Game 1, the AP reported. Because of the postseason schedule, they will have played only three games over a 14-day span when the ALCS starts. MLB.com did not list a first-pitch time in its Thursday story. The opponent is whoever wins the Guardians-White Sox Division Series. No Yankees decision on manager Aaron Boone was announced in these reports.

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