Yankees Split Doubleheader With Rays

About Yesterday: Yankees Split Doubleheader With Rays, Secure Wild Card Home Field Advantage

By Derek McAdam

September 23, 2026

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The New York Yankees split a doubleheader with the Tampa Bay Rays yesterday, winning the first game 2-0 and dropping the second game 6-1. Here’s a quick recap of both games. 

GAME 1

Quick Stats: W: Carlos Rodon: (7-3): 8 IP, 3 H, 8 K

                     L: Nick Martinez (15-5): 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K

                     S: David Bednar (35): 1 IP

HRs: NYY: Cody Bellinger (17) 

Big Story: This four-game series, the first game which was a makeup game from May 23, has been circled on the Yankees’ calendar for several weeks, as many fans knew this would be a decisive series as to who would take the AL East. With a win, the Rays would clinch the AL East, but the Yankees would also clinch home-field advantage in the Wild Card round with a win of their own. 

The Yankees sent Rodon to the mound for Game 1, who has been performing very good over his past few starts. And through the first few innings, it definitely seemed as if he was going to continue that trend. Martinez took the mound for the Rays, and sent the first nine Yankees down to begin his afternoon. 

But in the 4th, after a leadoff double from Ben Rice, Bellinger delivered to ultimate blow to Martinez with a two-run home run into the right field seats to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead. The Yankees also had runners at the corners with two outs, but Anthony Volpe struck out to end the inning. 

The Yankees also had a scoring opportunity in the 5th with runners on the corners and one out, but Bellinger popped up in the infield and Heliot Ramos flew out to end the inning with the Yankees still retaining a two-run lead. 

In the 6th, Rodon gave up a leadoff single to Victor Mesa. After after Jorge Mateo struck out swinging on a questionable check-swing, Richie Palacios flew out to left field, to which Bellinger fired on to first base to double off Mesa, who was attempting to steal second base. 

Rodon managed to get through two more innings finished with 96 pitches over eight shutout innings. Not only did Rodon record his 1,500th career strikeout yesterday, but also managed to pick up his 100th career win. 

Bednar came in the top of the 9th to close things out for the Yankees, securing home-field advantage for next week’s Wild Card round. 

Player of the Game: Rodon looked fantastic yesterday. While he may not get a start in the Wild Card round, Aaron Boone may have to make a tough choice on including him after today’s performance. And the 1,500 strikeouts and 100th win are just the cherry on top. 

Notable Performances: Bellinger gave the Yankees the big hit they needed. And Tampa’s pitching combination of Martinez and Ty Johnson did a fine job. Both bullpens were in great shape heading into the second game. 

Better to Forget: He played a fine second base yesterday, but Volpe struck out in all three plate appearances. He was definitely hoping to get a second crack at it in the second game, although it was not necessarily going to happen. 

My Take: The Yankees can only take things one game at a time, and they got off to a good start yesterday afternoon with a win. The best part about this game was the fact that it was just a hair over two hours long, which was great because I could easily follow along while I was working. 

I would have to go back and look at Rodon’s Yankee history, but this was one of the best starts he has had in pinstripes. Control has been an issue with him, but he certainly did not struggle with that, issuing zero walks. He got a nice combination of strikeouts, flyouts and groundouts. But most importantly, he saved the bullpen for last night’s game, if needed.

Congratulations to Rodon for his milestones he reached, and hopefully this is a foreshadowing of what we may see in the playoffs. 

As for the offense, there isn’t much to say. Bellinger has been swinging a solid bat as of late, which is going to be crucial next week since Aaron Judge will likely not be in the lineup. I’ve said for months now that in Judge’s absence, I’m not counting on guys such as Rice to carry a bigger load, but guys such as Bellinger and Jazz Chisholm Jr. And that list can be expanded with players such as Luis Garcia Jr. If he gets hot now, it would be a huge boost to this offense than desperately needs something. 

But as always, the Yankees had several chances to make this a runaway victory, but could not win their battles against Martinez. Nonetheless, it was a solid first game victory, so I won’t be too critical about it. 

GAME 2

Quick Stats: W: Drew Rasmussen (16-5): 6.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 11 K

                     L: Max Fried (5-5): 6.2 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

Big Story: While the Yankees had already secured their Wild Card home-field advantage with the Game 1 win, the Rays were seeking to secure the AL East title with a win in the second game. Before the start of the game, the Yankees activated Chisholm off the IL and started him at second base. 

In the 3rd, with runners at second and third with one out, Ryan Village grounded out to Chisholm to score a run and put the Rays up 1-0. 

Rasmussen was absolutely dealing through six innings, not giving up a single hit to the Yankees, while walking two and striking out 10. And through six, Fried was also pitching a very solid game, keeping the Yankees in it as best as he could. 

In the 7th, the Rays got the first two runners on to lead off the inning, putting Fried in yet another tough situation with the Yankees yet to record a hit. With runners on the corners and one out, Taylor Walls bunted down the first base line to score Chandler Simpson and give the Rays a 2-0 lead. John Schreiber came on with two outs and runners on first and second, to which Yandy Diaz hit a two-run single and advanced to second to give the Rays what seemed like a commanding 4-0 lead. 

But in the bottom of the inning, Ramos hit a leadoff double to end Rasmussen’s no-hit bid. With runners on the corners and two outs, George Lombard Jr. hit an RBI single through the right side to put the Yankees on the board at 4-1. But it also brought the tying run to the plate in Austin Wells, who grounded out to end the inning. 

In the 9th, with runners on second and third with one out, Diaz hit a two-run single through the left side to make the new score 6-1 Rays. And with the victory, the Rays secured the AL East title and will face the winner of the expected Boston Red Sox-Yankees series.

Player of the Game: Rasmussen shut the Yankees down through the first six innings, giving the Rays a very good chance of winning as long as they put up a few runs. 

Notable Performances: Walls had three hits last night for the Rays, while Diaz delivered the big blow in the game. 

Better to Forget: Rice really struggled at the plate last night, striking out three times. But overall, the entire Yankee offense struggled. 

My Take: Well it certainly was not the result the Yankees wanted, but at least they know that they will be playing this Tuesday at home and can set their rotation for those games. It was a long shot for the Yankees to win the AL East, but I'm sure they at least wanted to make it to the weekend still having a chance. 

Overall, it was a boring 18 innings of Yankee offense to watch. They managed only three runs and had several opportunities to push more runs across the plate, but failed to do so. This is my biggest concern for the postseason. Their starting pitching has been fine, but the bullpen is worn out from the long season and the offense is non-existent if they don’t hit home runs. The offense has to step up or their season may be over next week. 

Rasmussen took the last start he had against the Yankees in July, which he gave up six runs, and turned it around completely. The Yankees looked lost at the plate and Rasmussen looked like a true ace on the mound, although it seemed at times they also looked lost in the first game. 

As of right now, the Baltimore Orioles still have a chance to make the playoffs, which could make for an interesting series this weekend. But for the Yankees, the rest of the regular season doesn’t matter in terms of standings. What does matter is maybe trying to get a couple of hitters to get hot at the right time and maybe give the Yankees a shot at playing Tampa next weekend. But that is very wishful thinking. 

What’s Next?: Both of these teams will be back in action tonight for the third game of the four-game series. Ian Seymour is scheduled to start for the Rays, while Gerrit Cole is scheduled to start for the Yankees. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. EST and will be broadcast on Amazon Prime Video.