Small-ball Rays beat the sloppy
Yankees 5-2 for a 2-0 lead in AL Division Series
[October 06, 2026]
By ROB MAADDI
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The pesky Rays put all the pressure on
the big, bad New York Yankees.
Richie Palacios hit a two-run single in a four-run fifth inning and
Tampa Bay took advantage of New York's sloppy defense, beating Cam
Schlittler and the Yankees 5-2 on Monday night to take a 2-0 lead in
their AL Division Series.
The Rays are one victory from reaching the American League
Championship Series. Game 3 in the best-of-five playoff is Wednesday
night at Yankee Stadium.
“That’s a byproduct of having a really good clubhouse and a bunch of
selfless teammates,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “They don’t care
who gets it done. They just want to get it done. The biggest
cheerleaders are coming from the guys within the dugout. Good teams
do not rely on just one or two people. We rely on all nine in the
lineup, the guys on the bench and certainly our entire pitching
staff.”
Ben Rice homered twice for the Yankees, who are on the verge of
elimination — which would extend their drought without a World
Series championship to 17 seasons. They were dominated by Drew
Rasmussen in the series opener and have scored just two runs in two
playoff games against the AL East champion Rays with three-time AL
MVP Aaron Judge out of the lineup due to a calf injury.
“Well, we’ve got to win. We’ve got to play the first inning of Game
3,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “We’ve got to come out and
play well. So we’ve responded all year. We need to do it again.
Obviously, we need to play better and it starts with just one at a
time. I don’t even get ahead of myself and win three. We’ve got to
go win one and we’ve got to play better Wednesday night to make that
happen.”
The small-ball Rays chased Schlittler, the likely AL Cy Young Award
winner, in the fifth aided by New York's defensive miscues.
Jonathan Aranda lined a single to start the inning and Junior
Caminero ripped a double to right-center. With the infield drawn-in
except second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., who was standing several
feet further back on the dirt, Liam Hicks hit a slow bouncer to
second that scored Aranda for a 2-1 lead. Chisholm's only play was
at first because he wasn't all the way in like the rest of the
infielders.
Chandler Simpson then hit a grounder that shortstop George Lombard
Jr. flubbed, scoring Caminero to make it 3-1. It was initially ruled
a hit and then changed to an error and eventually a fielder's
choice. Brent Headrick replaced Schlittler and struck out Victor
Mesa Jr. After Simpson stole second, Jonny DeLuca reached on a
grounder when Lombard's throw to first was wide for New York's
fourth error.
Palacios followed with a hard single to center that increased Tampa
Bay's lead to 5-1.
“It was just one of those games things kind of compiled and stacked
up on top of each other," Lombard said. “It wasn't ideal. We put
ourselves in a bad spot.”
That was plenty of support for one of the best bullpens in the
majors.
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Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Bryan Baker celebrates a victory over the New
York Yankees in Game 2 of an American League Division Series
baseball game Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP
Photo/Phelan Ebenhack)
Freddy Peralta allowed one run and three hits in 4 2/3 innings, Cam
Booser pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth and Ian
Seymour gave up one run in three innings. Bryan Baker finished with
a perfect ninth for his second save in two games.
Schlittler, who was 14-6 with a 1.95 ERA and dominated Boston in the
opener of the wild-card round, lasted 4 1/3 innings. He allowed four
runs — two earned — and six hits while striking out only two.
Rice sent a 2-2 changeup into the right-field seats to tie it at 1
in the fourth, ending New York's scoreless drought in the ALDS. Rice
hit 41 homers in the regular season. His drive awakened Yankees fans
in the ballpark, who were drowned out by Rays fans until that point.
But a sellout crowd of 40,226 was mostly full of cowbell-ringing
Rays fans who reveled in New York's misery.
Peralta retired the first two batters in the fifth before Austin
Wells ripped a double and Ryan McMahon walked. Booser replaced
Peralta and walked Rice to load the bases, but the lefty escaped
when Cody Bellinger flied out to the warning track in center.
The Yankees made three errors in the first inning but Schlittler
limited the Rays to one run. New York became the first team to
commit three errors in the first inning of a postseason game since
the Oakland Athletics in Game 1 of the 1975 AL Championship Series
against Boston, according to Sportsnet Stats.
Off the catwalk
Yankees rookie Spencer Jones hit a towering flyball off a catwalk at
quirky Tropicana Field that was caught by Mesa for an out in the
second inning. Jones kept running around the bases as the ball
rattled around and fell to Mesa, who ran over from right field to
make the catch in center. DeLuca thought he was camped under it in
center but started pointing upward when the ball hit one of the two
rings high above the field and below the roof. Mesa caught it
several feet in front of DeLuca. Umpires conferred and confirmed the
out, per the stadium’s ground rules.
Up next
Yankees LHP Max Fried (5-5, 2.80 ERA) and Rays RHP Nick Martinez
(15-6, 3.10) are the projected starters for Game 3.
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