NEW YORK -- Aaron Judge hit his 51st home run to give the Yankees a quick lead, but New York missed a big chance to tighten the AL East race when Sonny Gray and the bullpen fell apart Thursday night in a 9-6 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Yankees stayed three games behind division-leading Boston, which fell to Houston 12-2. Each team has three games left and both are assured playoff spots -- if they wind up even, the Yankees would host the Red Sox in a tiebreaker Monday.
Brett Gardner, Greg Bird and pinch-hitter Aaron Hicks also homered for New York, which had won three in a row.