ST. PETERSBURG – The easiest way for the Rays to close the gap on the American League East-leading Yankees is to beat them head to head.
And with eight games against them in a stretch of 12, bridging the upcoming All-Star break, the Rays certainly have that opportunity.
But in Thursday’s holiday opener of that stretch, they failed to do that, and added to their frustrations, in an 8-4, 10-inning loss.
That was the eighth time the Rays lost in 10 games against the Yankees, but what made this one worse was they rallied in the ninth to score twice to tie it and got the winning run to third but couldn’t get him home, All-Star Austin Meadows striking out.