NEW YORK -- Masahiro Tanaka took a perfect game into the sixth inning and struck out a career-high 14, pitching the New York Yankees past the Tampa Bay Rays 6-1 Friday night for their fifth straight win.
Brett Gardner hit a leadoff home run, Aaron Judge lined his AL-leading 33rd homer and Clint Frazier added a three-run shot to boost Tanaka (8-9). The Yankees were poised to move past Boston and into the AL East lead for the first time in a month.
On Thursday night, Gardner won the opener of this four-game set between playoff contenders with a homer in the 11th.