Yankees’ homers, Gerrit Cole fight off Rays sweep – The Denver Post

The Yankees found themselves in an early hole on Wednesday, but they managed to avoid getting swept by the Rays with a 7-2 win at Yankee Stadium.

Tampa Bay’s Wander Franco started the scoring with a two-run homer off Gerrit Cole in the first inning, but the Yankees’ own young shortstop, Anthony Volpe, replicated the feat in the bottom of the third. With Rays ace Shane McClanahan on the mound, Volpe sent one the other way to right field to tie the game with his 14th longball of the season.

“It felt good,” Volpe said. “He’s one of the premier pitchers in the big leagues.”

The Yankees weren’t done with McClanahan, though, as the southpaw allowed another third-inning homer. The second opposite field shot, a three-run blast, came off the bat of Giancarlo Stanton. The slugger now has 15 home runs this year.

McClanahan, an All-Star this season, didn’t last long against a Yankees offense that has struggled against lesser arms. He only threw four innings on Wednesday while totaling five hits, five earned runs, zero walks and three strikeouts over 82 pitches.

“Those are the kinds of at-bats you need to have against a really good pitcher,” Aaron Boone said. “And we were able to make him work, even for his outs. That was good to see.”

Stanton, who called McClanahan a “nasty pitcher,” later added an RBI single in the seventh inning to increase the Yankees’ cushion. The Yankees then scored another run on a double steal.

The team totaled 13 hits on the night.

Cole, on the other hand, showed why Boone called him a “rock” before the game. The righty continued his Cy Young-caliber campaign, logging four hits, two earned runs, two walks, eight strikeouts, seven innings and 91 pitches.

“It was a bit of a grind for him actually tonight. He makes it look easy,” Boone said, noting that the Rays put together some tough at-bats. “It was a really good performance against a good team when he was grinding a bit out there tonight.”

While Cole maintained the 2.64 ERA that he started the day with, the Yankees improved to 9-0 when he starts after a loss.

The Yankees’ outfield defense, which has often lacked in the corners this season, also looked sharp against the Rays. Left fielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa picked up two assists throwing runners out at second base, while centerfielder Harrison Bader traveled a long distance to make a pretty catch on the run in the sixth inning.

“Guys play the game aggressive,” Kiner-Falefa said after his first outfield assists. “I probably would have went on myself in those situations, too.”

With the Rays series over, the Yankees will turn their attention to another rival, the Astros. The foes begin a four-game series on Thursday. Clarke Schmidt will face Cristian Javier in the opener, while Luis Severino will look to rebound in a duel with Hunter Brown on Friday.

Nestor Cortes is expected to make his return from injury on Saturday and Carlos Rodón is scheduled to toe the rubber on Sunday. Justin Verlander could make his 2023 Astros debut on Saturday after the team reacquired him from the Mets before the trade deadline.

There’s no doubt the Yankees have another tough set in front of them. But the team is hoping to build on its win over the Rays.

“We got a good team coming into town,” Volpe said, “and I think everyone’s pumped up.”

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