ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Rays can keep trying to avoid talking about the American League East race all they want.
Their play, and the standings, are saying plenty.
The Rays beat the struggling Yankees again Saturday night, 2-1, reducing what on July 10 was a 15 1/2-game margin to four (and three in the loss column).
The Rays won for the 20th time in their last 28 games; the Yankees lost for the 31st time in their last 49.
Until Aaron Judge homered off Jason Adam to lead off the ninth inning, the vaunted Yankees slugger had been shut out for 21 straight innings.
Corey Kluber delivered a dominant start for the Rays, allowing only two hits over a season-high seven innings, and Yandy Diaz had the big hit as the Rays overcame some more poor baserunning decisions.
The Rays took a 2-0 lead in the third.
Francisco Mejia and Jose Siri got the rally started with singles. And Yandy Diaz had the key hit, a hard single that scored them both.
But the big play was — of all things — a sacrifice bunt.
With Mejia on second and Siri on first, Taylor Walls dropped a well-placed bunt, forcing Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson to charge in to make the play, allowing the runners to move up.
Both scored when Diaz’s single up the middle struck Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt and caromed past diving second baseman Gleyber Torres.
Though the Rays typically have disdain for the strategy — in part, manager Kevin Cash will say, because they’re not very good at it — that actually was their seventh successful sacrifice bunt of the season.
It was the second by Walls, and in less than a month. The first five were before the All-Star break, and by players who hit their way back to the minors — Brett Phillips (in Triple-A with Baltimore) had four and Josh Lowe (at Triple-A Durham) one.
Kluber was making his fourth start against the Yankees team he spent last year with, and has done well each time. Saturday, before a Tropicana Field crowd of 21,754, was his best.
He allowed only two singles, didn’t let two errors or wasted scoring chances affect him, and was in command and control. He hadn’t faced a batter in the seventh inning since his May 19 no-hitter last year.
