Thursday, 4 a.m.
There is something special about dancing at your rival's funeral.
The Tampa Bay Rays keep coming to Yankee Stadium to party. Already, they had celebrated clinching the AL East there. This was bigger.
The Rays completed a sweep of a strong Yankees' team Wednesday night, polishing of New York in a 4-3 victory. The Rays now advance to the AL Championship, where they play either Chicago or Cleveland.
The Yankees scored just five runs in the series.
Victor Mesa Jr. hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning to break a 2-2 tie for the big hit of the game.
The Yankes came back in the bottom of the sixth. Anthony Volpe hit what appeared to be a tying home run to left, but replays showed that Yankee fans had leaned over the fence and interferred with Mesa Jr.'s chance to make a catch.
Volpe was awarded an RBI double, but Griffin Jax struck out Spencer Jones to end the inning. The Yankees had only one more hitter reach second base the rest of the game.
The Rays' didn't have the stellar pitching they did in the first two games of the series. Part of the reason was that starter Nick Martinez was knocked out of the game after taking a line drive off of his back in the fourth inning.
The Rays took a 1-0 ead in the third when Jonathan Aranda singled in a run. Ben Rice singled in the bottom of the third to tie things at one.
Ryan Vilade gave the Rays a 2-1 lead with a home run in the fourth. Again. the Yankees tied it when Jones doubled in Volpe.
That set up the winning inning for the Rays. With two outs, Junior Caminero singled to center. Mesa Jr. hit a 401-foot homer on the first pitch he saw.
The Rays used six pitchers in the game. Five of them held the Yankees without an earned run.
