NEW YORK (AP) — Zach Eflin pitched six shutout innings of three-hit ball to become the American League’s first 12-game winner, Randy Arozarena hit a two-run homer off Carlos Rodón and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees 5-2 on Tuesday night.
Yandy Díaz also connected for the Rays, who won their third straight game and have gone deep six times in the last two nights at Yankee Stadium.
Manuel Margot hit an RBI double and Brandon Lowe added a run-scoring single for the Rays.
Eflin (12-6) set a career high for wins, surpassing his previous best in 2018 for Philadelphia. He allowed singles to Aaron Judge and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and a double to Jake Bauers.
After leaving his previous start due to knee discomfort, Eflin struck out five and walked none. He got nine outs on the ground in his fourth scoreless start this season.
Rodón (1-4) struggled in his fifth start for New York after missing three-plus months with forearm and back injuries. The left-hander gave up four runs and four hits in four innings.
The last-place Yankees (55-52) fell to 1-4 since Judge came off the injured list Friday. New York also dropped to 7-14 since July 4 and was nearly blanked before Gleyber Torres and DJ LeMahieu hit RBI singles in the ninth.
Pete Fairbanks finished off his 14th save by striking out pinch-hitter Giancarlo Stanton on a 98 mph fastball.
Judge was 1 for 4 and hit a fly ball in front of the warning track on a 3-0 pitch for the final out of the sixth. He also hit a fly ball in front of the warning track for the second out of the ninth
Margot put Tampa Bay ahead when his double bounced into the left-field stands with two outs in the second. Díaz set a career high by hitting his 15th homer to open the third. Three batters later, Arozarena broke an 0-for-21 skid with a 415-foot drive into the left-field bleachers.
Shawn Armstrong pitched two perfect innings in relief for Tampa Bay.
MOVES
The Rays made three minor trades Tuesday ahead of the deadline. They acquired RHPs Manuel Rodríguez and Adrian Sampson from the Cubs and C Alex Jackson from Milwaukee. Tampa Bay also dealt RHP Luis Patiño to the White Sox for cash.
New York acquired RHP Keynan Middleton from the White Sox for minor league pitcher Juan Carela and got RHP Spencer Howard from Texas for cash.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Yankees: LHP Nestor Cortes (left rotator cuff strain) will make his third rehab appearance Wednesday when he pitches for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. … C Jose Trevino (right wrist), who underwent surgery last week, was transferred to the 60-day injured list.
UP NEXT
Tampa Bay LHP Shane McClanahan (11-1, 3.00 ERA) opposes New York RHP Gerrit Cole (9-2, 2.64) in a matchup of All-Star pitchers Wednesday night.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
