Rodón's 100th win makes the Rays wait: Yankees 2, Rays 0
Carlos Rodón spun eight shutout innings and Cody Bellinger supplied the only runs, forcing Tampa Bay to put its AL East celebration on hold — for a few hours.
The Rays walked into Yankee Stadium on Tuesday with a magic number of two and champagne within reach. Carlos Rodón made them wait. The Yankees took the opener of the day-night doubleheader 2-0, a game that mattered less for the division — Tampa Bay clinched anyway in the nightcap — and more for what it said about New York's October rotation.
Eight innings, two milestones
Rodón was in complete command: eight shutout innings, three hits, eight strikeouts and no walks, according to CBS Sports' box score. Along the way he collected his 100th career victory, and his eighth-inning strikeout of Jonny DeLuca made him the 18th active pitcher to reach 1,500 career strikeouts. David Bednar closed out the ninth for the save in a game that took just 2 hours, 2 minutes — the Yankees' fastest of the season.
One swing was enough
All the offense arrived in the fourth. Ben Rice doubled, and Cody Bellinger followed with a two-run homer off Rays starter Nick Martinez, who was otherwise sharp: two runs on five hits over six innings with seven strikeouts. Bellinger also flashed the glove, throwing out Victor Mesa Jr. at first base to complete a double play and end the sixth.
The Rays got their party anyway
The reprieve was brief. Tampa Bay won the nightcap 6-1 to clinch its fifth AL East title, per ABC News. Torch's live standings show the Rays at 96-63 atop the division, with the Yankees at 92-67 — comfortably holding the top AL wild-card spot after moving six games clear of Boston in that race on Tuesday. If those seeds hold, these two could meet again when the games count most, and Rodón just gave the Yankees a very good reason to feel fine about that.