By DICK SCANLON
Associated Press
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Corey Kluber and Gerrit Cole dueled evenly for six impressive innings before the Tampa Bay Rays scored a pair of late runs to beat the Yankees 3-1 Saturday, ending New York’s four-game winning streak.
Yandy Diaz had a tiebreaking infield hit in the seventh and Manuel Margot extended his hitting streak to 15 games with an RBI single in the eighth.
Kluber allowed one run and three hits, walking none and striking out five. Last May, the two-time Cy Young Award winner pitched a no-hitter for the Yankees against Texas.
Cole struck out 10, giving up one run and two hits with three walks.
J.P. Feyereisen (4-0) got the win his 19th straight scoreless relief appearance. Colin Poche pitched the ninth for his second save in two tries. Jason Adam also pitched an inning in the combined four-hitter.
With the score 1-all, Kevin Kiermaier opened the Rays seventh with a single on the first pitch thrown by reliever Lucas Luetge (1-2). Francisco Mejia followed with a popup down the right-field line that dropped for a double when second baseman Gleyber Torres overran the ball.
Kiermaier was thrown out at the plate by first baseman Anthony Rizzo on a grounder, but Diaz bounced a chopper down the third-base line for a 2-1 lad.
Wander Franco led off Rays eighth and scored on Margot’s hit.
After walking Yandy Diaz to lead off the first, Cole retired 14 in a row before giving up his first hit, Mejia’s two-out single in the fifth.
Cole is 1-6 in 12 career starts against Tampa Bay. He threw 105 pitches, including 26 each in the first and sixth innings.
It was Cole’s 44th double-digit strikeout game since the start of the 2018 season, the most in the majors in that span.
Cole walked Ji-Man Choi and Franco with two outs in the sixth and Randy Arozarena drove in Tampa Bay’s first run with a single, only the Rays’ second hit.
DJ LeMahieu, playing for the first time after missing four games with a sore left wrist, opened the game with a double off the right-field wall. After Aaron Judge’s single, Anthony Rizzo had a sacrifice fly.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Yankees: RHP Domingo Germán, on the 60-day injured list since March with right shoulder impingement syndrome, is close to starting a rehab assignment. . . . OF Tim Locastro (left lat strain) is getting regular at-bats and awaiting a decision on a rehab assignment.
Rays: RHP Andrew Kittredge (low back tightness) played catch Friday and Saturday after shutting himself down for four days, and expects to pitch off a mound soon. . . . RHP Luis Patiño (left oblique strain) had a bullpen session Saturday.
UP NEXT
RHP Luis Severino (3-0, 3.02) will pitch for the Yankees on six days’ rest against LHP Shane McClanahan (4-2, 2.06) in Sunday’s series finale. McClanahan is 0-2 in three career starts against New York.
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