Recap: Yankees 3, Rays 2

During their recent cold streak, the Yankees have been desperately searching for someone to spark their offense.

They found him Saturday in the form of Brett Gardner.

Gardner crushed a walk-off solo home run off Erasmo Ramirez in the ninth, lifting the Yankees to a 3-2 win over the Rays at Yankee Stadium.

Gardner went 3-for-4 on the afternoon, tying the game with a bases-loaded infield single in the seventh. The hit likely would have plated another run had it gotten through to center, but Rays lefty Xavier Cedeno was able to deflect it.

Gardner's late heroics helped the Yankees overcome nonexistent hitting in the early-going.

The Yanks' bats managed just one earned run -- coming on a wild pitch in the first -- on two hits in five innings against rookie Blake Snell, who was making his major-league debut.

But thanks to a second straight strong start by Masahiro Tanaka, New York kept it close.

Tanaka surrendered just two earned runs across seven innings, yielding five hits while walking one and striking out seven. He allowed an RBI double to Corey Dickerson in the fourth and a solo shot to Kevin Kiermaier in the fifth, but never let Tampa Bay extend its lead.

And with the Yankees' bullpen as good as it is this season, that's all the team really needed.

Dellin Betances fanned two in a 1-2-3 top of the eighth, and Andrew Miller worked around a one-out single to put up his own zero in the ninth.

The Yankees then began the bottom of the frame with a couple of weak groundouts, before Gardner ended it by clubbing a 3-1 fastball into the upper deck in right.

WHAT IT MEANS: The Yankees clinched their first series victory since taking two of three from the Astros Opening Week. They are now 7-9 on the year, 3 1/2 games behind the first-place Orioles.

NEXT UP: The Yankees go for the three-game sweep on Sunday. Michael Pineda (1-1, 5.29 ERA) and Drew Smyly (0-2, 2.91 ERA) are slated to be your starters, with first pitch set for 1:05 p.m. ET.

Fantasy Baseball: Who are the Tampa Bay Rays?

The Tampa Bay Rays are a team in transition and a team that is constantly rebuilding. The team is absolutely stacked on the pitching side of things with Chris Archer leading the way but injuries set the team back in a major way in 2015. The team will now look to have a healthier and more productive 2016 after adding a couple new faces and after getting a couple old faces back from the disabled list with their eyes on the prize that is the American League East division. While the Rays have their eyes set on October in real life those same Tampa Bay Rays can help you reach the same October playoff goal, just in your fantasy baseball league of course. 

The first new face in Tampa is former Colorado Rockies outfielder Corey Dickerson who leaves the friendly confides of Coors Field to come to a more pitching friendly ballpark in Tropicana Field. For that reason alone he may not be worth where he is going to be ranked or taken but he will still likely give you 20-25 home run power at an outfield position and that’s never bad. He’s one that will likely be taken before I feel comfortable taking him but if he’s there and in your comfort level then go for it, he’s a good ball player with a lot to like. 

Another new face is Brad Miller who is not going to put up ungodly numbers at the dish but at an anemic position offensively like shortstop his .258 average, 11 home runs and 13 stolen bases is near the top of the second tier player list at the position. Miller is only 26-years old and is technically entering his prime so you may see those numbers tick a bit higher in 2016. 

A stalwart in the Rays lineup lately is outfielder Kevin Kiermaier who had a solid 2015 campaign that not too many outside of the AL East really knew about. Kiermaier can get you 15 home runs and steal you 20-30 bases in a season while adding Gold Glove caliber defense to the squad. 

Finally you have to look at the prospects currently coming out of the Tampa Bay system. They always seem to have one or two that burst onto the scene in a big way and besides, it’s Prospects Month so we’re almost obligated to talk about them here today. The Rays best pitching prospect in the system is Blake Snell and he just may break camp with the club this season. The Rays will try to piece together a solid rotation behind Archer and Matt Moore until Alex Cobb returns from Tommy John surgery and a combination of Drew Smyly and Snell are likely going to do it for Tampa. Meanwhile the best and closest positional prospect is first baseman Richie Schaffer who is also eligible at third base. Schaffer would likely have to be a DH in Tampa or replace an injured first baseman but in 74 at bats with the club last year he belted four home runs showing off his raw power. If Shaffer gets a shot he could deliver some big home run and RBI numbers for the Rays and your club, just don’t expect a high average or a terribly high runs scored stat to go along with it. 

There you have it, the young guns and the prospects that are likely going to make or break the Tampa Bay Rays season and that can also make or break your fantasy draft this season. I hope the information helped and if it did pass it along to someone else in need. If it didn’t help then I apologize, but I have a feeling that it will. Enjoy and thanks for reading. 

Recap: Yankees 6, Rays 4

Brian McCann hit a game-tying three-run shot in the sixth and Alex Rodriguez followed it up with a solo blast of his own as the Yankees edged the Rays, 6-4, on Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.

Just What They Needed: McCann drilled a Chris Archer fastball high into the right-field stands, evening the score at three after a dominant early-going by the Rays' righty. Rodriguez then clubbed the go-ahead homer on the very next pitch, lifting a hanging slider into the fourth row in right-center for his 28th long ball of the year.

Super Solid: Ivan Nova surrendered three earned runs in the first three innings, but bounced back from there for a second straight quality start. Nova's final line included six frames and three strikeouts, a Kevin Kiermaier two-run home run and a Logan Forsythe RBI single accounting for the visitors' offense.

The Insurance Agent: Didi Gregorius used some heads-up base-running to score on a throwing error in the seventh, adding further insurance with a bases-loaded single in the eighth. The Rays had been trying to turn a double play when Forsythe's seventh-inning heave to first went wide, allowing Gregorius to sprint home from third with the Yanks' fifth run (unearned) off Archer.

An Unusual Occurence: The normally-perfect Dellin Betances served up a solo bomb to Asdrubal Cabrera in the eighth, a no-doubter to the upper-deck in right to cut the Yankees' lead to one. It was just the fourth time this season Betances has been taken deep, all of which have interestingly come in the Bronx.

Holding On: Andrew Miller yielded a pair of singles with two out in the ninth, putting men on the corners for pinch-hitter Brandon Guyer. Guyer, however, was hopeless in his attempts to hit Miller -- striking out awkwardly on just four pitches as the closer sealed the victory.

Next Up: The Yankees continue this homestand with a visit from the Orioles on Monday, sending Michael Pineda (10-8, 4.07 ERA) to the mound versus lefty Wei-Yin Chen (8-7, 3.36 ERA). First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m. ET, airing live on YES and ESPN.

Girardi to Rays After Jeter is Hit on Hand: "Pitch the Right Way"

Yankees' Manager Joe Girardi attacked the Rays' pitching staff after Derek Jeter was hit on the hand in last night's 6-1 loss, calling for them to "pitch the right way."

Yesterday's eighth inning plunking of Jeter, which resulted in Girardi being ejected, happened just six days after team Thrd Basemen Chase Headley took a Jake McGee fastball to the face, an event that caused him to miss four games.

"If you are going to pitch inside, pitch the right way," Girard told ESPN.com's Andrew Marchand. "If you can't pitch inside, don't pitch inside. We are not pincushions."

The aforementioned Headley, someone whose voice definetely matters in this case, also expressed frustration. 

"You shouldn't be in the big leagues if you keep doing that consistently," Headley said. "I mean, guys are throwing too hard with too good a stuff. Granted, I know that balls get away every now and then. I get it. It can't keep happening. If a guy can't control the fastball, he can't pitch in there. He can't be in the game."

Unfortunately for both sides, Jeter's HBP was only the beginning of a much bigger problem. Because shortly after it happened, New York Reliever David Phelps was also disqualified for throwing at Rays' OF Kevin Kiermaier, something that ultimately cleared both benches.

Offense Stays Cold as Yankees Lose to Rays 6-1

Michael Pineda surrendered just one earned run in 5 1/3 innings and Francisco Cervelli went a nice 2-for-3, but since the offense continued to look confused at the plate and Esmil Rogers again didn't look sharp in relief the Yankees' ugly losing streak reached three tonight with a 6-1 meltdown to the Rays.

For essentially the first half of this one, though they failed to score after getting the first two men on in the third and fifth, the Pineda-led Yanks desperately held on to a 1-0 lead, one they took in the top of the second off Jake Odirizzi (6 Innings Pitched, 1 Earned Run) when Ichiro Suzuki singled home Chris Young. 

Nonetheless, from the bottom of the fifth on everything seemed to go Tampa Bay's way, with the home team luckily tying it in that frame when a pair of errors by Brendan Ryan and Pineda helped drive in Kevin Kiermaier.

Then in the sixth, in a happening that appeared to crush whatever spirit the Yanks had left, the Rays crossed home again on a bunt knock by Yunel Escobar, followed shortly by a four spot in the seventh that basically put the nail in the coffin.

Roberts' 9th Inning Homer Wasted in Extras as Yankees Drop Third Straight to Rays, 4-3

Going into this season's trade deadline, it's common knowledge that the Yankees have a lot of holes to fill. 

With Michael Pineda set to miss most of summer and the entire infield struggling to hit above .250, it's obvious that a solid starter and a reliable bat would be much appreciated, although after tonight the Yanks just might have one more kind of player to acquire.

A long reliever.

Yes, that notion sounds a little dumb, but after Jose Ramirez blew another game this evening it just might become legitimate, as the Bombers fell to the Rays again, 4-3.

To start off his top of the twelfth outing, Ramirez actually retired the always-dangerous Evan Longoria and James Loney, a success that quickly went for nothing, as the youngster would go on to walk Brandon Guyer and surrender an RBI Single to Logan Forsythe that broke the tie.

That sudden and painful collapse wasted a pair of scoreless innings the Yankees had gotten from the struggling Shawn Kelley, as well as a huge, game-continuing solo home run from Brian Roberts in the bottom of the ninth. 

Prior to those seemingly momentum-shifting occurrences, David Phelps also gave the Bombers 5.2 frames of two-run ball (solo homers from Matt Joyce and Kevin Kiermaier), almost matching the line of the Rays' Chris Archer, who, besides an Brett Gardner triple and Derek Jeter groundout in New York's half of the third, was great in his 21-out performance.

Still, as I said earlier, everything the Yanks did in this one ended up being worthless, as they dropped to an ugly 2-7 in their last nine contests, 2.5 games out of the division lead, and 3 games out of the second and final wild card spot, again proving that things are not actually getting better for them.