Victor Mesa Jr. found out immediately Wednesday. He didn’t even watch the ball leave Yankee Stadium.
Instead, he turned around to kick off the celebration with his dugout. And it was well deserved.
Mesa and the Tampa Bay Rays held on late, even after a clear fan interference callto beat the New York Yankees 4-3 on Wednesday in Game 3 of the ALDS. This gave them a series sweep and sent them to the American League Championship Series for the first time since their World Series in 2020.
While the game was close early – the Yankees kept pace with the Rays after an RBI single by Jonathan Aranda in the third and a solo home run by Ryan Vilade in the fourth – it was Mesa who blew the game away.
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After Junior Caminero reached base in the sixth on a single to center, Mesa destroyed a 77 mph slider from Max Fried. And instead of watching his shot, or even starting to run a little, he just turned toward the dugout.
The ball traveled over 400 feet and had no problem clearing the wall for his first career postseason home run. This gave the Rays a 4-2 lead.
It looked like The Yankees tied the game in the bottom of the inning when Anthony Volpe appeared to make his own two-point shot. But it was downgraded to duplicate after clear fan interference on the left field wall. Volpe’s ball clearly would have stayed in the park unassisted.
The officials gave the Yankees one run, ruling that Mesa would not have caught the ball even if it had stayed in the park, allowing the Rays to maintain a 4-3 lead.
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Mesa engaged with Yankees fans after the play. Some Yankees fans threw trash onto the field after the replay, delaying the game momentarily.
This cut all the air out of the New York crowd. The Yankees couldn’t get anything going in the next two frames as the Rays maintained their lead, then Bryan Baker came in to close out the game on the mound for Tampa Bay in the ninth. Volpe struck out his swing to open the inning, and the Rays nearly ended the series on a double play against a Jazz Chisholm grounder. Baker ultimately struck out Trent Grisham to secure the victory.
The Rays will be heading to the ALCS for the third time in franchise history. The last two times they reached the World Series. They will wait for the winner of the ALDS between the Chicago White Sox and the Cleveland Guardians. The Guardians won 9-3 in their Game 3 earlier Wednesday to force a Game 4.
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The Yankees, meanwhile, will head into the offseason after falling in the ALDS for a second straight year. They didn’t lead for a single moment in this series. And now their hopes of a second trip to the World Series in the last three years are over.
Baker strikes out Trent Grisham, and that’s the game and the series.
The Rays advance to the ALCS with a sweep of the Yankees. The New York season is over.
Chisholm steals second and Grisham makes it 1-2.
“Jazz Chisholm Jr. relies on a defender’s choice”. The Rays get the first runner on second. So now Jazz are up first with two outs and Trent Grisham at bat.
Spencer Jones hits a four-pitch walk and the Yankees have a baserunner.
Volpe works a full count and Baker knees him for #1.
Bryan Baker is on the mound for the Rays to try to close this case and send his team to the ALCS.
Bednar manages the start of the ninth without problem, and the Yankees are fighting for their last chances to extend this series and their season.
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After two quick outs, the Yankees called on Giancarlo Stanton as a pinch hitter. The Rays brought in Kevin Kelly, and he got them out of the inning with a strikeout.
Tampa leads 4-3 and we head into the ninth.
Junior Caminero looked like he had a great play at third, but his throw to first was barely out of line.
Goldschmidt is safe at first as the leadoff runner with no outs in the eighth.
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Aranda was hit by a pitch and got on base, but the Yankees escaped the bottom of the eighth unscathed.
So they will head to the end of the inning with 6 outs remaining to make a move.
Jax struck out Trent Grisham and Ben Rice to end the seventh. The Yankees are still in disarray after fan interference, and they are running out of time to keep their season alive.
The Rays still lead 4-3.
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Blackburn needed just four pitches to end the Yankees’ seventh inning. We’re headed down, with the Rays still on the rise.
Anthony Volpe looked like he made a two-point shot himself, which would have tied the game again. But he was called back after fan interference in left field.
The fans very clearly reached over the wall to catch the ball, so Volpe’s hit is ruled a double.
So the Yankees get a run and a runner on second after the review. It’s 4-3 rays.
There was no doubt about this one. Victor Mesa stopped to celebrate at the plate and didn’t even watch the plate go out.
It’s a two-run shot, and the Rays lead 4-2 in the sixth.
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And that’s three up, three down for the Rays to finish the fifth. Ben Rice, after his RBI earlier in the night, got his swing out there.
We are still tied 2-2.
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Three up, three down for the Yankees in the fifth. Max Fried struck out Palacios for his sixth out of the night.
It’s still 2-2 at the bottom of the fifth.
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Ian Seymour came in to pitch for the Rays, and Spencer Jones immediately hit a double to tie this game.
It’s 2-2 now down to 4.
Nick Martinez was just drilled in the back by a Volpe dribbler, sending him spinning and allowing Volpe to pass first.
Martinez was holding his back, clearly a little shaken, so the Rays are just going to pull him. His night is over.
Ian Seymour came to replace him.
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Ryan Vilade puts the Rays back in front! He just hit a solo shot with two outs in the fourth, and it’s just barely cleared the outfield wall.
This marked Vilade’s first hit and home run of the postseason.
The Rays lead 2-1 now midway through the fourth.
Gn sports
