STREET. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) The pesky Tampa Bay Rays put all the pressure on the big, bad New York Yankees. Richie Palacios hit a two-run single in a four-run fifth inning and Tampa Bay took advantage of New York’s sloppy defense, beating Cam Schlittler and the Yankees 5-2 on Monday night to take a 2-0 lead in their American League Division Series. The Rays are one win away from reaching the American League Championship Series. Game three of the best-of-five playoff is Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium. “That’s a byproduct of having a really good clubhouse and a group of unselfish teammates,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “They don’t care who does it. They just want to do it. The biggest cheerleaders come from the guys in the dugout. Good teams don’t just depend on one or two people. We depend on the nine in the lineup, the guys on the bench and certainly our entire pitching staff.” Ben Rice hit two home runs for the Yankees, who are on the brink of elimination, extending their drought without a World Series championship to 17 seasons. They were dominated by Drew Rasmussen in the series opener and scored just two runs in two playoff games against the AL East champion Rays, with three-time AL MVP Aaron Judge out of the lineup due to a calf injury. “Well, we have to win. We have to play the first inning of Game 3,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “We have to go out and play well. So we’ve responded all year. We need to do it again. Obviously, we need to play better and it starts with just one at a time. I don’t even go ahead and win three. We have to win one and we have to play better on Wednesday night for that to happen.” errors. Jonathan Aranda singled to start the inning and Junior Caminero doubled to right-center field. With the infield closed except for second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., who was standing several feet further back in the dirt, Liam Hicks hit a slow bouncer to second that scored Aranda for a 2-1 lead. Chisholm’s only play came early because he wasn’t all the way in like the rest of the infielders. Chandler Simpson then hit a grounder that shortstop George Lombard Jr. missed, scoring Caminero to make it 3-1. It was initially ruled a hit and then changed to an error and finally a fielder’s choice. Brent Headrick replaced Schlittler and struck out Victor Mesa Jr. After Simpson stole second, Jonny DeLuca reached for a grounder when Lombard’s throw to first went wide for New York’s fourth error. Palacios followed with a hard single to center that increased Tampa Bay’s lead to 5-1. “It was just one of those games that builds up and piles on top of each other,” Lombard said. “It wasn’t ideal. We put ourselves in a bad situation.” That was a big boost for one of the best bullpens in the majors. Freddy Peralta allowed one run and three hits in 4 2/3 innings, Cam Booser worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth and Ian Seymour allowed one run in three innings. Bryan Baker finished with a perfect ninth for his second save in two games. Schlittler, who went 14-6 with a 1.95 ERA and dominated Boston in the first game of the wild-card round, lasted 4 1/3 innings. He allowed four runs (two earned) and six hits while striking out only two. Rice sent a 2-2 changeup into the right field seats to tie the score at 1 in the fourth, ending New York’s scoreless drought in the ALDS. Rice hit 41 home runs in the regular season. His momentum woke up the Yankees fans in the stadium, who until then were drowned out by the Rays fans. But a sellout crowd of 40,226 was mostly filled with Rays fans ringing cowbells and reveling in the misery of New York. Peralta retired the first two batters in the fifth before Austin Wells had a double and Ryan McMahon walked. Booser replaced Peralta and walked Rice to load the bases, but the left-hander escaped when Cody Bellinger flied out to the warning track in center. The Yankees committed three errors in the first inning, but Schlittler held the Rays to one run. New York became the first team to commit three errors in the first inning of a postseason game since the Oakland Athletics in Game 1 of the 1975 American League Championship Series against Boston, according to Sportsnet Stats. Yankees rookie Spencer Jones hit a fly ball off a runway at quirky Tropicana Field that was caught by Mesa for one out in the second inning. Jones continued running around the bases as the ball clattered and fell to Mesa, who ran from right field to catch it in center. DeLuca thought he was camped underneath in the middle, but began to aim up when the ball hit one of the two hoops well above the field and under the roof. Mesa caught him several feet in front of DeLuca. The referees granted and confirmed the start, according to the basic rules of the stadium. Yankees LHP Max Fried (5-5, 2.80 ERA) and Rays RHP Nick Martinez (15-6, 3.10) are the projected starters for Game 3.—See AP’s complete MLB coverage here Copyright 2026 STATS LLC and the Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and the Associated Press is strictly prohibited.
