Mesa’s homer and Baker’s final strikeout send Rays past Yankees 4-3

Victor Mesa Jr.'s two-run homer in the sixth inning put Tampa Bay ahead, and the Rays held on for a 4-3 win over the Yankees on Wednesday to sweep their American League Division Series. Bryan Baker struck out Trent Grisham with the tying run at second to finish Game 3 at Yankee Stadium.

Tampa Bay advances to face the winner of Cleveland's series against Chicago. The Guardians won earlier Wednesday to keep that matchup alive, with the White Sox leading two games to one. New York's season ends after the Yankees were swept in three games.

The decisive swing came with the game tied 2-2. Junior Caminero singled with two outs in the sixth, and Mesa followed by driving Max Fried's pitch over the right-center-field fence. The two-run shot gave Tampa Bay a lead it carried through the final out.

The Yankees appeared to answer immediately. Anthony Volpe hit a long ball to left with George Lombard Jr. at first, and the initial home-run call suggested a 4-4 tie. A replay review changed the result: spectator interference turned the hit into an RBI double, leaving Tampa Bay ahead 4-3.

ESPN's Buster Olney reported MLB's explanation that the spectator had interfered with the ball over the field of play. The replay official determined it would neither have left the playing field nor been caught. Lombard was allowed to score and Volpe was placed at second. Spencer Jones struck out to end the inning.

Both teams had answered the other's offense before those sixth-inning swings. Jonathan Aranda singled in Jonny DeLuca in the third, with Taylor Walls thrown out at the plate on the same play. Ben Rice's RBI single tied it in the bottom half. Ryan Vilade homered with two outs in the fourth to restore Tampa Bay's lead, before Jones doubled home Volpe to tie it again.

Fried allowed seven hits and four runs in 5⅔ innings, striking out seven without a walk. Mesa's homer was the second he surrendered. Paul Blackburn and David Bednar kept Tampa Bay scoreless over the remaining 3⅓ innings, giving the Yankees opportunities to erase the one-run deficit.

Rays starter Nick Martinez worked 3⅔ innings and allowed five hits and two runs. Yahoo Sports' Ryan Young reported that Martinez was removed in the fourth after Volpe's batted ball struck his back. That description establishes the incident and exit; the report did not supply a confirmed diagnosis. Ian Seymour, Griffin Jax, Cam Booser and Kevin Kelly helped carry Tampa Bay to Baker in the ninth.

New York had a runner on in the eighth but could not bring him around, with Kelly striking out pinch-hitter Giancarlo Stanton to end the inning. Baker then worked around a ninth-inning walk. Jazz Chisholm Jr. reached on a fielder's choice and stole second, putting the tying run in scoring position with two outs. Grisham's swinging strikeout ended the chance and sent Tampa Bay through.