Bronx, NY — The Tampa Bay Rays are headed back to the American League Championship Series, and they did it by ending the New York Yankees’ season in dramatic fashion.
Victor Mesa Jr. delivered the decisive blow Wednesday night, launching a two-run homer off Max Fried in the sixth inning as the Rays defeated the Yankees 4-3 to complete a three-game sweep of their AL Division Series.
The victory sends Tampa Bay to the ALCS for the first time since 2020. The Rays will host either the Chicago White Sox or Cleveland Guardians in Game 1 on Monday.
But the final game of the series was defined by much more than Mesa’s home run.
With Tampa Bay leading 4-2 in the sixth, Anthony Volpe appeared to tie the game with a two-run homer off Griffin Jax. Instead, a fan reaching over the left-field wall changed the outcome.
As the ball approached the wall, a spectator reached over and caught it just above the glove of a leaping Mesa. After a lengthy video review, officials ruled that the ball would not have cleared the wall and that Mesa would not have been able to make the catch.
Volpe was therefore awarded an RBI double, while George Lombard Jr., who had reached base earlier in the inning, was permitted to score. The Yankees had life, but Jax regained his composure and struck out Spencer Jones to end the threat.
The sequence highlighted just how dramatically technology has changed postseason baseball.
Earlier in the inning, Lombard reached on a walk after an automatic ball-strike challenge overturned a called strike. Austin Wells then appeared to draw another walk, but Tampa Bay challenged the call. The automated system determined the pitch caught the inside corner, turning the at-bat into a strikeout and bringing Volpe to the plate.
For Tampa Bay, those technological reviews proved crucial in protecting a lead that ultimately sent the Rays to the next round.
Ian Seymour provided 1 1/3 scoreless innings, while Kevin Kelly entered in the eighth and struck out pinch-hitter Giancarlo Stanton with a runner stranded. Bryan Baker then closed out the Yankees in the ninth for his third save of the series.
The Rays also received home runs from Ryan Vilade and Mesa, while Jonathan Aranda supplied an RBI single.
Aranda opened the scoring in the third inning with a run-scoring single. New York answered almost immediately when Ben Rice delivered an RBI single against Nick Martinez to tie the game.
Vilade then gave Tampa Bay the lead in the fourth with a remarkable opposite-field home run. The 27-year-old outfielder sent a 340-foot drive toward the short porch in right field, with the ball barely clearing the glove of a leaping Jones.
The unusual dimensions of Yankee Stadium played a major role in the hit, as the drive would not have left virtually any other major league ballpark.
New York briefly generated momentum when Volpe lined a 96.6 mph ball off Martinez with two outs in the fourth inning. Volpe reached safely, and Seymour entered the game. Jones followed with an opposite-field double that brought Volpe home and put the Yankees in front.
Tampa Bay answered again in the sixth.
Junior Caminero opened the inning with a single, setting the stage for Mesa. The Rays outfielder turned on a sweeper from Fried and drove it deep into the right-field seats, giving Tampa Bay a 4-2 advantage and ending Fried’s night.
The Yankees never recovered.
The sweep was particularly painful for New York, which had advanced after sweeping Boston in the Wild Card Series but never held a lead against Tampa Bay during the Division Series.
The Yankees also finished the season without captain Aaron Judge, who missed the postseason after suffering a calf strain on Sept. 16. Judge had appeared in only seven games after May 31 because of a fractured rib and the subsequent leg injury.
New York entered the season with MLB’s third-highest payroll at approximately $303 million. Tampa Bay, meanwhile, began the year with a payroll of roughly $91 million, ranking 26th in baseball.
The Rays celebrated on the Yankees’ home field for the second time in less than three weeks. Tampa Bay had previously clinched the AL East at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 22.
For the Yankees, the loss extended a championship drought that has now reached 17 consecutive seasons. New York has not won the World Series since 2009, matching its longest stretch between championships since the franchise won its first title in 1923.
The Yankees were also swept in a best-of-five postseason series for the first time since the 1980 ALCS against Kansas City.
Tampa Bay, meanwhile, moves on with championship aspirations of its own.
The Rays will receive four days of rest before opening the ALCS on Monday. By then, Tampa Bay will have played only three games over a 14-day span.
After eliminating the Yankees without needing a fourth game, the Rays now have an opportunity to prove that their October run is far from over.
