Victor Mesa Jr. barely needed to see the ball leave Yankee Stadium. The Tampa Bay outfielder knew he had squared up Max Fried’s hanging sweeper, and instead of following its flight into the right-field seats, he turned from the plate to find the Rays dugout already coming alive.
That sixth-inning homer gave Tampa Bay the jolt it needed in a 4-3 Game 3 win Wednesday night, finishing a three-game sweep of the Yankees and sending the Rays to the American League Championship Series. Tampa Bay will meet the winner of the Cleveland Guardians-Chicago White Sox series.
Quick facts
- Tampa Bay swept New York 3-0 and won the clincher 4-3 at Yankee Stadium.
- Rays pitching allowed only five runs over the three games.
- Mesa’s two-run homer off Yankees left-hander Max Fried broke a 2-2 tie in the sixth.
- Bryan Baker struck out Trent Grisham for the final out.
- Mesa hit .333 against left-handed pitching in the regular season.
The sweep was built around pitching, from Drew Rasmussen’s near no-hitter in the opener through Baker’s closing punchout in Game 3. Rays manager Kevin Cash praised the way his staff handled a Yankees lineup that never found room to breathe.
“The way our pitchers executed as they navigated through that lineup was really impressive,” Cash said.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone had little argument after the final out. “They beat us,” Boone said. “They obviously had a great season.”
Mesa has become one of the club’s latest unexpected contributors. Signed by Miami in 2019, he appeared in 16 major league games with the Marlins before Tampa Bay acquired him last February in exchange for infielder Angel Brachi.
He opened this season in the minors, then arrived in the majors near the end of May. Teammates quickly saw a confident player with plenty to say and a bat capable of doing damage.
“He showed he’s a really good player as soon as he got here,” shortstop Taylor Walls said.
Mesa’s production against southpaws helped put him in Cash’s Game 3 lineup against Fried. His .333 regular-season average against lefties sat nearly 100 points above his mark against right-handed pitching, and Cash had noted before the game that Mesa could drive a lefty’s fastball the other way while also turning on a misplaced breaking pitch.
Fried was nearing the end of his night in the sixth, already past 70 pitches, with the score even at 2-2. He struck out Yandy Díaz, retired Jonathan Aranda on a fly ball to center and watched Junior Caminero send a grounder through the middle for a hit.
Paul Blackburn was ready in the New York bullpen, and the matchup numbers supported a possible move to the right-hander. Boone stayed with Fried, who opened Mesa’s at-bat with a sweeper that caught too much of the plate.
Mesa did not miss. His drive carried toward the right-field seats, and the left-handed hitter stood at home as his club celebrated.
“That’s the stage you dream of,” Mesa said. “That’s the moment you want to live when you’re growing up.”
Walls watched from the dugout and had one request for the baseball: “Dude, please go.” Cash had a different concern as Mesa lingered at the plate, pointing and shouting for him to run. Later, the manager smiled while explaining that the Rays did not need to provide extra motivation to a dangerous Yankees club.
New York made one more push. Anthony Volpe drove a ball over Mesa’s head toward the seats, where a Yankees fan reached onto the field to touch it. Replay ruled fan interference, leaving Volpe at second rather than awarding a home run.
The Yankees could not produce the tying run. Baker finished the job by striking out Grisham, and the Rays spilled onto the infield before gathering for a team photograph.
Mesa briefly stayed behind to answer postgame questions, then cut the session short. “I gotta go,” he said as he headed back toward his teammates. Tampa Bay had another clubhouse celebration waiting.
