St. Petersburg, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - David DeJesus' two-run single in the seventh inning sparked a late rally that lifted the Tampa Bay Rays to a 4-2 victory over the New York Yankees.
After DeJesus' clutch hit off Nathan Eovaldi knotted the score at 2-2, the Rays scored twice more in the eighth to come away with only their second win in eight meetings with New York this season.
"We just keep grinding, keep grinding," DeJesus said. "In the late innings, (we) just had good at-bats."
DeJesus finished 2-for-3 and Evan Longoria drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly, which earned Kevin Jepsen (1-2) the win for tossing a scoreless top of the eighth.
Chris Archer overcame a shaky opening inning to hold the Yankees to two runs while striking out eight over seven strong frames.
Eovaldi (3-1) wound up being charged with all four runs in a 7 1/3-inning outing in which he shut the Rays out over the first six.
"I felt good," Eovaldi said. "I was able to make good pitches with my fastball earlier in the game."
Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner each had two hits and a run scored for New York.
Eovaldi had faced the minimum through four innings and had yielded just three singles while carrying a 2-0 lead into the seventh. Longoria singled to begin Tampa Bay's half of the inning, however, and Logan Forsythe drew a one-out walk two batters later before both advanced on Eovaldi's wild pitch.
DeJesus subsequently shot a sharp single up the middle to bring home both runners and tie the game.
Eovaldi's walk to Kevin Kiermaier with one out in the eighth proved equally damaging, as Steven Souza singled past second baseman Stephen Drew to put runners on the corners prior to Longoria greeting Dellin Betances with a fly to deep center that scored Kiermaier without a throw.
Betances later uncorked a wild pitch to enable Souza to cross for a 4-2 edge, and Brad Boxberger allowed just a single in the ninth en route to posting his ninth save.
Archer really struggled with his command during an opening in which the first five Yankees all reached base.
Ellsbury and Gardner began the game with consecutive singles and Archer walked Alex Rodriguez to load the bases for Brian McCann, whose RBI single to right was followed by a base hit from Carlos Beltran that increased the lead to 2-0.
Archer was able to prevent further damage by striking out Chase Headley and getting Drew to hit a fly ball not deep enough for Rodriguez to tag at third.
The right-hander shut down the Yankees over the remainder of his stint, which Archer ended by retiring 10 straight.
Game Notes
The Yankees lost for just the second time in 18 games this season when leading after six innings ... Archer remained unbeaten in seven career starts against New York, having gone 5-0 with a 2.02 ERA in those games ... Souza accounted for two of the Rays' six hits ... The Yankees had a five-game winning streak at Tropicana Field halted.
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