​ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Jonathan Aranda drove in three runs, Shane McClanahan worked 6 1/3 innings and the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the New York Yankees 3-0 on Wednesday night, widening their AL East lead to five games. McClanahan (8-5) allowed four hits, struck out five and walked no one on 85 pitches, delivering his longest outing of the season and continuing his streak of back-to-back starts without allowing a run. Bryan Baker logged a perfect ninth inning with a strikeout, earning his 25th save.
The Rays have now fanned the Yankees 45 times across the first three games of the series. Aranda delivered an RBI single in the third off Gerrit Cole (3-4) that scored Yandy Díaz, then added an RBI double in the fifth that brought in Nick Fortes. He added a third RBI in the seventh against Fernando Cruz when Taylor Walls scored on a sacrifice fly. Díaz finished 4-for-4 with a run scored, boosting his average to .327.
Cole was charged with three runs over 6 1/3 innings, yielding seven hits, striking out six and walking one on 97 pitches. New York has dropped 11 of its last 13 games. Yankees manager Aaron Boone and bench coach Brad Ausmus were both ejected in the sixth inning.
New York will open Thursday’s series finale at Tropicana Field with Rays right-hander Drew Rasmussen (7-4, 2.78) starting as the opener.