After too many nights when they have struggled to touch average-at-best starting pitchers, the Yankees turned around on Wednesday and knocked a Cy Young candidate out of a game after four innings.
Then their own Cy Young candidate — and current favorite — took care of the rest.
Anthony Volpe and Giancarlo Stanton hit home runs off Shane McClanahan, while Gerrit Cole got better as the night went on, combining to lift the Yankees to a 7-2 win over the Rays in The Bronx.
Volpe clubbed a two-run homer in the bottom of the third and before the inning was over, Stanton had added a three-run home run to put the Yankees up 5-2 on the lefty McClanahan.
Stanton later drove in another run on a single in the seventh inning, giving him four RBIs a day after the Yankees (56-52) failed to add a hitter by the trade deadline.
Instead, their playoff hopes are banking on improvements from within, a more consistent Stanton being chief among them.
Volpe also went 3-for-4, while Gleyber Torres added three hits and two runs to help the Yankees avoid being swept by the Rays (66-45).
Of course, for the victory to mean anything the Yankees will have to build off of it with results Thursday in the opener of a four-game series against the Astros.
Aside from a sweep two weeks ago of the Royals, one of the worst teams in baseball, the Yankees have not won two consecutive games since July 3-4 against the Orioles.
At least for one night — reminiscent of the kind of at-bats they put together the last time they won, on Saturday in Baltimore — the Yankees worked deep counts and forced McClanahan (who entered the night 11-1 with a 3.00 ERA) to throw 82 pitches across four innings.
Cole, meanwhile, gave up a two-run, third-deck home run to Wander Franco two batters into the game.
But from there, he only strengthened his status as the AL Cy Young favorite, turning in seven strong innings while striking out eight and lowering his ERA to 2.64.
The Yankees ace got some help from left fielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who threw out a pair of Rays who were trying to stretch singles into doubles.
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