by The Yankees did not exactly light up Tampa Bay, but Cam Schlittler and José Caballero gave them exactly what they needed in a 5-1 win over the Rays.
Yankees Finally Punch Back In The Division
The Yankees opened this four-game set against the Rays with the kind of win they badly needed. Not pretty. Not balanced. Not one of those games where the lineup makes you feel like everything is fixed.
But a win is a win, and when you are chasing Tampa Bay in the AL East, you take it and keep moving.
The Yankees beat the Rays 5-1 on Monday night, improving to 50-40 while Tampa Bay dropped to 52-36. The Rays still lead the Yankees by three games in the division, so nobody needs to start printing parade shirts. But this was a real punch back from a Yankees team that could not afford to come into this series looking sleepy.
And the funny part? The Yankees struck out 17 times and finished with only three hits.
All three hits left the yard.
That is about as Yankees as it gets.
Seated for The Schlitt Show 🍿@MLBPS_US x #RepBX pic.twitter.com/W72ySP5nRe
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 7, 2026
Cam Schlittler Looked Like A Grown Man
Cam Schlittler was the story. Eight innings, four hits, one run, no walks, eight strikeouts, 101 pitches.
That is not just a good start. That is a tone-setting start.
Especially after his last outing, when Detroit got him for a career-high six runs. A lot of young pitchers carry that with them. They start nibbling. They start pitching scared. They start looking like they are trying not to get hit instead of attacking hitters.
Schlittler did the opposite.
He came into Tampa Bay, filled up the zone, controlled the game, and gave the Yankees exactly what this rotation needed. He did not walk anybody. That is the part I love. No free traffic. No nonsense. No “let me beat myself before you beat me.”
The Rays only got him in the fifth, when Chandler Simpson reached, moved up, and Richie Palacios singled him in. That was it. Tampa Bay got one run and then went right back to being stuck.
David Bednar handled the ninth with no drama. Imagine that. A clean ninth inning. Yankees fans deserve a parade just for that sometimes.
Cabby for three 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/pETWjOJZrl
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 6, 2026
Caballero Got His Revenge Game
José Caballero was the offense.
Griffin Jax retired the first 13 Yankees he faced. The Yankees looked dead at the plate. Strikeouts everywhere. Bad swings. Quiet innings. The kind of game where you start thinking, “Here we go again.”
Then Jasson Domínguez walked. Jazz Chisholm Jr. walked. And Caballero, the former Ray, smoked a three-run homer to left.
That changed the whole game.
It’s like déjà vu all over again 💪 pic.twitter.com/lmZLrH0293
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 7, 2026
Then in the eighth, Caballero did it again, hitting his second homer of the night and his career-best 10th of the season. Two hits, two homers, four RBI. Not bad for a guy Tampa Bay sent to the Yankees last July.
Sometimes baseball has a sense of humor.
Rice ‘n’ Easy 🍚 pic.twitter.com/pc3azKTrzK
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 7, 2026
Ben Rice Adds The Extra Shot
Ben Rice added his 25th home run in the ninth, giving the Yankees a little extra breathing room. Rice continues to be one of the few bats in this lineup you can actually trust to run into something dangerous.
But let’s not pretend the offense was clean. 17 strikeouts is ridiculous. Goldschmidt struck out three times. Bellinger struck out three times. McMahon struck out three times. Jazz struck out twice. Domínguez struck out twice.
That cannot be the formula every night.
But for one night, the formula worked because Schlittler was excellent and Caballero carried the bats on his back.
The Yankees did not play a perfect game. They played a winning game. Against Tampa Bay, on the road, in a division race, that is enough.
Now do it again Tuesday.
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