Good pitching, enough hitting: On this day, Rays' formula works

NEW YORK -- Over the first month of the season, and especially this past week, Rays pitchers said all the right things when asked about their lack of run support. They figured it would all be even in the end, with the lineup bailing them out of some games. They knew it would turn around eventually. They didn’t worry about anything but doing their job.

They continued to do that job exceptionally well Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium, and finally, they were rewarded for it.

Zack Littell fired seven strong innings, Curtis Mead’s RBI single keyed a come-from-behind rally in the eighth and the Rays snapped their four-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory that shows how they are built to win games as their lineup finds its footing.

They hit just enough to pull off their fourth win of the season in which they trailed after seven innings. They used their speed, with a season-high six stolen bases. They played clean defense. And their pitching was on point, allowing only five hits (and no walks) to the American League’s highest-scoring offense.

“They've done a good job. They're giving us chances to win, and this offense is going to get going,” manager Kevin Cash said. “Maybe today, with just a couple runs right there, there's some guys that are feeling a little bit more positive about themselves and we can start kind of complementing the pitching.”

After a frustrating defeat on Friday night, the second game of the series had all the makings of another aggravating afternoon at the plate for the Rays. Littell was mostly spectacular, holding the dangerous Yankees lineup to only solo homers by Aaron Judge and Austin Wells as he cruised through his third career start of at least seven innings with no walks.

“The old adage of, like, you're not going to get beat by solo shots -- we almost tested that theory today,” Littell said, smiling.

Littell was at his strike-throwing, efficient best, cruising through seven innings on 81 pitches (56 strikes). He found his splitter in the fourth inning, using it to strike out Judge, then leaned on it heavily throughout the rest of his outing.

“It looked like a knuckleball coming in there,” Cash said. “To navigate that lineup through seven innings, two solo homers and that's all the damage -- just a tremendous job.”

Tampa Bay’s bullpen came through, too. Edwin Uceta entered with runners on the corners and two outs in the eighth to face Judge, then got him to ground out on a 1-0 changeup below the zone. Pete Fairbanks finished the job in the ninth, picking up his seventh save with help from nice stops by José Caballero at third and Mead at first.

It took time for Tampa Bay’s lineup, having scored only three runs over the previous four games, to capitalize. After loading the bases with one out in the second inning, the Rays scored just one run on a Taylor Walls sacrifice fly. Of the next 19 hitters they sent to the plate, only three reached safely.

But the Rays’ fate finally turned in the eighth, when they got the big hits -- and breaks -- they’ve been waiting for.

“It was huge to come back there in the eighth,” Littell said. “It was fun to watch, and definitely a much-needed win.”

After pinch-runner Chandler Simpson stole second, Brandon Lowe walked then alertly swiped second as he saw Simpson take third. With one out and two runners in scoring position, Mead came to the plate.

This season has been a struggle for Mead, the Spring Training standout who was hitting just .150 with a .414 OPS after another hitless game Friday night. Everyone acknowledges he’s being asked to handle a challenging role, playing almost exclusively against left-handed pitchers with sporadic starts and pinch-hitting opportunities.

But Cash said Saturday morning that the Rays would “trust that, with time, he’s going to figure this out. We need him to figure it out.” What he did a few hours later was a good sign that he might be.

After falling behind in the count, 0-2, Mead took three splitters outside the zone and fouled off two more pitches before finally getting a full-count sinker high enough for him to smack it into left field for a game-tying single. Caballero then slapped a chopper back up the middle that shortstop Anthony Volpe couldn’t corral, allowing Lowe to dash home and score the go-ahead run.

“It was special. For Cashy to back me in, let me hit in that situation was cool, and I was pleased to come through for the team,” Mead said. “I feel like I've made a couple of little adjustments that have helped me have more competitive at-bats, and the timing's been a little bit better.”