On Thursday night, the new york yankees were in action ahead of their upcoming appearance in the MLB Playoffs. Aaron Judge smacked out another Home Run, but his team was on the losing side against the Tampa Bay Rays. Here's the latest Rays vs. Yankees game recap with top players, statistics, a standings update, as well as what's next for each of these MLB teams.

MLB game recap

The New York Yankees were able to get on the scoreboard early in tonight's game for the lead. After a 1-0 start by Tampa Bay off a home run from Corey Dickerson, New York put up two runs, both of which were home runs.

Brett Gardner and Aaron Judge each hit solo shots to right field. The Yankees would add several more runs, behind a Todd Frazier single in the second and a Greg Bird home run in the fourth.

However, the Tampa Bay Rays would explode for seven runs in the fifth inning. It began when a wild pitch from Sonny Gray allowed Smith to score. A passed ball from Gary Sanchez would allow Corey Dickerson to score and then Wilson Ramos added a two-run home run to center field. New York changed pitchers but it wouldn't matter as Cesar Puello singled to center to score Adeiny Hechavarria. Peter Bourjos hit a huge triple to score Daniel Robertson and Puello for two more runs. By then it was an 8-4 lead for the Rays.

In today's game, Aaron Judge added to his rookie home run record with his 51st for the season. On the other side, catcher Wilson Ramos was 1-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored, while Corey Dickerson was 2-for-5 with a RBI and two runs scored. Peter Bourjos also was 1-for-4 and had two RBIs to help his team with the big win.

Chih Wei Hu grabbed the victory for Tampa Bay with one inning pitched. He's now 1-1 for the season. On the losing side for the Yankees was Sonny Gray (10-12) as he worked 4 2/3 innings and had two strikeouts.

Standings and what's next

The Tampa Bay Rays are 77-82 for their season with a 38-43 away record. They are third in the American League East and won't qualify for the postseason this year.

Next up for Tampa Bay is a home game on Friday night at 7:10 PM ET. They'll host the Baltimore Orioles with Wade Miley (8-14, 5.52 ERA) on the mound.

The New York Yankees are already in the MLB Playoffs as the top AL Wild Card team. They fell to 89-70 with tonight's loss and have a home record of 49-29. Next up for New York will be a home game against the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday afternoon at 1:05 PM ET. Masahiro Tanaka (12-12, 4.94 ERA) gets the start for the Yankees.
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