NEW YORK — Tuesday night’s Gerrit Cole vs. Corey Kluber matchup may have been the main event a few years ago, but Wednesday night was the marquee pitching matchup everyone in baseball was waiting for. Nestor Cortes and the Yankees bullpen held off the Rays bats to beat their young lefty, Shane McClanahan, in the Yankees' 4-3 win over Tampa Bay at Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees (46-16) have won six straight games — their 13th straight at the Stadium —and clinched their 16th series win and go for their eighth series sweep on Thursday night. They maintained the best record in baseball and cushioned their lead in the American League East to 11 games over the Rays (35-27).
The game had a most unusual 16-minute delay as the umpires conferred to see if Aaron Boone was allowed to visit the mound to make a pitching change in the top of the eighth inning. With runners on first and second, after Miguel Castro plunked Randy Arozarena, Boone wanted to stall to get Lucas Luetge time to warm up to face lefty-pinch hitter Ji-Man Choi.
