Kluber, Rays top Yanks, AL East gap down to 4; Judge 52nd HR

By MARK DIDTLER
Associated Press

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Corey Kluber limited the Yankees to a pair of singles over seven shutout innings and the Tampa Bay Rays withstood Aaron Judge’s 52nd home run, beating New York 2-1 to cut their deficit in the AL East to four games. The first-place Yankees, who have seen their 15 1/2-game advantage slip away, have lost six of seven. Tampa Bay blanked them on five hits in the series opener Friday night, a 9-0 loss that New York manager Aaron Boone called “embarrassing.” This was the second of six games between the teams in a 10-day stretch. Yandy Diaz hit a two-run single in the third inning and the Rays made it stand up. Judge boosted his major league homer lead with a leadoff drive in the ninth inning.