The Rays knew they were in for a challenge against American League Cy Young Award favorite Cam Schlittler on Monday night at Tropicana Field. The Yankees’ ace has shown in a short time that he’s made for big moments, especially in unfriendly environments, and he was as tough to hit as just about any pitcher in baseball. So, what was Tampa Bay’s plan heading into Game 2 of the American League Division Series? “Just kind of do what we’ve been doing all year,” shortstop Taylor Walls said. What better way to describe the decisive fifth inning in the Rays’ 5-2 win over the Yankees before another sold-out crowd of 40,226? The Rays’ tiebreaking four-run rally began with big hits from two-thirds of their “Big Three,” then the bottom half of the lineup put pressure on the sloppy Yankees defense with a series of balls in play. By the time it was over, Schlittler was out of the game, the Rays had pulled ahead by a comfortable margin, and manager Kevin Cash was counting outs -- most of them from lefty Ian Seymour -- to get to Game 3 at Yankee Stadium with a 2-0 series lead. In all best-of-five postseason series, teams with a 2-0 lead have gone on to win the series 83 of 93 times (89%). Teams that have won the first two games at home in Division Series with the current 2-2-1 format have gone on to win the series 33 of 36 times (92%). The last time a team rallied from an 0-2 hole in a best-of-five series came in the 2017 ALDS, with the Yankees advancing after dropping the first two games at Cleveland. The Rays struck first by capitalizing on a week’s worth of defensive gaffes behind Schlittler in the first inning. Yandy Díaz reached on an error by third baseman Ryan McMahon, advanced to second on a single by Jonathan Aranda then scored when the Yankees threw away an attempt to get two outs on a grounder by Junior Caminero.
