Rays complete sweep of Yankees to advance to ALCS - ESPN

NEW YORK — When Victor Mesa Jr. hit the home run that effectively ended the New York Yankees' season Wednesday night, the contact was so pure, the Tampa Bay Rays outfielder explained later, that he didn't even really feel the ball off the bat.

He just knew that he had hit it a long, long way, and so rather than watch his work disappear deep into the right-field stands at Yankee Stadium, he immediately turned at home plate and looked toward the dugout to watch his teammates celebrate.

Tampa Bay is moving on to the American League Championship Series, to play the winner of the Cleveland Guardians-Chicago White Sox series, winning 4-3 to complete a sweep of the Yankees in the division series that affirmed the Rays' summerlong dominance of their division rival.

Over the span of three games, Tampa Bay's pitching surrendered five runs, stifling the New York lineup, from Drew Rasmussen's near no-hitter in Game 1 to Bryan Baker's series-clinching strikeout.

«The way our pitchers executed as they navigated through that lineup was really impressive,» Rays manager Kevin Cash said.

«They beat us,» Yankees manager Aaron Boone conceded. «They obviously had a great season.»

Cash said his team, which sports one of the lowest payrolls in the majors, isn't out to prove anything to anybody. But Mesa is just another Rays discovery, the latest example of how they acquired a fringe player and, with their organizational magic, helped foster more than expected. Mesa signed with the Miami Marlins in 2019 and stalled in the organization, playing 16 big league games before he was traded to Tampa Bay last February for infielder Angel Brachi.

He started this season in the minor leagues, and what the Rays learned firsthand about Mesa, after he was