ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - For six innings last night Nathan Eovaldi pitched as well as any Yankee has this season, completely dominating the overmatched Rays.
It changed quickly.
Tampa scratched out two runs to tie it in the seventh, then pushed across two more in the eighth, leading to a tough 4-2 loss to the Rays in front of 10,417 at Tropicana Field.
Eovaldi (3-1) entered the seventh with a 2-0 lead and having thrown only 70 pitches but left it without both the lead and the low pitch count after a 21-pitch frame.
Evan Longoria, who brought in the eventual go-ahead run in the eighth with a sacrifice fly against Dellin Betances, led off the seventh with a broken-bat single to left.