Gerrit Cole made a run at history on Monday — and then the Yankees got a huge hit from Aaron Hicks and a gutsy performance from Wandy Peralta to hold on and beat the Rays, 4-2.
After Cole took a no-hitter into the eighth inning, the Yankees gave back a two-run lead, but Hicks — in the midst of a rough season — delivered an RBI triple in the top of the ninth for the go-ahead run.
Jose Trevino followed with a sacrifice fly to score Hicks to give the Yankees a two-run lead.
The Yankees held on in the bottom of the inning, as Wandy Peralta rebounded from his poor outing in Toronto on Sunday and got out of a two-on, one-out jam to pick up the save.
“When we can answer like that, it’s special kind of stuff,’’ Cole said of the team’s ability to win another close game.
With the win, the Yankees improved to 50-17, matching 1998 for the third-best 67-game start in franchise history. They’ve won 10 of 11.
And they bumped their lead in the division back to 12 games over Toronto, matching a season-high.
The Guy Report 