http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/22/sports/baseball/gary-sanchez-ny-yankees-tampa-bay-rays-wild-card.html 2016-09-22 05:34:49 Gary Sanchez Crushes 2 More Homers, and Yankees Cut Wild-Card Gap The Yankees pulled to within two and a half games of Baltimore for a wild-card berth in the fourth consecutive game in which Sanchez has homered. === ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Brian McCann rapped out four hits, something he had not done in more than two years. Masahiro Tanaka gave up four home runs in an inning, something he had never done in a game since joining the But those anomalies were relegated to footnotes on Wednesday night by Gary Sanchez, who continued to smash story lines the way he has been smashing baseballs, hitting two more home runs to carry the Yankees to an 11-5 victory over the It was the fourth consecutive game in which Sanchez has homered, and he drove in five runs as the Yankees kept their slim playoff hopes alive with their second consecutive win here. The Yankees pulled to within two and a half games of Baltimore for the final wild-card berth in the American League. But to catch the Orioles — or Toronto, which is three and a half ahead — the Yankees would also have to pass Detroit, Houston and Seattle. With 12 games remaining, the Yankees have a microscopic margin for error — and perhaps not enough games left against the Rays, against whom they have won five of six games this month. After Thursday’s series finale, they head to Toronto for four games and then return home to finish the season against first-place Boston and Baltimore. Sanchez, who drove in the Yankees’ first run with a first-inning single, hit a three-run homer in the second inning and a solo home run in the sixth. As had happened the night before, Rays Manager Kevin Cash had the opportunity Wednesday to walk Sanchez with first base open and chose not to do so. The result was no different. Sanchez, who belted a tiebreaking, three-run homer in the seventh inning Tuesday, hit a screaming line drive down the left-field line that gave the Yankees a 6-0 lead in the second. That home run, off an Alex Cobb changeup, continued to show how indiscriminate Sanchez has been. His previous three home runs had come off a fastball, a cutter and a slider. “I think you kind of say, ‘What’s next?’ because of what we’ve seen,” Manager Joe Girardi said before the game. “It’s been fun to watch.” The only anxiety Sanchez created for Girardi was when he was hit by Richie Shaffer’s bat on his follow-through with one out in the ninth inning. Sanchez was examined by the trainer and by Girardi but remained in the game until the end. Once Sanchez had hit his three-run homer, it figured to be a comfortable remainder of the night with Tanaka on the mound, given that he entered the night with a 2.97 E.R.A. — the best in the A.L. — and had not lost in his previous eight starts. He had also not allowed a run in his previous two starts at Tropicana Field. But there may be something discomfiting for Tanaka when he is handed such a large lead. When Tanaka was given a 10-run advantage at Cleveland in July, he could not make it out of the fifth inning, although the Yankees managed an 11-7 victory. Last season, he lost an early 6-0 lead against Houston in a game the Yankees eventually won, 9-6. Bobby Wilson began the third inning by hitting Tanaka’s first pitch for a home run, which did not seem to immediately unsettle him. Tanaka struck out Logan Forsythe and got Kevin Kiermaier on a tapper in front of home plate. But then Evan Longoria hit a homer. Brad Miller followed with another. Corey Dickerson then made it three in a row. That cut the Yankees’ lead to 7-4 and brought a visit from the pitching coach Larry Rothschild as the bullpen began to stir. But Tanaka, on the seventh pitch of the at-bat, retired Alexei Ramirez on a fly ball to center. That seemed to settle him down. Tanaka retired nine of the next 11 batters he faced before retiring from the game after six innings. Tanaka stayed around long enough to watch Sanchez’s second home run, off the left-hander Justin Marks in the sixth. Adam Warren took over for Tanaka, retiring the first four batters he faced before Miller, who hit his second home run of the game and 30th of the season. It was enough for Girardi to begin cycling through his bullpen, using the left-hander Tommy Layne to retire Dickerson and the right-hander Tyler Clippard to dispatch Ramirez. The Yankees restored their lead to a more comfortable margin in the ninth, when Mason Williams singled home Didi Gregorius and Donovan Solano followed him by belting a home run to left field. It had to be a gratifying moment for Solano, who had not hit a home run in the major leagues in more than two years. He had spent most of the season with the Yankees’ Class AAA affiliate, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and was recalled only when third baseman Chase Headley’s back locked up on Saturday. But the moment was unlikely to garner much attention for Solano — not when he was performing in Sanchez’s wake.