ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Randy Arozarena homered in the first inning and then was hit by pitches in his next two plate appearances, leading to Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash being ejected as the MLB-best Rays beat the New York Yankees 5-4 on Friday night in the first meeting this season between the AL East rivals.
Tampa Bay (27-6) became the first major league team since 1901 to win 18 of its first 20 home games.
Arozarena homered to center field off Jhony Brito before the rookie right-hander plunked the outfielder on the elbow guard in the third. Yankees reliever Albert Abreu then hit Arozarena in the ribs with a fifth-inning pitch.
An angry Arozarena walked slowly toward first base and whipped his bat in disgust towards the Rays’ dugout.
There was yelling between the benches, but no trouble on the field. The umpires gathered and issued warnings to both teams, which prompted Cash to rush out of the dugout to argue with crew chief and first base umpire Lance Barksdale.
“He said that half the crew did not feel it was intentional, and I said I don’t give a s— what your crew said,” Cash said after the game when asked a question about how the situation was explained to him.
But Cash, Arozarena and Yankees manager Aaron Boone all agreed the hit by pitches were unintentional.
“The first at-bat, hitting the home run on a breaking ball, and I think he just kind of let his sinker slip,” Arozarena said through an interpreter. “On the second one, I also don’t think it was intentional because after the third out he actually looked over and apologized. … He gave me that look.”
It was the third time in Arozarena’s career that he was hit by two pitches in a game, according to ESPN Stats & Information research (it also happened on Sept. 20, 2020, at Baltimore, and on June 12, 2022, at Minnesota).
“I didn’t think Brito hit him on purpose — he’s a young pitcher, I totally understand … I’d like to think not, but at the same time, it’s on us as managers, coaches, and more umpires to protect our players, and I felt like at that point there’s got to be a little more common sense, a little more awareness there, and there wasn’t,” Cash said.
He later added, “Warn the first time, and then if it happens again … but either way I don’t like seeing Randy get hit, I’m very confident they don’t like seeing their guys get hit; just protecting Randy.”
Barksdale told a pool reporter the crew deemed no intent on both pitches, but with words being exchanged “you’ve got to issue warnings to try and keep the game under control.”
Arozarena doesn’t expect any carryover on Saturday.
“I think we’re just going to come out there, and win,” he said.
Wander Franco put the Rays up 5-4 with an RBI double off Jimmy Cordero (1-1) in the seventh that went off the glove of left fielder Jake Bauers after he got twisted around trying to make the catch. Yandy Díaz was initially called out at the plate on the play, but the call was changed after a replay review.
Díaz had a solo homer in a two-run third for the Rays, who opened a 10-game lead over the last-place Yankees (17-16) in the AL East.
The days leading up to the 2025 NHL trade deadline were a furious final sprint as contenders looked to stock up for a postseason run while rebuilding clubs added prospects and draft capital.
After the overnight Brock Nelson blockbuster Thursday, Friday lived up to expectations, with Mikko Rantanen, Brad Marchand and other high-profile players finishing the day on different teams than they started with. All told, NHL teams made 24 trades on deadline day involving 47 players.
Which teams and players won the day? Who might not feel as well about the situation after trade season? Reporters Ryan S. Clark, Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski identify the biggest winners and losers of the 2025 NHL trade deadline:
There are some who saw what the Carolina Hurricanes did at the trade deadline — or perhaps failed to do after they traded Mikko Rantanen — and believe they’re cooked when it comes to the Stanley Cup playoffs. However, based on the projections from Stathletes, the Canes remain the team with the highest chances of winning the Cup, at 16.7%.
Standing before them on Sunday are the Winnipeg Jets (5 p.m. ET, ESPN+). The Jets had a relatively quiet deadline, adding Luke Schenn and Brandon Tanev, though sometimes these additions are the types of small tweaks that can push a contender over the edge. As it stands, the Jets enter their showdown against the Canes with the sixth-highest Cup chances, at 8.7%.
Carolina has made two trips to the Cup Final: a loss to the Detroit Red Wings in 2002 and a win over the Edmonton Oilers in 2006. The Canes have reached the conference finals three times since (2009, 2019, 2023). Winnipeg has yet to make the Cup Final, and was defeated 4-1 in the 2018 Western Conference finals by the Vegas Golden Knights in the club’s lone trip to the penultimate stage.
Both clubs are due. Will this be their year?
There is a lot of runway left until the final day of the season on April 17, and we’ll help you keep track of it all here on the NHL playoff watch. As we traverse the final stretch, we’ll provide detail on all the playoff races — along with the teams jockeying for position in the 2025 NHL draft lottery.
Points: 43 Regulation wins: 12 Playoff position: N/A Games left: 17 Points pace: 54.3 Next game: vs. NSH (Tuesday) Playoff chances: ~0% Tragic number: 8
Race for the No. 1 pick
The NHL uses a draft lottery to determine the order of the first round, so the team that finishes in last place is not guaranteed the No. 1 selection. As of 2021, a team can move up a maximum of 10 spots if it wins the lottery, so only 11 teams are eligible for the draw for the No. 1 pick. Full details on the process can be found here. Sitting No. 1 on the draft board for this summer is Matthew Schaefer, a defenseman for the OHL’s Erie Otters.
Hintz extended his stick toward Henrique, whose wrist shot sent the puck under Hintz’s visor during his club’s 5-4 loss to the Oilers. He was on the ice, with his face in a towel, as the team’s medical staff assessed him and helped him skate toward the dressing room.
After the loss, Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said Hintz was at a local hospital, receiving tests. The coach added that the initial report was fairly optimistic for Hintz, 28, who has 25 goals and 52 points.
“Everyone’s optimistic that it’s not ‘serious, serious,'” DeBoer said. “But we won’t know until we get testing.”
The short-handed Stars rallied from a 5-1 deficit before eventually losing. Trade deadline acquisition Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist in his debut for Dallas, which had its four-game winning streak stopped. Wyatt Johnston, Jamie Benn and Matt Dumba also scored for the Stars.