7th straight and sweep: Rizzo ties it, wins it

NEW YORK — Anthony Rizzo connected for a walk-off homer as the Yankees continued their dominance at the corner of 161st Street and River Avenue, extending their winning streak to seven games with a 2-1 victory over the Rays on Thursday night.

The Yankees (47-16) have won 14 consecutive games at Yankee Stadium, a record for this incarnation of the building, including this three-game sweep of Tampa Bay. 

Rizzo’s homer off Shawn Armstrong, the fifth walk-off homer of Rizzo’s career and first since 2018, notched the Yanks’ Major League-leading eighth walk-off win of the season.

Clarke Schmidt and Ryan Weber combined to toss 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball as a tandem, taking the ball after scheduled starter Luis Severino was placed on the COVID-19 injured list.

Making his third career start and first this year, Schmidt fired three scoreless innings, striking out five. Weber’s contract was purchased from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre earlier in the day; making his Yanks debut, the right-hander permitted only two hits, including Francisco Mejía’s solo fifth-inning homer.

Rizzo stroked a game-tying RBI single in the sixth inning off Ryan Thompson, capping a two-out rally.