The way the Tampa Bay Rays are rolling, manager Kevin Cash is focused on playing, not retaliating.

Cash stated as much after his star outfielder Randy Arozarena was struck twice by pitches Friday night after his first-inning home run in the Rays’ 5-4 win over the New York Yankees in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Cash was ejected after warnings were issued in the fifth inning following Arozarena’s second hit-by-pitch.

“Randy’s really a pro,” Cash said postgame. “He does a lot. Entertains the fans, but when it’s time to handle things, he seems to handle them very well.”

Will there be any carryover?

“I hope not,” Cash said. “I’ll speak for our club. Just go play baseball. I certainly hope not.”

Cash also didn’t think the Yankees intentionally threw at Arozarena.

Tampa Bay, the American League East leaders, are now 10 games ahead of the last-place Yankees.

On Saturday, the Yankees will look to even the weekend series. They will turn to right-hander Domingo German (2-2, 4.46 ERA), who is coming off an outstanding outing against the Cleveland Guardians.

German worked 8 1/3 innings of one-run ball on Monday, but the 30-year-old was lifted after throwing 88 pitches and the Yankees eventually lost 3-2.

In his career, German is 3-2 with a 5.64 ERA against Tampa Bay in 11 appearances (nine starts).

With 69 homers as a team, Tampa Bay paces the majors by a wide margin over the Atlanta Braves, who are second with 55 long balls. Cash attributes the power surge to players making better swing decisions.

“Basically, getting pitches you can handle,” Cash told the Yankees pregame radio show on Friday. “Everybody wants to hit the ball hard, hit the ball in the air and hit it far. But you can’t do that with every pitch. There were times last year that maybe we got humbled, that we were swinging a little bit too much on pitches we couldn’t do damage with.”

One of the reasons for the Rays’ early success is their ability to score first. They are 22-0 in such games.

Tampa Bay will give the ball to right-hander Drew Rasmussen (3-2, 3.66 ERA) on Friday.

Rasmussen has made two career appearances (one start) against the Yankees and has gone 1-0 and without allowing a run in 8 1/3 innings. In head-to-head matchups, Rasmussen has fanned 13 and not walked a batter.

While the Rays have been rolling, the Yankees are aiming to patch up holes on a depleted roster.

Aaron Judge is on the injured list with a right hip strain. The hope is the reigning American League Most Valuable Player will return on Monday to oppose the Oakland A’s.

On Friday, Harrison Bader belted a three-run homer to account for the majority of New York’s offense.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone tipped his hat to the Rays’ success ahead of the start of the series.

“(They make) really sound moves of when to be able to move on and finding those diamonds in the rough throughout Major League Baseball that they bring in, all while maintaining a top-line farm system that they can always kind of grab people from,” Boone said. “I think you got to respect them as one of the more well-run teams certainly in baseball, but in sports. They do a great job.”

–Field Level Media

Houston Astros right-hander Luis Garcia will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the rest of the season, the team announced Friday night.

A date for the surgery has not been set yet.

Garcia exited Monday night’s game after just eight pitches.

Garcia is 2-2 with a 4.00 ERA in six starts this season and has 31 strikeouts in 27 innings. He’s 28-19 with a 3.61 ERA in four seasons, all with the Astros.

The 26-year-old finished second in American League Rookie of the Year voting in 2021, going 11-8 with a 3.48 ERA.

Prior to this week, Garcia had never been on the injured list in his entire career, in the majors or the minors.

Garcia’s absence only adds to the Astros’ woes on the mound.

Fellow right-handed starter Jose Urquidy was placed on the IL on Monday with shoulder discomfort. He left Sunday’s game against Philadelphia in the sixth inning.

Houston is also without starter Lance McCullers Jr., who has not pitched this season as he continues to work his way back from a forearm strain that’s kept him sidelined since spring training.

–Field Level Media

Javier Baez hit a two-run homer and Riley Greene added a two-run double to power the visiting Detroit Tigers past the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 on Friday.

By taking the opener of a three-game interleague series, the Tigers won their fourth straight game. The Cardinals lost their seventh game in a row.

Detroit starting pitcher Matthew Boyd (2-2) allowed three runs on five hits in six innings. He struck out six and walked one.

Alex Lange struck out three in a scoreless ninth inning to earn his sixth save.

Cardinals starter Jordan Montgomery gave up two runs on six hits in six innings. He fanned six and walked one.

Reliever Jordan Hicks (0-3) took the loss after yielding three runs in two-thirds of an inning.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol and bench coach Joe McEwing were ejected in the ninth inning by plate umpire Junior Valentine for protesting balls and strikes.

The Tigers jumped to 2-0 first-inning lead when Andy Ibanez hit a one-out double and Baez launched his two-run homer to left field.

Andrew Knizner cut Detroit’s lead to 2-1 with a homer to left-center in the third.

St. Louis’ Paul Goldschmidt triggered a two-run rally with a leadoff double in the fourth inning. Willson Contreras dropped a popup single between three fielders in right field, and he took second on the throw to third base.

Nolan Arenado drove in Goldschmidt with a groundout, and Dylan Carlson scored Contreras with a fielder’s-choice grounder to put the Cardinals up 3-2.

The Tigers retook the lead with three runs in the seventh inning. Hicks walked Zach McKinstry leading off, then he hit Matt Vierling with a pitch with one out. Greene followed with a two-run double to right, and Eric Haase drew a two-out walk.

Spencer Torkelson greeted reliever Giovanny Gallegos with an RBI double to make it 5-3.

With two outs in the eighth inning, St. Louis’ Juan Yepez and Paul DeJong hit singles and Lars Nootbaar delivered a ground-rule double to cut Detroit’s lead to 5-4.

Goldschmidt doubled to lead off the ninth before Lange struck out Contreras, Arenado and Carlson.

–Field Level Media

Brent Rooker homered and drove in three as the Oakland Athletics held off a furious rally by the host Kansas City Royals for a 12-8 win on Friday night.

The Athletics plated an unearned run in the first as Esteury Ruiz and Ryan Noda reached on soft singles, then Ruiz stole third and scored on a throwing error.

Back-to-back home runs by Rooker – a two-run shot for his 10th of the season — and Ramon Laureano boosted the A’s lead to 4-0 in the third. Laureano’s third of the season traveled an estimated 440 feet to left-center.

Rooker added an RBI double in the fourth for a 5-0 advantage.

Tony Kemp’s third hit, an RBI double, drove Brad Keller (2-3) from the mound as Oakland took a 9-2 lead in the fifth.

Keller allowed multiple baserunners in each inning and labored through 4 1/3 innings, surrendering seven runs on 11 hits — both season highs.

Noda, a rookie, and Shea Langeliers broke 0-for-12 slides with hits in their first at-bats while the Athletics pounded out season-highs in runs and hits (17). Noda and Kemp each delivered a pair of doubles as Oakland collected eight extra-base hits.

Kyle Muller (1-2) shut out Kansas City until Nick Pratto’s two-out, two-run homer in the fourth, his first of the year.

The Royals scored a run in the fifth and two more in the sixth to drive Muller from the game after 5 1/3 innings. He surrendered five runs on eight hits and three walks.

In the seventh, Athletics reliever Shintaro Fujinami walked the bases full. All three scored, cutting the lead to 9-8 when Hunter Dozier slashed a two-run triple that was misplayed by center fielder Ruiz. Dozier and Pratto each finished with two RBIs.

For the second straight day, Kansas City scored in four consecutive innings to attempt a comeback from a seven-run deficit but could get no closer on Friday against three additional Oakland relievers.

The A’s added a combined three insurance runs in the eighth and ninth innings. In the ninth, Ruiz doubled and again stole third. He has a seven-game hitting streak and is tied for the major league lead with 15 steals.

— Field Level Media

Anthony Santander hit a pair of home runs, including his first career grand slam, to help the visiting Baltimore Orioles beat the Atlanta Braves 9-4 on Friday to open their three-game series.

The Orioles have won 14 of their last 17 games and improved to 11-0 in series openers.

Santander gave the Orioles a lead with a solo homer in the fourth inning off Atlanta starter Max Fried, and he put the game away with his slam in the seventh inning against Joe Jimenez. Santander has five homers for the season.

Santander went 2-for-5. Over the last four games, he’s batting .421 (8-for-19) with multiple hits in all four.

The support made a winner out of Dean Kremer (3-1), who bounced back from a poor outing against Detroit to work six strong innings. He gave up one run on six hits, two walks and three strikeouts in his first career appearance against Atlanta.

Fried (2-1) saw his streak of scoreless innings end at 20. In six innings, he allowed seven runs (five earned), on eight hits, two walks and seven strikeouts. The left-hander gave up two home runs, the first he has allowed all season. Fried, a three-time Gold Glove winner for the last three seasons, also made two throwing errors that led to runs. Fried’s ERA jumped from 0.45 to 2.08.

The Braves scored in the first inning on Sean Murphy’s RBI single.

The Orioles tied the score in the third when Ryan McKenna singled, went to third when Fried’s pickoff attempt went wide, and scored on Gunnar Henderson’s grounder. Baltimore took a 2-1 lead in the fourth on Santander’s first homer.

The Orioles sent 13 men to the plate in the seventh inning and scored seven times. Cedric Mullins homered to right field, his fourth, to lead off the inning, and added an RBI single in his second at-bat of the inning to supplement the grand slam.

Murphy added his ninth homer, a three-run shot, in the seventh inning to cut the lead to 9-4.

–Field Level Media

Chris Sale struck out 10 in six innings as the Boston Red Sox earned their seventh win in a row, a 5-3 decision against the host Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night.

Sale (3-2) allowed three runs on seven hits and one walk. Richard Bleier, Chris Martin and Kenley Jansen each followed with a scoreless inning, and Jansen posted his seventh save.

Zack Wheeler (3-2) had his worst home start of the season for the Phillies, giving up five runs (four earned) in 5 1/3 innings. He allowed seven hits and no walks while striking out five.

Enrique Hernandez went 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI for Boston. Enmanuel Valdez finished 2-for-3 with an RBI, and Justin Turner, Rafael Devers and Triston Casas each drove in a run.

Nick Castellanos led the way for Philadelphia at the plate, going 2-for-4 with an RBI double. J.T. Realmuto and Alec Bohm each tallied an RBI for the Phillies, who did all of their scoring in the fourth inning but wound up with their fifth consecutive loss.

The Red Sox broke a 3-3 tie in the sixth inning, when Jarren Duran opened the frame with a double. Hernandez moved him over to third with a single. Casas brought Duran home with a sacrifice fly, ending Wheeler’s night. Valdez greeted reliever Connor Brogdon with an RBI single to right, giving the Red Sox a 5-3 lead.

Boston jumped out to a 1-0 edge in the top of the first inning. Raimel Tapia led off the game by getting to second on an error by left fielder Kyle Schwarber, and Devers drove him in with a two-out single to right.

The Red Sox tacked on in the third, extending their lead to 3-0. Tapia led off with a bunt single before Masataka Yoshida extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a single to right. Turner drove in Tapia with a soft groundout, and three batters later, Hernandez knocked in Yoshida with a single.

The Phillies tied the game at 3-3 with a big fourth inning. Bryce Harper beat out an infield single and Castellanos immediately drove him in with a double. Realmuto tripled to the right field corner to bring home Castellanos, and Bohm followed with an RBI single.

–Field Level Media

Brandon Nimmo homered and Kodai Senga tossed six scoreless innings as the New York Mets snapped a three-game losing streak with a 1-0 win over the visiting Colorado Rockies on Friday.

Senga (4-1) allowed two hits with four walks and four strikeouts while throwing a career-high 101 pitches. Drew Smith and David Robertson followed before Adam Ottavino stranded a runner at third base in the ninth for his fourth save.

Colorado saw its season-high four-game winning streak come to an end after being held to five hits. Antonio Senzatela (0-1) made his season debut and gave up one run on three hits over five innings. He walked one and struck out three.

Nimmo also doubled and reached base three times for New York, which recorded its 111th straight win when leading after eight innings.

Senzatela retired the first nine batters he faced in order before Nimmo deposited the first pitch of the bottom of the fourth inning into the right field bleachers. The 399-foot shot was Nimmo’s third home run of the season.

The Rockies threatened in the ninth against Ottavino when Randal Grichuk hit a leadoff single and stole second base. After Grichuk was sacrificed to third, Mike Moustakas struck out and Charlie Blackmon lined out to right field to end the game.

Colorado had runners at the corners with two outs in the eighth when Ryan McMahon’s potential game-tying hit struck pinch-runner Brenton Doyle, who was automatically out on the play.

New York held on to win despite going 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. The Mets have scored a total of two runs in their last three games.

Senzatela, who was making his first appearance since tearing the ACL in his left knee last August, escaped an early jam when Elias Diaz lined out with two runners on to end the first inning.

The Mets put runners on the corners against Senzatela with two outs in the fifth before Tomas Nido grounded out. New York went on to post its first 1-0 victory since beating the Philadelphia Phillies by the same score on Aug. 13, 2022.

–Field Level Media

A fan attending the Philadelphia Phillies’ home game against the Boston Red Sox on Friday night fell over a railing and into the visiting team bullpen at Citizens Bank Park.

Play was halted during the top of the first inning as a Red Sox bullpen catcher and Phillies pitcher Jose Alvarado came out of the bullpen signaling for help.

The Phillies’ medical staff and EMTs rushed out to the bullpen to attend to the fan. They were able to carry him by stretcher to a cart and then drive him off the field.

The Phillies said in a statement that the fan was conscious and responsive as he was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

The spectator was trying to retrieve a ball tossed to fans and landed in a flower bed at the base of the railing, according to an NBC Sports Philadelphia report.

–Field Level Media

Bailey Ober won a duel of young starting pitchers on Friday, overcoming rookie Peyton Battenfield as the visiting Minnesota Twins edged the Cleveland Guardians 2-0 on the strength of Max Kepler’s two-run home run.

The 6-foot-9 Ober, making his third start of the season, lasted seven innings, allowing just singles to Jose Ramirez and Oscar Gonzalez and a double by Josh Naylor.

Ober (2-0) struck out six and walked one, throwing 66 of his 91 pitches for strikes, and lowered his ERA to 0.98 in the process.

Battenfield retired the first 17 Twins hitters he faced before Christian Vazquez singled to break up the 25-year-old rookie’s perfect game bid with two outs in the top of the sixth.

Six pitches later, Max Kepler turned on an 87-mph cut fastball from Battenfield and crushed it 440 feet into the right-center field bleachers for a homer, spoiling Battenfield’s shutout.

Battenfield (0-3) was the hard-luck loser, finishing seven innings with just those two hits. He struck out seven batters without issuing a walk.

The Guardians ran themselves out of a rally in the seventh when Gonzalez chopped an infield single to the right of Ober, who leaped and threw too late to first for the out. Ramirez tried to score from second base but was thrown out at the plate on a perfect throw by Twins first baseman Donovan Solano to the catcher Vazquez.

Right-hander Jorge Lopez pitched a perfect eighth for Minnesota with one strikeout.

Minnesota closer Jhoan Duran, who led MLB with 392 pitches thrown at 100 mph or faster in 2022, came on to pitch the ninth. He walked Steven Kwan to open the inning before striking out Amed Rosario, getting Ramirez to ground out and striking out Naylor for his seventh save.

The Twins and Guardians each managed only three hits in the game.

–Field Level Media

Randy Arozarena and Yandy Diaz hit home runs, and Wander Franco’s RBI double in the seventh inning lifted the Tampa Bay Rays to a 5-4 win over the New York Yankees on Friday night in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Jason Adam closed out the ninth inning for his third save, and the first-place Rays have opened a 10-game lead over the cellar-dwelling Yankees in the American League East.

Drama arose in the fifth inning after Arozarena was struck by a pitch for his second straight plate appearance. In the third inning, Yankees starter Jhony Brito clipped the Rays’ slugger. Albert Abreu plunked him two innings later.

After warnings were issued, Rays manager Kevin Cash was ejected by first-base umpire Lance Barksdale.

Kevin Kelly (3-0), the Rays’ third pitcher, picked up the win.

Franco’s go-ahead double off came against Jimmy Cordero (1-1) and scored Diaz from first. Initially, Diaz was called out at the plate, but the call was reversed after Tampa Bay challenged it.

Rays lefty Colin Poche escaped a second-and-third, one-out situation in the eighth inning. He got Harrison Bader to pop out to shortstop and then struck out Isiah Kiner-Falefa in a nine-pitch showdown.

The Rays struck quickly on Arozarena’s homer with two outs in the first. While rounding the bases, Arozarena did his folded-arms pose at third base.

In the second inning, Tampa Bay manufactured a run to go up by two. Isaac Paredes walked to open the inning, and he moved to second on Taylor Walls’ single. Paredes ended up scoring on Jose Siri’s sacrifice fly.

Tampa Bay inched further ahead in the third. Diaz homered to lead off the inning, and after Franco doubled, Brito hit Arozarena with a pitch. Harold Ramirez collected an RBI on his fielder’s choice ground ball.

The Yankees broke through against Rays starter Yonny Chirinos in the sixth inning. Anthony Rizzo singled and scored on Gleyber Torres’ double. After DJ LeMahieu walked, Bader launched a three-run homer off reliever Garrett Cleavinger to make it 4-4.

Chirinos was charged with three runs on three hits and four walks in 5 1/3 innings.

–Field Level Media