Anthony Rizzo’s eighth-inning blast caps two-homer day to lift Yankees over Rays

The Yankees have dug themselves a hole already this season, falling as many as 10 games behind the Rays in the tough AL East.

But they haven’t conceded anything and as Aaron Boone said before Friday’s game in The Bronx, “There are probably days you’d like to have an easier run at it, but at the end of the day, as a competitor, you want to play the best.”

And on Friday night, the Yankees showed they were capable of playing with the best, as they shook off a rough outing by Michael King, with Anthony Rizzo coming through with a go-ahead, two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth in a 6-5 win on a balmy night at the Stadium.

King gave up a three-run homer to Josh Lowe in the top of the inning that gave Tampa Bay a one-run lead.

In the bottom of the inning, Aaron Judge drew a one-out walk before right-hander Jason Adam entered to face Rizzo, who also homered in the first inning.

Rizzo turned on Adam’s first pitch and sent it into the right field seats, sending the sellout crowd of 46,130 into a frenzy.

Wandy Peralta came in to start the ninth and shut down the Rays to seal the win in the back-and-forth affair.

It helped the Yankees overcome a mediocre outing from Gerrit Cole, who gave up two homers to the Rays for a second straight start.

Cole retired the first two batters he faced before Randy Arozarena hammered a four-seam fastball into the second deck in left, a shot that went an estimated 422 feet for a solo homer.

It came after Cole had allowed his first two home runs of the season in his previous outing at Tampa Bay.

Cole then walked Brandon Lowe and gave up a single to Harold Ramirez before getting Isaac Paredes to fly out to end the 31-pitch inning.

Rizzo tied the game in the bottom of the inning against right-handed opener Trevor Kelley with a two-out homer to right, his seventh of the season.

Cole was tagged for another long two-out homer to left in the second when Jose Siri went deep with a solo shot to make it 2-1.

The right-hander was fortunate the early part of the game wasn’t worse, as Arozarena hit a laser that went straight to Isiah Kiner-Falefa in left to end the top of the second and Yandy Diaz hit a rope to the warning track in center that Harrison Bader tracked down to end the top of the fourth, with Cole at 83 pitches.

Anthony Volpe, hitting seventh and not of the leadoff spot for the first time since April 15, tied the game with a two-out homer to right-center in the fifth off Tampa Bay lefty Josh Fleming, who came in to start the third. It was his fifth home run of the season.

Cole was replaced by Ian Hamilton after the fifth, having thrown 95 pitches and retired 10 of the last dozen batters he faced.

Ian Hamilton threw a scoreless sixth and Michael King a scoreless seventh.

The Yankees went ahead in the bottom of the seventh thanks to Jake Bauers’ pinch-hit single, which set up Volpe’s go-ahead base hit to left.

Jose Trevino’s fly ball near the left field line seemed like it would score at least a run, but Arozarena made a spectacular diving catch for the second out.

Oswaldo Cabrera followed with an RBI single, but was thrown out going to second and the inning ended with the Yankees up 4-2.

King, though, struggled in the eighth.

He allowed a leadoff single to Harold Ramirez and Isaac Paredes followed with a flare to center.

Josh Lowe then hit a back-breaking three-run opposite field homer to left, as the Yankee bullpen suffered a second consecutive bad night.

Clay Holmes finished the inning without Tampa Bay scoring another run, and after Rizzo’s blast, Peralta finished it.