Randy Arozarena’s first-inning home run against the New York Yankees led to two bean balls and an ejection for Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash in the Rays’ 5-4 win on Friday in St. Petersburg.

Speaking to reporters after the Ray’s MLB-best 27th win of the season, Cash shared his exchange with umpire Lance Barksdale, who seemed unconvinced that Arozarena was being targeted by the Yankees pitchers.

‘He said that half the crew did not feel that it was intentional,’ Cash told reporters. ‘And I said I didn’t give a s*** what half the crew said.’

Arozarena homered to center field off Jhony Brito before the rookie right-hander plunked the outfielder on the elbow guard in the third. Albert Abreu then hit Arozarena around belt high 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 Barksdale, the crew chief.

Wander Franco put the Rays up 5-4 with an RBI double off Jimmy Cordero (1-1) in the seventh. Yandy Díaz was initially called out at the plate, but the call was changed after a replay review.

Díaz had a solo homer in a two-run third for the Rays (27-6), who opened a 10-game lead over the last-place Yankees (17-16) in the AL East.

The Rays (27-6) opened a 10-game lead over the last-place Yankees (17-16) in the AL East.

BLUE JAYS 4, PIRATES 0

Chris Bassitt pitched seven innings, George Springer homered and Toronto stopped a five-game losing streak.

Bassitt (4-2) allowed four hits, struck out five and walked four. Springer hit a two-run shot off Rich Hill (3-3) in the fifth.

Pittsburgh finished with four hits in its fifth consecutive loss. Bryan Reynolds extended his hitting streak to 10 with a double in the sixth, Pittsburgh’s lone extra-base hit.

Hill was charged with four runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings.

TWINS 2, GUARDIANS 0

Max Kepler hit a two-run homer for Minnesota, and Bailey Ober pitched seven innings in a combined three-hitter.

Ober (2-0) gave up three hits and a walk while striking out six. Jorge López worked a clean eighth and Jhoan Duran pitched the ninth for his seventh save.

Guardians starter Peyton Battenfield (0-3) did not allow a baserunner until Christian Vázquez singled with two outs in the sixth. Kepler followed with a 440-foot drive to right.

The Twins have homered in a franchise-record 17 consecutive games. Kepler has 15 home runs at Progressive Field since 2016, the most by a visiting player.

The game featured six total hits and was played in 2 hours and 11 minutes.

CUBS 4, MARLINS 1

Justin Steele pitched seven effective innings, and the Cubs stopped a three-game slide.

Ian Happ hit a two-run homer for Chicago. Matt Mervis made his big league debut and drove in an insurance run in the eighth with his first hit, a sharp single to right.

Steele (5-0) allowed one run and six hits while lowering his ERA to an NL-leading 1.45. Mark Leiter Jr. got three outs for his first save.

Luis Arraez had three hits for Miami in its fourth consecutive loss. Edward Cabrera (2-3) struck out eight while pitching five innings of three-run ball.

WHITE SOX 5, REDS 4

Luis Robert Jr. and Elvis Andrus homered, helping Lance Lynn and the White Sox to the win,

Andrus erased a 3-0 deficit with a three-run shot in the fifth. Robert put the White Sox ahead to stay with a two-run drive against Hunter Greene (0-2) in the sixth.

Lynn (1-4) was charged with four runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings. Reynaldo López got three outs for his fourth save.

Jonathan India hit a solo homer for Cincinnati. Greene allowed five runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings.

RED SOX 5, PHILLIES 3

Chris Sale struck out 10 in six innings, and Boston earned its seventh consecutive victory.

The game was delayed for about 10 minutes in the first inning when a spectator fell over a protective railing and into the Red Sox bullpen while reaching for a baseball.

Boston rookie Masataka Yoshida extended his hitting streak to 15 games. Kiké Hernández and Enmanuel Valdez each had two hits and drove in a run.

The 34-year-old Sale (3-2) was charged with three runs and seven hits. Kenley Jansen worked the ninth for his seventh save.

Boston grabbed a 5-3 lead with two runs in the sixth against Zack Wheeler (3-2).

The Phillies have dropped five in a row to fall three games under .500.

ORIOLES 9, BRAVES 4

Anthony Santander homered from both sides of the plate, including a grand slam, and Cedric Mullins also went deep as Baltimore won for the 14th time in 17 games.

Dean Kremer (3-1) allowed one run in six strong innings for the Orioles, who became the first team this season to go deep off Braves ace Max Fried.

Fried (2-1) was charged with seven runs, five earned, in six-plus innings. His ERA climbed from 0.45 to 2.08.

Hot-hitting Sean Murphy drove in all four Atlanta runs, three of them on an eighth-inning homer.

Baltimore improved to 22-10, surpassing the Braves (22-11) for the second-best record in the big leagues.

METS 1, ROCKIES 0

Kodai Senga pitched six innings of two-hit ball after a long layoff, and the Mets beat the Rockies to avoid falling under .500 for the second time this year.

Brandon Nimmo homered and made a diving catch in center field after committing a costly baserunning blunder Thursday in Detroit.

David Robertson caught a break to strand two in the eighth when Ryan McMahon’s line-drive single hit pinch-runner Brenton Doyle on the leg between first and second for the final out of the inning.

Adam Ottavino worked the ninth for his fourth save.

Colorado had its four-game winning streak snapped and was blanked for the second time this season.

Pitching for the first time in nine days, Senga (4-1) worked around four walks and struck out four.

Colorado’s Antonio Senzatela (0-1) allowed one run and three hits over five innings in his season debut.

ATHLETICS 12, ROYALS 8

Brent Rooker and Ramón Laureano hit back-to-back homers, and the Athletics outslugged the Royals in a matchup between the bottom two teams in baseball.

Kyle Muller (1-2) became the first A’s starter to earn a win in 33 games this year. The drought was the longest to begin a season in MLB history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Rooker and Ryan Noda each had three hits and three RBIs as Oakland improved to 7-26 with only its second victory by more than one run.

Nick Pratto homered for the Royals (8-25), who dropped to 2-15 at home. Brad Keller (2-3) gave up seven runs, six earned and 11 hits in 4 1/3 innings.

PADRES 5, DODGERS 2

Fernando Tatis Jr. cracked his third and fourth home runs of the season as the Padres beat the rival Dodgers, 5-2, thanks to six strong innings from former Los Angeles pitcher Yu Darvish.

The 36-year-old went 6 2/3 innings, striking out six and yielding only one earned run for the Padres, who improved to 18-15 as the Dodgers fell to 19-14.

Tatis, who had missed the beginning of the season as he finished his PED ban, improved his average to .267 after initially struggling upon his return to the Majors.

Long-time Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw lasted only 4 2/3 innings, striking out seven, while yielding five walks and four earned runs.

TIGERS 5, CARDINALS 4

Riley Greene hit a two-run double in the seventh inning and Javier Báez added a two-run homer, sending Detroit to the come-from-behind victory.

St. Louis fell to 0 for 11 in series openers. It is the first team to begin the season with that many losses in such games since the 1981 Kansas City Royals dropped their first 13 series openers, according to OptaSTATS. The Cardinals have lost seven in a row and 14 of 17 overall.

Detroit’s Matthew Boyd (2-2) pitched six innings of three-run ball. Alex Lang earned his sixth save after giving up a leadoff double to Paul Goldschmidt. He struck out the final three batters. The Tigers scored three runs in the seventh to take a 5-3 lead. Jordan Hicks (0-3) got the loss.

Tom Brady has led condolences to his teammate Shaq Barrett, whose two-year-old daughter died on Sunday after drowning in a swimming pool at home.

Barrett, 30, has played with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers since 2019. Brady, 45, joined the following year. 

Brady posted a photo of Barrett, his wife Jordanna, their four children and their dog and added the emotional message: ‘The Bradys love you’.

The Florida-based team issued a statement on Sunday evening confirming little Arrayah’s tragic death.

Police responded to a call of a child who had fallen into a pool at around 9.30am on Sunday in Tampa’s Beach Park area, according to Tampa Police Department.

Arrayah Barrett, who celebrated her second birthday on April 19, was taken to the hospital but attempts to save her life were unsuccessful, The Tampa Bay Times reported.

An investigation is underway but Arrayah’s death is not believed to be suspicious.

Arrayah was the youngest of four children that Baltimore-born Barrett has with his wife Jordanna. 

In a photo shared to Instagram, marking their daughter’s second birthday, Jordanna wrote: ‘Happy Second birthday my little Arrayah Sunshine! 

‘We love you so much! You are the completion to our family, the apple to our eyes! You’ve become the most fun, energetic, entertaining, sweet, kind, smart, precious little girl we could have ever dreamed of! 

‘Your big sis, big bros, and momma and daddy love you to the moon and back’

‘Happy birthday Arrayah Sue.’

Her father’s last post was in tribute to his little girl, on April 19.

‘Happy 2nd bday to my cutie girl. So sweet and cute,’ wrote Barrett. 

‘You made our family complete. I love you baby girl.’ 

The Florida team said on Sunday evening: ‘Today’s tragic news is heartbreaking for all members of the Buccaneers family.

‘Our thoughts and prayers are with Shaq, Jordanna and the entire Barrett family during this unimaginably difficult time.

‘While no words can provide true comfort at a time such as this, we offer our support and love as they begin to process this very profound loss of their beloved Arrayah.’ 

Barrett has been at the team since 2019. 

He and his wife met at high school, and married in February 2012.

They have three surviving children: sons Shaquil Jr. and Braylon, and daughter Aaliyah.

The two-time Pro Bowler and two-time Super Bowl champion agreed to a four-year, $72 million contract with the Buccaneers in March 2021.

Barrett sustained a season-ending injury in October, suffering a torn left Achilles during the Buccaneers’ Week 8 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. 

He finished the 2022 campaign with 31 tackles, three sacks and one forced fumble in eight games.

A two-time Pro Bowl selection, Barrett has 348 tackles, 54.5 sacks, 19 forced fumbles and five fumble recoveries in 115 career games (69 starts) with the Denver Broncos (2015-18) and Buccaneers.

The Broncos sent well-wishes to their former player on Sunday. He played with Denver between 2014 and 2018. 

Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson wrote on Twitter: ‘Heartbreaking. Praying for you and your family Shaq.’ 

Toronto Maple Leafs win first playoff series in 19 YEARS as they beat Tampa Bay Lightning in 2-1 overtime thriller, fueling wild celebrations in the streets

• The Maple Leafs advanced in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in dramatic fashion
• The Maple Leafs will face the winner of Sunday’ Bruins-Panthers Game 7
• DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news

By Reuters

Published: 00:14 EDT, 30 April 2023 | Updated: 00:24 EDT, 30 April 2023