• ESPN News Services

May 5, 2023, 10:38 PM ET

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.

New York is without outfielder Aaron Judge (right hip), designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton (left hamstring) and third baseman Josh Donaldson (right hamstring), as well as starting pitchers Luis Severino (right lat) and Carlos Rodón (back).

Judge and Donaldson worked out at the team’s complex in nearby Tampa. Severino threw in a minor league intrasquad game at Tampa’s Steinbrenner Field.

Kevin Kelly (3-0) pitched 1? scoreless innings to get the win. Jason Adam worked the ninth for his third save,

Harrison Bader had a three-run homer off reliever Garrett Cleavinger during a four-run sixth that pulled the Yankees even at 4.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.