Major League Baseball

1 bad inning costs Archer and Rays in 4-1 loss to Yankees

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 7:25 p.m. ET

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) Chris Archer impressed the New York Yankees even in a loss.

Alex Rodriguez homered for the first time since coming off the disabled list as the Yankees beat Archer and the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 on Friday night.

Archer (3-6) allowed four runs - one earned - and four hits in eight innings for the Rays, who have lost six of seven.

''Archer, I thought, pitched up in the zone really effectively with his fastball,'' New York manager Joe Girardi said. ''We had a hard time getting some base hits. We made everything count.''

Rodriguez returned Thursday after missing three weeks with a strained right hamstring. His sixth homer of the season and 693rd overall came off Archer during a three-run sixth.

Brett Gardner drew a one-out walk in the sixth and went to third when Archer was charged with an error for an errant throw on a pickoff attempt. Beltran reached on an error when second baseman Taylor Motter misplayed his grounder, Brian McCann drove in Gardner with an infield grounder.

''It was a classic example of when you play a good team, even one mistake can be costly,'' Archer said. ''If you give a team extra outs, it's going to be costly.''

Rodriguez then hit his first homer since May 1 to center field. A-Rod, who struck out with two on and two outs in the first, is 1 for 8 since coming back.

''He's throwing 97 (mph),'' Rodriguez said of his first-inning at-bat. ''He's one of the best pitchers in the game. He challenged me and I swung through it.''

Masahiro Tanaka (3-0) scattered two hits and struck out four to run his career-best unbeaten streak to 11 consecutive starts, dating to last season.

''He does such a good job of keeping the ball down,'' Rays manager Kevin Cash said. ''It's a compliment to a pitcher when all the stuff looks the same from the side, but it's all different. He had it all working really well.''

Andrew Miller gave up a single and hit a batter during a scoreless eighth. Kirby Yates allowed Steve Pearce's two-out solo homer in the ninth before Aroldis Chapman got the final out.

Carlos Beltran homered in the eighth for the Yankees, leaving him one hit shy of 2,500 for his career.

Tanaka retired his first 12 batters before Pearce's leadoff single in the fifth. He got help to end the inning when Gardner made a leaping catch at the left-field wall on Corey Dickerson's drive.

Jacoby Ellsbury went 2 for 4 against Archer and has 18 hits off the Rays' opening day starter in 28 at-bats.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Rays: Closer Brad Boxberger (adductor surgery) made his sixth rehab appearance Friday night with Double-A Montgomery. Cash said the closer's status will be evaluated after the outing and that ''most of it will be how he feels.''

HITLESS WONDERS

Friday night marked the third time in the Rays' last 10 games against the Yankees that Tampa Bay lost despite allowing just four or fewer hits. ... Tampa Bay is averaging an AL-low 3.13 runs at home this season, while having a road average of 5.18.

UP NEXT

Yankees RHP Michael Pineda (2-5) will face Rays LHP Matt Moore (1-3) on Saturday. Pineda beat Oakland on Sunday to stop a career-long five-game losing streak.