Mark Teixeira rounded first base, raised his right arm in triumph and headed on a celebratory circle of the bases.
In the final weeks of a 14-year big league career, Teixeira broke open the game with a fourth-inning grand slam, and the surprising New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-5 on a soggy Friday night to extend their winning streak to six.
Matching their longest streak this season, the Yankees (75-65) closed within one game of Baltimore and Detroit for the second AL wild card.
New York, in an unfamiliar role of chaser after a 9-17 start, has moved a season-high 10 games over .500 with an unexpected spurt that followed the release of Alex Rodriguez and the trades of Carlos Beltran, Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller and Ivan Nova.
Gary Sanchez, one of the Baby Bombers brought up from the minors as part of the youth movement, hit his 12th home run in 31 games, a drive into Monument Park behind the center-field fence in the third.
There were stoppages of 21 minutes in the fourth and 22 minutes in the sixth caused by brief light rain. As a downpour began in the ninth, umpires stopped play with a 2-2 count on Brad Miller after singles by Kevin Kiermaier and Evan Longoria off Dellin Betances put runners at the corners.
Betances stayed in after a 51-minute delay, and struck out Miller. Logan Morrison hit an RBI single, and Betances struck out Stephen Souza Jr. at 12:11 a.m. for his career-best 10th save.
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With New York ahead 3-2 in the fourth, the 36-year-old Teixeira drove Kevin Jepsen's 94 mph fastball into the Yankees' bullpen in right-center for his 12th home run this season, the 406th of his career, and his 11th big league slam.
Given a 7-2 lead, Yankees starter Michael Pineda lasted just 4 2/3 innings — one out short of the minimum needed by a starter for a win. When manager Joe Girardi came to the mound with runners at the corners following a walk and an infield hit, Pineda avoided eye contact as he handed the ball to Girardi, then walked slowly to the dugout as Chasen Shreve relieved.
New York was ahead 3-0 before Morrison and Souza hit consecutive home runs in the fourth, the first into the luxury suites below the third deck in right, the second off the left-field foul pole. The Rays hit six home runs in the first two games of the series, all solo shots.
Tampa Bay scored twice in the sixth before Adam Warren (2-1) threw a called third strike past Logan Forsythe. Tyler Clippard got three straight popouts with two on in the eighth.
Tampa Bay (59-81) lost for the fifth time in six games and ensured its fourth straight season without a winning record. The team had losing seasons from 1998-07 followed by consecutive winning records from 2008-13.
Rays starter Blake Snell (5-8) needed 88 pitches to get eight outs, allowing three runs, six hits and three walks.
Tampa Bay left fielder Corey Dickerson also struggled. He took the wrong route as Rob Refsnyder's first-inning liner went by for an RBI double, then allowed Teixeira's third-inning drive to go over him and off the wall for a double, setting up Teixeira to score on a wild pitch. After the Rays closed to 3-2 in the fourth, Sanchez threw from his knees to pick off Dickerson at second.
SMALL CROWD
The Yankees drew 30,194 after 27,532 on Tuesday and 27,631 on Thursday. Before the homestand, New York had topped 30,000 for every home game since September 2004.
"The landscape has changed a little bit. Some of the players the people used to come out and see a lot are no longer here," Girardi said. "Some of these kids will build a reputation where people are going to get really excited. But part of it is school, too. I mean, that happens. So it will take some time."
INSTANT IMPACT
New hitting coach Chad Mottola joined the Rays for the series opener Thursday, and Kiermaier and Souza homered twice in a 5-4 loss.
"I'm not dumb enough to claim that," Mottola said.
Mottola was taken by Cincinnati with the fifth overall pick in the 1992 amateur draft, one spot before the Yankees selected Derek Jeter.
"I thought since Jeter retired, it may go away, but I guess it'll never go away," Mottola said. "It was part of my speech yesterday to remind these guys of how this game has humbled me and I'm constantly reminded, so I understand the failures that it brings."
