Gerrit Cole pitched six strong innings during his return from reconstructive elbow surgery, but the Tampa Bay Rays scored four times in the eighth inning by capitalizing on shaky infield defense and closed out a 4-2 victory over the host New York Yankees on Friday night.

The Rays scored four times in a span of six batters against Tim Hill and Camilo Doval to take a 4-1 lead.

Chandler Simpson reached when shortstop Jose Caballero misplayed his grounder and following a single by Junior Caminero, Jonathan Aranda hit a tying double.

After Hill intentionally walked Yandy Diaz, the Yankees brought their infield in, and Richie Palacios hit a grounder that caromed off Hill's glove into center field for a 3-1 lead.

Pinch runner Carson Williams scored on Ryan Vilade's sacrifice fly when catcher Austin Wells dropped left fielder Cody Bellinger's relay throw.

The Rays improved to 4-0 this season against the Yankees and opened a 5 1/2-game lead in the AL East. Tampa Bay also won its fifth straight and for the 22nd time in 26 games.

Cole allowed two hits in his first appearance for the Yankees since Game 5 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Oct. 30, 2024. The right-hander struck out two and walked three.

Cole threw 50 of 72 pitches for strikes and averaged 96.1 mph with 35 four-seam fastballs.

Cole opened his outing by allowing a single to Simpson and walking Caminero. After getting the first out, Cole picked Simpson off at second and struck out Diaz.

Cole ended his night by retiring Caminero, Aranda and Diaz and exited with a 1-0 lead after Wells homered off Tampa Bay's Nick Martinez in the fifth.

Wells gave the Yankees the lead by driving Martinez's first-pitch sinker into the right field seats. Wells homered after the Yankees missed a chance to score in the third when Trent Grisham was thrown out at the plate trying to score from second on a single by Ben Rice.

Martinez allowed one run on a season-high nine hits in six innings. The right-hander struck out one and walked one.

Ian Seymour (3-0) allowed Jazz Chisholm's RBI triple in the eighth and pitched 1 2/3 innings. Kevin Kelly finished the eighth and Bryan Baker retired Aaron Judge to secure his 14th save.

The Yankees lost for the 10th time in 14 games. Judge was 0-for-4 and is mired in a 1-for-24 slump.