The Tampa Bay Rays turned a potential game-tying extra-base hit into the final out of the eighth inning Saturday. Kevin Cash credited Victor Mesa Jr., Taylor Walls and Junior Caminero for executing the relay that helped Tampa Bay escape with a 1-0 Game 1 win over the New York Yankees.

In the eighth, Austin Wells ended Drew Rasmussen’s no-hit bid with two outs and lined a double into right field. Though Wells tried to stretch the play into a triple and was thrown out at third, it ended the inning before the Yankees could capitalize.

Mesa fielded the ball in right and delivered a strong throw to Walls, who quickly relayed it to Caminero at third. The Rays completed the play cleanly, preserving their one-run lead and keeping Rasmussen’s outing intact.

According to Cash, it was Mesa and Walls who deserve all the credit for ruining Wells’ hit.

“I mean we're talking about elite defenders,” Cash said. “Mesa is as good as anybody in right field, getting to the ball, getting rid of it, putting it right where Walls needs it. We know how special Walls is, and Caminero was able to get a tag down right there. I mean, we were scrambling. I was on my way to the phone. Rodney was on his way to the phone to look at replay to see if it was a fair foul, but it all kind of quieted down pretty quickly with that replay.”

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However, Wells appeared to run through a stop sign from Yankees third-base coach Luis Rojas while rounding second.

The Rays scored their only run on Jonathan Aranda’s solo homer in the third inning. Gerrit Cole allowed one run over five innings, but Tampa Bay’s pitching held the Yankees scoreless after that.