NEW YORK -- When Victor Mesa Jr. hit the home run that effectively ended the New York Yankees' season Wednesday night, the contact was so pure, the Tampa Bay Rays outfielder explained later, that he didn't even really feel the ball off the bat.
He just knew that he had hit it a long, long way, and so rather than watch his work disappear deep into the right-field stands at Yankee Stadium, he immediately turned at home plate and looked toward the dugout to watch his teammates celebrate.
Tampa Bay is moving on to the American League Championship Series, to play the winner of the Cleveland Guardians-Chicago White Sox series, winning 4-3 to complete a sweep of the Yankees in the division series that affirmed the Rays' summerlong dominance of their division rival.
Over the span of three games, Tampa Bay's pitching surrendered five runs, stifling the New York lineup, from Drew Rasmussen's near no-hitter in Game 1 to Bryan Baker's series-clinching strikeout.
"The way our pitchers executed as they navigated through that lineup was really impressive," Rays manager Kevin Cash said.
"They beat us," Yankees manager Aaron Boone conceded. "They obviously had a great season."
Cash said his team, which sports one of the lowest payrolls in the majors, isn't out to prove anything to anybody. But Mesa is just another Rays discovery, the latest example of how they acquired a fringe player and, with their organizational magic, helped foster more than expected. Mesa signed with the Miami Marlins in 2019 and stalled in the organization, playing 16 big league games before he was traded to Tampa Bay last February for infielder Angel Brachi.
He started this season in the minor leagues, and what the Rays learned firsthand about Mesa, after he was called up to the big leagues at the end of May, was that he is steeped with confidence, loves to talk, and can flat-out hit.
"He showed he's a really good player as soon as he got here," Rays shortstop Taylor Walls said.
And the left-handed hitter demonstrated a special ability to hit against left-handed pitchers: He batted .333 against lefties during the regular season, almost 100 points higher than what he hit against right-handers.
With Tampa Bay needing one more victory to complete a sweep in Game 3, Mesa was in the lineup against Yankees veteran lefty Max Fried. Cash mused before the game about how Mesa has an ability to slash fastballs off left-handers to left field, but also to pull hanging breaking balls.
The Rays and Yankees were tied 2-2 through five innings. Fried's pitch count was over 70 and he was nearing the end of his night in the top of the sixth, when reliever Paul Blackburn started to warm up in the Yankees' bullpen. Fried struck out Yandy Diaz and coaxed Jonathan Aranda into a fly out to center field. When Junior Caminero lashed a ground ball through the middle, Fried dropped to the ground in an effort to avoid the ball as it bounced into center field.
Mesa was the next hitter. Blackburn was ready, if needed, and there were numbers that supported a switch to the right-handed reliever. But Boone stuck with Fried, whose first pitch to Mesa was a sweeper.
A hanger.
Mesa swung viciously, the ball soaring to right field, before turning toward the other Rays in their dugout.
"That's the stage you dream of," he said. "That's the moment you want to live when you're growing up."
Some Rays in the dugout lifted their arms in celebration and whooped.
"I was like, dude, please go," Walls said. In this case, the "dude" was the ball.
Cash pointed at Mesa, still standing at home plate, and screamed: "Run!"
Later, Cash explained with a grin, "The last thing we really need to do is ignite a really good team," referring to the Yankees.
The Yankees thought they had tied the score, ever so briefly, when Anthony Volpe clubbed a ball toward the left-field stands, over Mesa's head and into the outstretched arms of a Yankees fan reaching onto the field. The play was initially ruled a two-run home run, but after a crew chief review, fan interference was called and Volpe was placed at second base and the Yankees trailed 4-3.
They never could generate the tying run, and after Baker whiffed Trent Grisham to end the game, the Rays joyfully bounded around the infield, before gathering for a team photo that was briefly delayed as Mesa rushed through the last question of an on-field postgame interview.
"I gotta go," he said, running off to join his teammates. They have places to go.