The Yankees smashed four home runs, including a Ryan McMahon grand slam, to bludgeon the Rays, 9-2, on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium.

Here are the takeaways...

-Gerrit Cole pitched his second consecutive quality start, limiting the Rays to two runs.

The one run came in the fourth when Jonny Deluca hit a two-out double that dropped between Heliot Ramos and Jazz Chisholm Jr. in right field. The ball bounced away from Ramos, allowing the runner to score all the way from first.

Cole then gave up a solo shot to Cedric Mullins in the fifth, the fourth consecutive start the right-hander has allowed at least one long ball.

The right-hander pitched into the sixth, but after walking a batter with two outs, he was pulled.

Cole allowed two runs on three hits and three walks while striking out eight across 5.2 innings. He threw 105 pitches, the most he's thrown since undergoing Tommy John.

-Ben Rice got the offense started with a moonshot on the first pitch he saw to lead off the first. Rice now has 40 home runs, just the second Yankees draft pick to reach that mark (Aaron Judge, who did it four times) (H/T Sarah Langs).

Rice wasn't done, though. He led off the fourth with a solo shot to give him 41 on the season. It's the fifth multi-homer game of his career, and the second this season (7/9 against Rays). He finished 3-for-4.

-A Spencer Jones leadoff double was cashed in by McMahon's two-out single in the second. George Lombard Jr. added on in the third with a leadoff solo shot, and McMahon capped the inning with a grand slam, the third of his career.

Ramos' sac fly in the eighth accounted for the Yankees' ninth and final run. The right fielder went 2-for-4 with the lone RBI.

-With the Yankees locked into the first Wild Card spot, manager Aaron Boone gave Austin Wells and Cody Bellinger the night off. Jose Caballero started in left and finished 0-for-3 with a walk while Ali Sanchez went 1-for-4.

-Before the game, Boone said he wanted to give his high-leverage relievers work Wednesday to set them up for the Wild Card series early next week. Brent Headrick allowed a hit in his 0.1 innings pitched, while Paul Blackburn allowed a hit in a scoreless inning.

David Bednar came on to wrap up the game with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

-Lombard Jr. was moved up in the lineup to the two spot. The infielder went 1-for-5 with four strikeouts. He also committed his ninth error of the season when he couldn't handle a grounder.

Game MVP: Ryan McMahon

McMahon drove in five runs and made a case to be on the Wild Card roster.

Here are the takeaways...

Game MVP: Ryan McMahon

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