ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Slade Heathcott entered the game for his defense but won it with his bat.

Heathcott, a defensive replacement in right field for Carlos Beltran, hit a three-run homer off Tampa Bay Rays closer Brad Boxberger to cap a ninth-inning rally by the New York Yankees in a 4-1 win over the Rays at Tropicana Field on Monday night.

"I'm on cloud nine," Heathcott said. "Found a good pitch to hit and put a good hurt on it."

With the win the Yankees (79-64) are three games behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East and hold the first wild-card spot.

The Rays (69-74) fell five games below .500 for the first time this season.

Heathcott belted the first pitch he saw from Rays closer Brad Boxberger over the left-field wall. Pinch runner Chris Young and catcher Brian McCann scored on the home run.

"In the box, you're just trying to crush a ball, try to get a base hit, try to score runs," Heathcott added. "Luckily adrenaline took over there and I didn't think much of anything except to see the ball."

Boxberger entered the ninth with the Rays holding a 1-0 lead. After retiring the first two batters, he walked left fielder Brett Gardner and gave up an RBI double to designated hitter Alex Rodriguez to tie the game.

Rays second baseman Logan Forsythe had hit a double off the left-field wall that scored right fielder Mikie Mahtook to give the Rays a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the eighth.

Erasmo Ramirez started for the Rays and carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning before giving up a single to Beltran. He was pulled after 7 2/3 innings with six strikeouts and two walks on 93 pitches (67 strikes).

"Another tough loss," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "Erasmo obviously was outstanding. Sabathia was very good also. We talked about pregame how we didn't want to allow Sabathia to get in a groove and we probably did just that. Just not a lot of offense on either side. We get the big hit by Mikie Mahtook to get the inning going, and then Logan comes up, hits a ball off the wall. We're feeling pretty good."

Boxberger blew his sixth save of the season and fell to 4-10.

"Lost control there for a couple of pitches," Boxberger said. "Definitely can't do that with the lineup they had. Two-out walks kill. Any walk is a bad walk, in my mind, and definitely a four-pitch walk to Gardner with Alex behind him, so it's definitely not a good walk and it shows."

It was Heathcott's second career home run and his first major league at-bat since May 27.

"I just pitched to my strengths," Boxberger said. "Left the ball up there, didn't really expect him to be swinging first pitch. So he did a good job of getting the barrel on it and it went out."

Yankees reliever Caleb Cotham struck out the only batter he faced in the eighth inning to pick up his first major league win. Andrew Miller got his 32nd save of the season.

"It's hard to imagine this win, both guys pitched well," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "CC pitched tremendous. Pitched out of jam he probably shouldn't have been in. We got some big hits, and Slade was the hero today."

Yankees starter CC Sabathia pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings, giving up three hits while striking out six and walking two. The Rays loaded the bases with one out in the second inning but Sabathia got a force out off a fielders choice by center fielder Kevin Kiermaier and a fly ball out from catcher J.P. Arencibia.

"The changeup was a lot better today," Sabathia said. "They were swinging through the two-seameer a lot and the changeup later in the game. Ramirez was pitching great and making good pitches. It was awesome to see us fight through that and get a hit and come through in the ninth."

NOTES: Rays RHP Chris Archer and Yankees 1B Mark Teixeira were selected as their teams' nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award. The award is given to the player who best represents the game of baseball through positive contributions to the team. ... Rays LHP Jake McGee threw a third bullpen session Monday. He was expected to miss the rest of the season after having knee surgery on August 21 but it's likely he will return to the team after another session. "We'll see how the next one goes and then make a decision," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. ... Yankees INF prospect Rob Refsnyder should not expect to see too much playing time in the final weeks of the regular season. Manager Joe Girardi says it's due to inexperience. "He's spent the whole season in Triple-A, he doesn't know the pitching staffs up here," Girardi said.