TAMPA, Fla. (Interstat) — José Caballero hit two home runs, including a tiebreaking three-run shot in the fifth inning, and Cam Schlittler pitched eight strong innings as the New York Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 5-1 on Monday night at George Steinbrenner Field.

Caballero, the Yankees’ shortstop, finished 2 for 3 with two homers and four RBIs. His first blast came with two outs in the top of the fifth after Jasson Domínguez and Jazz Chisholm Jr. had drawn consecutive walks. Caballero drove a full-count pitch from Rays starter Griffin Jax over the wall in left-center field, giving New York a 3-0 lead. The home run was Caballero’s ninth of the season.

Tampa Bay answered in the bottom half of the inning. Chandler Simpson reached on an infield single that deflected off third baseman Ryan McMahon, moved to second on a groundout and scored on a line-drive single to left by Richie Palacios, cutting the deficit to 3-1.

The Yankees padded their lead in the eighth when Caballero led off with his second homer of the night, a solo shot to left-center off Rays reliever Chris Roycroft, making it 4-1. In the ninth, Ben Rice added a solo homer, his 25th of the season, off Roycroft to stretch the lead to 5-1.

Schlittler (9-5) was nearly unhittable. The right-hander allowed four hits, one earned run and struck out eight while walking none over eight innings. He threw 20 strikes and 50 balls, with 20 balls put in play, according to game data. The outing marked a sharp rebound after Schlittler had lost his previous two starts, including a rough outing against Detroit on June 30 in which he gave up six earned runs over four innings. On Monday, he retired the side in order in the first, third and sixth innings and did not allow a runner past second base after the fifth.

David Bednar worked a scoreless ninth inning, striking out one and allowing no hits to close out the victory.

Jax (4-6) took the loss for Tampa Bay. He pitched five innings, allowing one hit and three earned runs while striking out 10 and walking two. Jax threw 15 strikes, 32 balls and had 15 balls in play. After the Yankees broke through in the fifth, the Rays bullpen kept the game close. Casey Legumina struck out two in a scoreless sixth, and Cole Sulser fanned one in a scoreless seventh. But Roycroft surrendered two runs on two hits in two innings of relief to take the loss.

The Yankees managed only three hits in the game but made them count. Besides Caballero’s two homers and Rice’s solo shot, no other New York batter reached base. The Rays collected four hits, with Palacios going 2 for 3 with an RBI. Nick Fortes went 0 for 3.

Attendance was 18,129, and the game lasted 2 hours, 21 minutes.

The victory improved the Yankees’ record to 50-40, while the Rays fell to 52-36. New York entered the game having lost four of its previous five, including a 6-1 defeat to Minnesota on Sunday. The Rays had lost three of their last four, including a 2-0 loss at Houston on Sunday.

The two teams continue their three-game series Tuesday, with the Yankees sending their starter to the mound against the Rays. New York then heads to Washington for a weekend set against the Nationals, while Tampa Bay hosts Seattle for a three-game series beginning Friday.

In the first meeting between the clubs this season, the Rays took four of five games, including a three-game sweep at Tampa in April. The Yankees won 2-0 on May 24, also at New York.

Monday’s result defied preseason expectations. Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Tampa Bay Rays 7, New York Yankees 2. Interstat’s ELO system had projected New York with a 50.70 percent probability to win. The Yankees had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total of 6 runs went over the over-under line of 7.5.