NEW YORK — The Tampa Bay Rays completed the first sweep in a best-of-five postseason series in franchise history Wednesday night, beating the New York Yankees 4-3 in Game 3 of the AL Division Series at Yankee Stadium to advance to the AL Championship Series for the third time.

The victory — the Rays’ first postseason series win since the 2020 ALCS — sent the club back to St. Petersburg with three wins down and eight more needed to claim the franchise’s first World Series title. Game 1 of the ALCS is set for Monday at Tropicana Field, with Tampa Bay hosting the winner of the Guardians-White Sox series that Chicago currently leads, 2-1.

“We’re loving it, man. We want to keep going,” a shirtless and soaked Nick Martinez said amid the clubhouse celebration. “Like Cashy said, there’s two more bites on the bone for us, and we know it. We know what’s at stake. We know we want to keep playing.”

Martinez started Game 3, giving up 2 runs while recording 11 outs. Ian Seymour picked up 4 outs, Griffin Jax handled 2 innings out of the bullpen, and Cam Booser, Kevin Kelly and Bryan Baker closed it out. Baker earned the save in all three games of the series.

“We knew what we were up against,” Baker said. “To be able to come out and execute after a week off, it shows a lot about our group.”

The biggest hits came from two role players. Outfielder Ryan Vilade, in his postseason debut, hit a solo home run off Max Fried in the fourth inning. Victor Mesa Jr. followed with a tiebreaking two-run shot to right-center in the sixth.

“I love drinking beer, and I love popping bottles. That’s what it comes down to. I love it,” Vilade said. “This team is so special. We play for one another. We love each other, and we’re not done. We don’t want it to end.”

The sweep also dealt the Yankees only their second sweep in a best-of-five series, alongside the 1980 ALCS. The Rays, widely picked to finish last in the AL East before the 162-game regular season, won their first American League East title in five years and dispatched the AL’s second-best team in three games.

“They’re a team by every definition. Every sense of the word ’team,’ it’s there. I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Erik Neander, president of baseball operations. “These guys care so much for one another, and you want to win for so many reasons: the community, the team, it’s our job. But man, for this group, you want them to do it that much more. You want to see them have these moments because of the way they’ve come together, and they deserve it.”

Managing partner Patrick Zalupski, co-chair Bill Cosgrove and CEO Ken Babby watched the celebration from the edge of the clubhouse at Yankee Stadium — exactly one year after the ownership group’s introductory press conference at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.

The Rays have reached the World Series in each of their two previous ALCS appearances, in 2008 and 2020. Manager Kevin Cash, who changed shirts and hats twice to stay ahead of the champagne, kept his message simple.

“The exact same,” Cash said. “Let’s continue what we’re doing.”

The ALCS opens Monday at Tropicana Field.