In what seemed like coasting victory for the Yankees on Wednesday, they briefly turned it into a dramatic one. From perfect game-watch to extra innings, the home run ball continued to reign supreme for the Bombers.
The Yankees picked up where they left off against the Rays. Against Drew Rasmussen, Trent Grisham led things off for New York (after missing out on last night’s nine-homer barrage) with a blast into right field. It was the 22nd in what has been a revelatory and career-best season for Grisham.
As well as the offense started things off, Cam Schlittler was able to match it on the mound. He began his evening with a strikeout looking of Chandler Simpson thanks to a painted fastball, kicking off a 1-2-3 first inning. In the second, he was just as efficient, this time finishing off the frame with a swinging K thanks again to his high-velocity heater.
Rasmussen settled in after he surrendered the leadoff homer, keeping the Yankees off the board through the next few innings. He got some help from Josh Lowe in the third inning, when he nabbed Cody Bellinger with a perfect throw to third as he attempted to advance on a sacrifice fly. Sadly for the Rays, Schlittler was even better, and was without that early mistake. Through four innings, he had kept the Rays off of the basepaths entirely. He recorded another strikeout in each of his 1-2-3 third and fourth innings.
Austin Wells led off with a no-doubter deep into the right field concourse, as the Yanks continued their torrid home run pace. The hanging breaker from Rasmussen turned into number 16 on the year for the Yankee catcher, and gave New York a 2-0 advantage in the fifth.
For the Rays, Drew Rasmussen turned in a good start in his own right. He tossed six complete innings and only allowed the two solo homers during his time on the mound, racking up six strikeouts along the way. It was a good outing, but he did serve up a couple of mistakes, and was simply outdone by the Yankees’ young righty.
Speaking of that young righty, he did it again in the fifth and the sixth. In the latter, after a quick ground ball and his sixth strikeout on the night, he induced a slow grounder form Tristan Gray to Ben Rice at first, who flipped the ball to Schlittler covering the base, who was now perfect through six innings in Tampa. He had thrown just 65 pitches.
There was a palpable buzz headed into his seventh inning of work, though it would not be long-lived, unfortunately. Simpson led the frame off with a single, the first hit of the night for the Rays. The weight of perfection was now off Schlittler’s shoulders, but he still had a 2-0 lead to protect in a vital game.
He allowed a couple of baserunners to follow, but recorded two outs before leaving the game in favor of Luke Weaver. He struck out Hunter Feduccia on three pitches to wrap up the inning. It was likely the best start of Schlittler’s young career, as he officially finished with 6.2 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and striking out eight.
In the top of the eighth, Trent Grisham continued his late entry to last night’s party, when he tomahawked a towering home run just over the wall in right field. Grisham’s 23rd homer on the year, and second of the night, put the Yankees up 3-0. The Rays finally hit the run column in the eighth, when MLB’s “Bob” comeback leader Bob Seymour hit his first career home run.
The Yankees called on David Bednar to close things in the ninth, which began with a K of
Yandy Díaz. Drama began to mount when he surrendered a walk to Brandon Lowe and a single to Jumior Caminero. With the tying run now on first base, Bednar struck out Josh Lowe to bring up Feduccia as the Rays’ last hope. He nearly ended the game with one swing, swatting a ball off the wall in right-center which turned this game on its head and tied things up at three.
Nine innings was not enough, as the Yanks and Rays were headed for extras. To lead off the tenth, Aaron Boone called upon Giancarlo Stanton, hoping to make an immediate impact in this one, and that he did. Big G took the seventh pitch of the at-bat deep into left field. It was his 15th of the season, as we are now easily in the heart of Stanton’s best stretch as a Yankee. Austin Wells followed it up with his second booming home run of the night to buy some insurance.
After a bit of mound disengagement confusion and an ejection, the Yankees turned to Devin Williams to close out this mess of a game. I say this with an amount of surprise that could not be lower — it did not go smoothly. Seymour singled to score the free runner and cut the Rays’ deficit to two, before Gray doubled to put the tying runs on second and third. Williams managed a stressful strikeout of Díaz, bringing up Brandon Lowe, as yet another “last hope” for the Rays. Mercifully, Lowe lunged for a changeup in the dirt for the final out of the inning.
The Yankees won a gritty extra-inning affair on the road, on a day that the Blue Jays took a loss. It was a vital win for the Yanks as they try to remain in the AL East conversation, and one that would have been particularly crushing given how it began.
The Yankees will head home for a series with the Red Sox, beginning with a 7:15 pm first pitch on Thursday.
