Harrison Bader's big hit leads Yankees to comeback win over Rays
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — So much for a day off.
Out of the lineup to begin Saturday, Harrison Bader came in to save the day before it was too late, giving the Yankees some much-needed life.
In his second at-bat after entering the game as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning, Bader delivered a two-run bloop single in the eighth to lift the Yankees to a 3-2 win over the Rays at a noisy Tropicana Field.
It was the second straight day that the Yankees’ shorthanded lineup received a shot in the arm from Bader, who had a scheduled day off Saturday as part of his buildup from missing the first month of the season with a strained oblique.
On Friday, he crushed a game-tying, three-run homer before the Rays came back to win the game.
But on Saturday, the Yankees closed it out with a quick eighth inning from Clay Holmes before Ian Hamilton recorded his first career save in the ninth.
In the process, the Yankees (18-16) pulled back within single digits (nine games back) of the first-place Rays (27-7) in the AL East.
For seven innings, the Yankees looked to be on the way to another loss to the Rays.
Harrison Bader, who hit the game-winning two-run single, celebrates as he runs to third base during the Yankees’ three-run eighth in their 3-2 comeback win over the Rays. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
They trailed 2-0 after Domingo German let up a pair of runs in the first inning and then spent much of the game wasting the few chances they did have against right-hander Drew Rasmussen and the Rays’ stable of bullpen arms.
After failing to take advantage of runners on first and second with no outs in the seventh inning, the Yankees put runners on first and second with one out in the eighth on back-to-back singles from Anthony Rizzo and Gleyber Torres.
DJ LeMahieu came up next and sprayed a double to right field off reliever Kevin Kelly, pulling the Yankees within 2-1.
It was their first hit with runners in scoring position after starting the day 0-for-6 in those situations.
Bader then pounced on the first pitch he saw — just as he did as a pinch-hitter in the seventh — and singled to almost exactly the same spot in shallow right field, driving in both runs.
Anthony Rizzo gets congratulations from Harrison Bader after scoring the first run in the Yankees’ three-run eighth. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
The Rays jumped on German in the first inning, in which the right-hander allowed more hits (three) than he did across his 8 ⅓-inning gem (two) against the Guardians last Monday.
Yandy Diaz and Wander Franco led off with back-to-back singles before German retired the next two batters and got within a strike of escaping the jam — with catcher Kyle Higashioka appearing to think the second strike to Manuel Margot was actually strike three.
But one pitch later, Margot smoked a low line drive — 107.9 mph off the bat — through LeMahieu’s legs, going for a double that gave the Rays a 2-0 lead.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa celebrates after hitting a double in the eighth inning of the Yankees’ comeback win. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
The Rays threatened to add to their lead in the fifth inning, when some sloppy defense nearly cost the Yankees, who have generally fielded well so far this season.
The first mishap came on Christian Bethancourt’s bloop to shallow right-center field. Second baseman Gleyber Torres, right fielder Jake Bauers and center fielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa began to converge before Bauers made a run at it.
But the indecision appeared to cost Bauers, who had the ball go off his forearm as Bethancourt reached second base on what was inexplicably ruled a double.
It marked the second straight game in which Bauers failed to secure a catchable ball, with the one on Friday night allowing the Rays’ go-ahead run to score.
Later in the inning, Gleyber Torres then dropped the transfer on a potential inning-ending double play, though German eventually got out of it thanks in part to Higashioka throwing out Wander Franco trying to steal second base.
Bauers bounced back with a strong sixth inning in right field, throwing out a runner trying to go first to third on a single to right field and then making an inning-ending catch on the run to keep the 2-0 game intact.
Source: New York Post
