NEW YORK -- As an opponent, Ryan McMahon says his scouting report on the Yankees was that they’re “a very dangerous team,” even when the early innings don’t suggest it. Now he’s living it, and so far, it has been everything he hoped and expected.
After a rollercoaster that featured big homers, late lead changes and at least one moment that manager Aaron Boone said could make you “want to pull your hair out a little,” McMahon delivered the final swing: a deep fly that fell for a game-winning single in the Yankees’ 5-4, 11-inning victory over the Rays on Wednesday at Yankee Stadium.
“One thing about this team -- and I’ve seen it plenty of times -- they’re never out of a game,” McMahon said. “And I think we showed that tonight. We fought our way back after not playing great for the first couple of innings.”
Jazz Chisholm, Jr. trotted home with the winning run, having earlier forced a Kevin Kelly balk by aggressively dancing from second base. As he did, McMahon was doused with ice water near the first-base dugout, celebrating the Yanks’ fourth walk-off win of the season.
“It’s a huge win,” said Cody Bellinger. “Baseball wins come in a bunch of different ways. And this was a good one.”
The first seven innings were mild; the last four were wild. Trent Grisham blasted a game-tying home run in the eighth, followed by Giancarlo Stanton’s go-ahead single. That lead vanished in the ninth, when Devin Williams surrendered a two-run Josh Lowe homer.
But the Yankees weren’t done. Anthony Volpe was booed when he bounced a throw for his 16th error and third in two nights, and turned those jeers to cheers with his 16th home run, a no-doubter to left that evened the score again in the ninth.
Austin Wells followed with a clean single, putting the potential winning run aboard. Grisham dropped a bunt down the third-base line and was thrown out at first on a sparkling play by José Caballero. It was the second out, but Wells believed it was the third. Walking slowly toward the dugout, Wells was tagged out to complete a bizarre 5-3-6-3 double play.
“Very embarrassed and disappointed, for sure,” Wells said. “You let the guys down when you do that. You give away an out like that in a big spot. … I think I was just being an idiot.”
Said Boone: “That obviously can’t happen. So you make sure with the base coaches we’re saying the right things -- go through the pitcher, their move, time to the plate, number of outs. So what do you say? It can’t happen.”
Tampa Bay reclaimed the lead in the 10th on Jonathan Aranda’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly, which Jasson Domínguez snagged while planting a cleat into the padding of the left-field wall -- limiting what could’ve been a back-breaker.
“That was a tough fly ball, but I’ve been working with my coaches almost every day,” Domínguez said. “You work on those plays. That helped me the most.”
It proved crucial. Bellinger delivered yet another clutch knock, a run-scoring triple to right-center field that would send the game to an 11th inning.
“I hustled out of the box there and saw it had a chance to split the gap,” Bellinger said.
By this point, Boone had emptied his high-leverage bullpen arms; 19 pitches from Williams, 22 from Luke Weaver. Wednesday was supposed to be an off-day for Tim Hill, available only in case of emergency. This qualified, and Hill set down the Rays on 11 pitches in the 11th.
“Sometimes these extra-inning games can be defeating if you don’t win -- you’ve just expended all these resources,” Hill said. “But if you get it, it’s great.”
So much happened that Will Warren joked that he nearly forgot he pitched -- and pitched well. The right-hander turned in one of the sharper efforts of his young Major League career, limiting Tampa Bay to a run on six hits over six innings.
But the Yanks had no answers early for right-hander Zack Littell, who spun five scoreless innings. Adding to the nuttiness of the night, minutes after McMahon’s walk-off, Tampa Bay was finalizing a three-way trade with the Dodgers that would send Littell to the Reds in exchange for two Minor Leaguers.
“It was a big back-and-forth game,” McMahon said. “I can’t overstate how clutch Belli was down that stretch. Trent with the big homer for us. There were a lot of really good things done by guys, and then I was just the one that came through at the end.”