YANKS RALLY IN NINTH TO STOP TAMPA BAY ON OPENING DAY
Eternal Baseball Press
TAMPA – The Tampa Bay Rays held the edge for most of their Opening Day matchup, but the New York Yankees fought back in ninth inning for a 7-4 win.
Yankee leftfielder JoeDiMaggio hammered a tie-breaking two-run homer deep into the left field seats off Rays reliever Tyler Glasnow to lift New York ahead 6-4. Centerfielder Mickey Mantle followed with a triple to right field, and late sub Derek Jeter singled him in, capping the day’s scoring at 7-4 New York. Yankees closer Mariano Rivera scuffled in the ninth inning, walking Matt Joyce and allowing singles to Carl Crawford and Aubrey Huff to load the bases with one out. Willy Adames struck out swinging and Ben Zobrist tapped out lightly to second base to end both the threat and the game.
Tampa starter David Price (5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 6K) outpitched New York’s Jack Chesbro (5.2 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 K) and Tampa had the early 4-1 lead thanks to an RBI groundout from Matt Joyce, an RBI double from Willy Adames, and back-to-back bases loaded walks to Joyce and Dioner Navarro.
DiMaggio singled in Alex Rodriguez to trim the score to 4-2 in the fifth inning. Price was lifted in the sixth inning, giving relievers Brad Boxberger and Jake McGee the chance to protect the lead. McGee got into seventh inning trouble by walking New York’s Aaron Judge and Joe DiMaggio. Danys Baez relieved McGee, and induced Mickey Mantle to tap gently to first base, advancing both runners. Casey Stengel called Tony Lazzeri back to the dugout, and pinch hit first baseman Don Mattingly. After fouling off three pitches, Mattingly lashed a clean single to right field, plating Judge and DiMaggio and knotting the score at 4-4.
Yankee reliever Goose Gossage (1-0) earned the win with two and one third innings of hitless relief, and Mariano Rivera earned his first save, leaving the bases loaded and escaping Tampa’s ninth inning rally by striking out Willy Adames and coaxing a shattered bat groundout from Ben Zobrist.
Tampa looks to even the series tomorrow night, sending right-hander Jeremy Hellickson to the mound to face New York lefty Whitey Ford. First pitch from Tropicana Field is at 7:05 PM EST.
Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays 2017 by City of St. Pete
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