Bloodied Aranda caps improbable comeback with walk-off HR

TAMPA -- In the fifth inning Saturday afternoon, Jonathan Aranda was flat on his back on the grass near home plate, trying to stop his nose from bleeding, admittedly “a little bit” scared after crashing into catcher Ben Rortvedt while trying to track Trent Grisham’s foul popup.

Aranda was fine, thankfully -- just stunned. He went to the clubhouse, stopped the bleeding and changed his jersey. He didn’t think about coming out of the game.

Five innings later, Aranda stepped slowly out of the batter’s box with a cut on his nose, a bruise on his cheek and a smile on his face.

Down by four runs in the ninth inning, the Rays pulled off a stunning comeback against Yankees closer Devin Williams. And Aranda’s two-run homer, his first career walk-off hit, sent them to a 10-8 win over the Yanks, snapping their four-game losing streak at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

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“I don't know how many must-win games you have in the month of April, but it was starting to feel that way, that we needed to find a way to win,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said.

The Rays found one, unlikely as it was. After Williams recorded the first out of the ninth inning, the Yankees’ win probability sat at 99.4%. According to Stats Perform, it was only the third time in franchise history that Tampa Bay won a game after trailing by four runs or more in the ninth, joining victories on Aug. 10, 2011, against the Royals and July 23, 2002, against the Red Sox.

It was just the kind of victory the Rays needed and just the sort of rally they’d been waiting for, especially after scoring only seven runs during their four-game skid.

“Things haven't been easy for us lately, and it was a very, very important win for us,” Aranda, who is tied for second in the Majors in batting average (.367) and is third in OPS (1.135), said through interpreter Eddie Rodriguez. “Hopefully, we can go back to the winning track.”

The Rays finally snapped a 17-inning scoreless streak in the third inning, but Shane Baz’s first subpar start of the young season put them in a tough spot. The right-hander allowed five runs on four hits and four walks over 3 1/3 innings, and the Yankees led 6-1 heading into the bottom of the fourth.

Tampa Bay put up three more runs in the fourth, but the Yankees regained a four-run lead by scoring twice off closer Pete Fairbanks in the ninth. And New York’s bullpen was seemingly on a roll, retiring 12 straight hitters before José Caballero stepped to the plate with one out in the ninth.

“The game is not over until they make the 27th out,” Caballero said. “And that was the mentality.”

Caballero began the game-tying rally with an infield single that third baseman Oswaldo Cabrera threw away, allowing Caballero to reach second. Williams then walked Rortvedt to bring up Chandler Simpson, the first player in franchise history to make his Major League debut in the leadoff spot.

And Simpson picked an ideal time for his first Major League hit, lashing an RBI ground-rule double to left field. Simpson raced to second, smiled and threw up a hand gesture used by his Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. toward his parents, family members, friends and fraternity brothers cheering in the crowd.

“It was great. I'm glad it came at that time,” Simpson said, with the ball from his first hit placed in the locker behind him. “Big hit to spark the inning off, so we could set up the comeback for the win.”

Yandy Díaz then slapped an RBI single to make it a two-run game, and after pinch-runner Taylor Walls stole second, Brandon Lowe swatted Williams’ 1-2 changeup to center for a game-tying single, his 15th career game-tying or go-ahead RBI in the ninth inning or later.

Lowe said he was looking for a changeup, understanding that Williams was likely to gravitate toward his best pitch in a big situation.

“I’d like to have that one back,” Williams said of the pitch to Lowe. “Tough luck on the double down the line, but aside from that, I thought I threw the ball pretty well.”

The Rays had a chance to win it there, but Junior Caminero hit into an inning-ending double play. After reliever Edwin Uceta worked around a leadoff single in the 10th, Aranda finished the job with the Rays’ second walk-off homer of the season.

With pinch-runner Christopher Morel at second base, Aranda launched a 1-1 fastball from Yoendrys Gómez out to right-center field, watched it fly and trotted around the bases to join a much-needed celebration with his teammates.

“I wouldn't necessarily call it a must-win,” Lowe said. “But it felt like a really good time to win.”