Yanks rally in 9th to keep pace in AL WC race
BALTIMORE -- Wins are everything to the Yankees right now as they push toward October baseball.
With the Yanks' impressive come-from-behind 4-3 win over the Orioles on Wednesday night at Camden Yards, they improved to 82-64. That helped them keep pace in the American League Wild Card race with the Blue Jays (82-64) and Red Sox (83-65), who also both won. The three AL East rivals are tied atop the AL Wild Card standings with only two berths up for grabs.
You couldnˇŻt have written a better comeback for the Yanks in the top of the ninth inning. They were down by one run after right-hander Chad Green gave up a go-ahead two-run homer to Austin Hays a half-inning earlier. And New York was set to face Baltimore closer Tyler Wells.
Luke Voit opened the inning with a walk. He was then replaced by pinch-runner Tyler Wade, who immediately moved to second on a single by Gleyber Torres.
After Gary S¨˘nchez flied out to left, Brett Gardner came up to the plate. At that point, Wade began to edge toward third, before making a break for his 15th stolen base of the season. With O's catcher Austin Wynns throwing to third, Torres used the opportunity to swipe second, thus putting both in scoring position.
ˇ°That's one of the most adrenaline-rush feelings you'll get on a baseball field,ˇ± Wade said. ˇ°Especially when we're down by one in the top of the ninth. You know, everyone's trying to keep it close and everyone knows you're trying to go.ˇ±
New York manager Aaron Boone was still in awe after the game discussing WadeˇŻs steal.
ˇ°I can't stress enough how tough a matchup to steal right there was,ˇ± Boone said. ˇ°[Wells] is about as quick as you're going to get, and a good-throwing catcher with a lefty. You've got to trust yourself and trust your nerve. It was just really, really special and set us up perfectly.ˇ±
After fouling off three consecutive pitches to keep the count at 1-2, Gardner came through with the big hit, delivering a two-run bloop single into left-center field for a 4-3 lead.
ˇ°Obviously, you don't want to be in a situation where it's the last inning and you're down a run or two,ˇ± Gardner said. ˇ°You want to be up there with the game on the line. I feel like I've been having pretty good at-bats recently and seeing the ball well. [Wells] got ahead of me pretty quick and I was able to float that changeup he threw me out there into no man's land. Thank goodness.ˇ±
The Yankees sent in closer Aroldis Chapman to protect the lead. The left-hander was pitching for the third consecutive day, but Boone knew early on that Chapman was available and ready to record a save.
Chapman needed only eight pitches (seven of which were strikes) for a 1-2-3 inning, notching a pair of strikeouts and sealing the Yankees' third straight win.
ˇ°Really good team offense there in that final inning to grab it back,ˇ± Boone said.
Boone has stressed how crucial team wins are during this final stretch of the season, and that's what this victory entailed. Starter N¨¦stor Cortes Jr. fanned a career-high 11 batters while tossing 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball, Gio Urshela hit a two-run homer in the third and continued to settle in at shortstop and New York rallied when it needed to late.
ˇ°I think that our guys know what's at stake here,ˇ± Gardner said. ˇ°Obviously, we're not happy with necessarily the way our season [has] gone up to this point. Where we're at in the standings, we still have a great opportunity ahead of us. It's so important to just take things one game at a time right now. Really, one at-bat, one pitch at a time, and really try and slow the game down and execute. I thought we did a pretty good job of that tonight on both sides of the ball.ˇ±