'Yes, let's go home': DJ's walk-off saves Yanks
NEW YORK -- It took five tries and a trip to both ballparks, but the Yankees finally managed to beat the A¡¯s in 2019. The wait was well worth it, as they made it happen in walk-off fashion on Saturday.
With a stalemate still in place in the bottom of the 11th inning, DJ LeMahieu came out swinging at the first pitch and smashed a solo homer to right-center field to give the Yanks a 4-3 victory at Yankee Stadium.
¡°[I was thinking] ¡®Yes, let¡¯s go home!¡¯¡± manager Aaron Boone said. ¡°I mean, you play extra innings, long season, anytime you know the game¡¯s ending on a play like that, especially a game that was a grind with a lot of big plays on both sides, everyone has a little exhale and a smile. Finally got one against those guys.¡±
LeMahieu hadn¡¯t managed a hit all day to that point, going 0-for-4 in his previous plate appearances, including three strikeouts, but his first knock couldn¡¯t have come at a better time. It was the third walk-off hit of his career and the fifth walk-off win overall this season for the Yankees.
With the victory, the Yankees improved to 7-2 in extra-inning games this season, and they topped off a strong August with a 21-9 record -- their most victories in a calendar month since August 2009, the year they last won the World Series.
¡°We were going crazy. I was on deck, so I had a perfect view of it. I threw my bat and helmet in the air and got ready for the celebration,¡± said right fielder Aaron Judge. ¡°[LeMahieu has] been a great piece to this team, what he¡¯s done day in and day out, when he¡¯s feeling good, not feeling good -- he always produces. And that¡¯s what you look for in a baseball player and a teammate.¡±
Even as the game passed the four-hour mark, LeMahieu wasn¡¯t really thinking about ending it so abruptly. As the leadoff man in the frame, he was just trying to put the ball in play to start a rally for the Yanks. But when his hit found a place in the seats instead, he wasn¡¯t exactly mad about it.
¡°It was a pretty good feeling,¡± LeMahieu said. ¡°[I] didn¡¯t really help the team at the plate too much today, so it was good to come through there at the end. I think I get in trouble when I try to do too much. I think that goes for a lot of guys, so I was just trying to see a pitch to hit and hit it hard.¡±
LeMahieu wasn¡¯t the only one who showed a penchant for heroics on Saturday, as the Yankees needed every run they could scratch together to finally overcome the A¡¯s. It just so happened that all four on the scoreboard came via the long ball, which gave New York a grand total of 74 in August, adding to its Major League record for home runs in a calendar month.
While the rest of his teammates were stymied by Oakland starter Homer Bailey, striking out nine times and managing only two hits through 5 2/3 innings against him, Gary Sánchez had no such problem, providing a pair of solo shots to keep the Yanks in it early after starter Domingo Germán gave up a two-run homer to Matt Olson in the fourth inning.
¡°I believe he got Bailey over there in Oakland too,¡± Boone said. ¡°[They were] both breaking balls and he just saw them good as they broke into the zone. [It¡¯s] patented Gary where he just drops the head on a breaking ball down and in, and then he did a really good job getting another out and over the other way.
¡°It¡¯s good to see him do that because we know he¡¯s capable of going out to all fields, and usually when he¡¯s driving the ball that way, he¡¯s in a good spot.¡±
Judge came through with the other timely homer for the Yankees with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, smacking a ball to deep right field to tie the game after the A¡¯s took the lead again in the prior inning. It was his seventh career homer to tie the game or give the Yanks the lead in the eighth inning or later.
¡°That was an important game for us. This team battled until the very end,¡± Judge said. ¡°We scratched a couple runs when we needed it, and DJ finished it.¡±