The Yankees fought back twice and walked it off over the Seattle Mariners, 3-2, in 11 innings on Friday.
Here are the takeaways…
1. After Albert Abreu went three-up, three-down in the top of the 11th to keep the game tied at two, the Yankees had Joey Gallo start the bottom half of the inning on second. With two outs, Brett Gardner lined a single up the middle that scored Gallo and gave the Yankees the walk-off victory.
2. It took a while for the Yankees offense to get on the scoreboard, as they were held scoreless through seven innings. But in the eighth, pinch-hitter Brett Gardner and DJ LeMahieu led off with walks against former Tampa Bay Ray Diego Castillo, and Anthony Rizzo was hit by a pitch to load the bases with none out for Aaron Judge. Judge hit a sac fly to tie the game at one, but Giancarlo Stanton grounded into an inning-ending double play on the first pitch of his at-bat.
3. Zack Britton came on in the ninth, and worked a 1-2-3 inning to keep it tied and give the Yankees a walk-off opportunity. Gleyber Torres doubled with one out, and Rougned Odor was intentionally walked, but Kyle Higashioka and Gardner popped out to send the game to extras. Chad Green allowed a leadoff RBI single (inherited runner) in the 10th, but with two outs in the bottom half of the inning, Stanton tied the game with a bloop single.
4. It was a bullpen night for the Yankees, and Aaron Boone pushed the right buttons for the majority of the night. The bullpen allowed only one run in the sixth inning, as Wandy Peralta, Stephen Ridings, and Joely Rodriguez combined for four scoreless innings. Clay Holmes was charged with the run as Lucas Luetge allowed an RBI single to Abraham Toro, as Holmes put Mitch Haniger, who scored, on base.
5. The Yankees did have a chance to blow the doors open early on. but didn’t convert. In the second, Marco Gonzales walked Stanton and Joey Gallo to start the inning. But Torres popped out, Odor flew out, and Higashioka struck out to end the threat.
Highlights
What’s next
The Yankees and Mariners continue their series on Saturday at 1:05 p.m. in the Bronx. Andrew Heaney will go for the Yankees, while Chris Flexen will start for Seattle.