Rookie Tyler Austin hit a solo homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the New York Yankees their season-high fifth straight victory, 5-4 over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday. That was on display again tonight when he rolled through the first three innings of the game, notching six strikeouts and giving up just two hits. Kiermaier began the third by lifting a 1-2 pitch into the right field seats for a 3-3 tie. While the Yankees are skyrocketing up the standings and reside a game behind Baltimore for the second wild-card spot in the American League, Tampa Bay has dropped six of seven to highlight another lull in an otherwise forgettable season. The game was interrupted by three rain delays. The club record for walks in a game of any duration is 14 against the New York Yankees in a 10-inning affair on April 26, 2006.
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Santana and Arcia connected on consecutive pitches in the second inning. It was the seventh time Milwaukee hit back-to-back homers this season. He since has a five-game hitting streak.
NY was ahead 3-0 before Morrison and Souza hit consecutive home runs in the fourth, the first into the luxury suites below the third deck in right, the second off the left-field foul pole. Morrison and Bobby Wilson added RBI singles for Tampa Bay.New York’s Michael Pineda allowed two runs and six hits in 4 2/3 innings.
Evan Scribner and Nick Vincent combined for three scoreless innings and rookie Edwin Diaz pitched a flawless ninth for his 13th save in 14 chances. They are four back of AL East-leading Boston. “It felt really good”, Souza said of his second home run.
The big blow last night was, of course, Tyler Austin’s ninth inning walk-off home run.
Alec Asher shut out the Washington Nationals over six innings on his return from suspension to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 4-1 win.
In an unfamiliar role of chaser after a 9-17 start, NY has moved a season-high 10 games over.500 with an unexpected spurt that followed the release of Alex Rodriguez and the trades of Carlos Beltran, Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller and Ivan Nova. Cessa owns a 2-0 mark with a 3.09 ERA in his first four starts, but was taken to task for five runs on as many hits in three frames against Tampa Bay on August 14.WALK-OFFS1. The well-regarded prospect made his Major League Baseball debut at Yankee Stadium on April 23, permitting a run and two hits in five innings. However, the runners were stranded when Souza Jr. struck out on three pitches.
The latest installment of day-by-day was Saturday’s 5-1 victory. He made four minor league appearances beginning in late August and his suspension ended September 4. Tampa Bay’s Kevin Kiermaier, who is riding a career-high 13-game hitting streak, is 9-for-13 with three homers, five RBIs and four runs scored in his last three contests. Brett Gardner opened the sixth with a single and drew three pickoff throws.One pitch after the last pickoff attempt, Ellsbury made it 2-0 by driving a full-count fastball into the right-center field seats. After a video review, Lindor and Napoli were allowed to score for a 4-1 lead, and Ramirez was placed at second (see full recap).
Still, the Yankees (75-65) matched a season high with their sixth straight win as they trail the Tigers and Orioles for the last playoff berth.
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Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Hernan Perez, left, and center fielder Keon Broxton can not come up with a ball hit by St. Louis Cardinals’ Jedd Gyorko during the third inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016, in St. Louis.
