Tampa Ray’s ace David Price has given the Yankees fits over the years, but not on this evening. Under the Tropicana Field dome, almost the entire lineup busted out the hitting sticks, and smacked Price all over the yard. Carlos Beltran and Ichiro were the only starters not invited to the party, going 0-9 combined, and every starter except first baseman Scott Sizemore had at least two hits.
Yankees Third Triple Play Since 2010
Down 4-0 in the bottom of the second, the Rays were threatening with runners on first and second, no outs. Tampa first sacker Sean Rodriguez stepped in and slashed a bullet down the third base line. Positioned perfectly, Yangervis Solarte snatched it, stepped on the bag for the force, fired to Roberts at second, who wheeled and threw a seed to Sizemore, who made a nice pick out of the dirt to complete the around-the-horn triple play. 5-4-3 if you’re scoring. Price had to really know it was not his night at that point.
Yankees starter CC Sabathia spread 7 hits and 2 earned runs over 7 innings, striking out 6 with 107 pitches — 72 for strikes. On his only mistake pitch, Sean Rodriguez drove one into the seats in left field. Dellin Betances took over in the 8th and brought it to the finish line, striking out 3 in the process.
Brian Roberts broke out of a 1-24 slump in grand fashion with a 3-5 night, knocking in 2 runs. In the 5th Alfonso Soriano and Brian McCann went back to back off Price, and Solarte finally knocked his first major league home run in the 9th, a shot deep in the right field seats. After 15 games, Solarte is hitting .373 with 9 RBI.
It was the Yankees’ 5th straight win, bringing their record to an AL East leading 10-6. Here’s the box score and play-by-play.
Game Notes…
On the triple play, this wasn’t Sabathia’s first rodeo. The big man was on the mound for the last two triple play’s in team history — one last April, and in 2010 before that. What are the odds? … According to a report during the YES Network broadcast, this was Scott Sizemore’s first game ever at first base — counting high school, college and the pros. And he ends up saving the triple play! You can’t make up stuff like this … More triple play nuggets: Since 1903, the franchise has been involved in 52 triple plays — with a total of 25 in their favor, while hitting into 27 … How about unassisted triple plays in MLB history? There have been more than at least *I* thought, but none involved the Yankees. Here’s the list, courtesy of Baseball Almanac.
