ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Aaron Boone’s twin lineup switches of Alex Verdugo to leadoff and phenom Ben Rice to cleanup amounted to nothing — a mixed 0-for-8.
However the supervisor discovered all of the runs the Yankees would want on Wednesday night time in an uncommon place, the 7-hole.
It was Trent Grisham who delivered each RBIs within the Yankees’ much-needed 2-1 victory over the Rays at Tropicana Area.
Grisham, who entered the sport with a team-low .172 batting common, hit a deep fly down the left-field line within the second inning that Randy Arozarena couldn’t deal with, the ball caroming off the low wall close to the 315-foot signal.
Anthony Volpe scored all the best way from first base for the primary run of the sport.
Within the fourth inning, Grisham hit one other fly to Arozarena, deep sufficient to attain Gleyber Torres on a sacrifice fly.
“[They were] actually sort of the identical,” Grisham mentioned of his two swings towards Rays starter Zach Eflin. “Simply making an attempt to be prepared early, be relaxed. He’s across the zone and doesn’t stroll that many individuals.”
Grisham’s greatest contribution, nonetheless, got here within the eighth inning when the lefty-fielding heart fielder ranged far into the hole in right-center to run down a possible gapper by Yandy Diaz to protect a 2-1 lead for Clay Holmes.
“I knew he hit it fairly nicely off the bat,” Boone mentioned. “[It] regarded like Grish … knew he received a great break on it like he usually does. So I wasn’t certain, however fairly shortly I felt like he had a bead on it.”
Whereas there was angst within the dugout, the two-time Gold Glove winner within the Nationwide League with the Padres made the play look straightforward.
“Once more simply sort of the identical factor, being relaxed and prepared,” Grisham mentioned. “He hit it rather a lot higher than I believed so I needed to regulate course and get to it.”
It was simply the seventh win within the final 24 video games for the Yankees, however the six-year veteran took umbrage with the suggestion that the victory was a “reduction.”
“I don’t assume it’s ‘reduction,’ ” he mentioned. “I imply, we’re making an attempt to win a couple of recreation. We come to the sector on daily basis anticipating to win and able to win, and that’s what we’re going to do [Thursday] and each recreation going ahead.”
