Even for Brendan Ryan, the play he made in the seventh inning of the Yankees’ 6-0 win over the Giants on Saturday at the Stadium was a new one.
After ranging to the opposite side of second base on Brandon Crawford’s ground ball — nothing new there — Ryan made a back-hand flip to Robinson Cano to get Pablo Sandoval at second base for an inning-ending forceout.
“I was probably going to go to first, but I heard Robbie [call for the ball], so I just went that way,” the shortstop said, still dressed in full uniform in front of his locker.
Asked if he remembered ever making a play like that before, Ryan said no, but still was confident he could execute it.
“I don’t know if I’ve made that flip before, but I figure if Robbie is saying something, he sees something,” Ryan said. “I was a little [surprised], but he’s always having fun. It’s fun to have a tandem like that. … We just have to be on the same page.”
That process will continue through the rest of the regular season after Ryan’s arrival in a trade from Seattle last week.
But they are familiar enough with each other that Ryan had an idea of how he wanted to get the ball to Cano, who was heading in the opposite direction.
“You want to know where you want to miss, so if I miss behind him, I’m in trouble,” Ryan said. “But if I miss in front of him, it’s probably going to be a good feed. My thought is just, ‘Throw it out in front of him and it will kind of fade back to him.’”
The highlight-worthy work with his glove almost makes up for his complete lack of offense. Almost.
But Saturday, Ryan did make an offensive contribution. He singled and scored a run as the Yankees desperately try to stay in playoff contention, though Ryan’s late-season arrival would make him ineligible for the postseason.
“We were pretty aware of what he was defensively,” manager Joe Girardi said. “We’d seen it against [us] enough times and he had quite a day.”