WELLS DONE:Vernon Wells watches his three-run double in the seventh inning of the Yankees’ 7-5 win yesterday over the Rays, which reclaimed the lead after Brett Gardner (top) couldn’t reach Wil Myers’ sixth-inning grand slam off CC Sabathia.
Brett Gardner (inset) couldn’t reach Wil Myers’ sixth-inning grand slam off CC Sabathia (above). (
)
Joe Girardi batted .500 on two major decisions yesterday, and that was good enough for a Yankees victory even if the smart money wasn’t on the plays turning out like they did.
Girardi walked Evan Longoria to load the bases for Rays neophyte Wil Myers in the sixth inning. The rookie hit a go-ahead grand slam off CC Sabathia.
An inning later, Girardi batted the ice-cold Vernon Wells for Chris Stewart with the bases loaded, two outs and the Yankees trailing by a run. Wells rewarded the manager’s confidence with a three-run double to right-center.
Girardi’s second choice was the key to a 7-5 Yankees victory over the Rays in front of an announced gathering of 46,013 at Yankee Stadium.
Becauae Longoria already had homered and doubled against Sabathia after entering the game batting .356 (16-for-45) against the Yankees’ ace with five homers and 11 RBIs, Girardi’s call to put Longoria aboard looked like the correct one. Myers, a raw rookie, entered the game hitting .190 (4-for-21) in five big league games.
“In that situation, I am going after the younger kid, and it didn’t work out,’’ Girardi said.
Wells was in a 9-for-90 slump, hitless in his pas 11 at-bats and not in the starting lineup for the past two games when he smoked a 1-2 fastball from Jake McGee clocked at 96 mph for a bases-clearing double that made a winner out of Sabathia.
It was Wells’ first extra-base hit since May 31.
Even though a customer reached over and touched Wells’ bouncing hit, the umpires ruled three runs could score because it was spectator interference and not a ground-rule double.
Left fielder Zoilo Almonte went 1-for-2, drove in three runs and walked twice after getting three hits and a homer Friday night in his first major league start.
Sabathia, who gave up five runs and six hits in seven innings, posted a second straight victory to improve to 8-5.
David Robertson worked a perfect eighth and Mariano Rivera recorded the final three outs for his 26th save.
In the sixth-inning jam, Sabathia got ahead of the right-handed hitting Myers, 1-2, with three fastballs that averaged 92.3 mph before Myers hit a 94-mph heater toward the scoreboard in right-center. Brett Gardner jumped into the wall, but just was unable to reach a ball that bounced on top of the fence and into the seats for a grand slam and a 5-3 Rays lead.
“It was a fastball down and away, and he put a good swing on it,’’ Sabathia, said. “It got too much of the plate.’’
After the Rays gave the Yankees three unearned runs in the first five innings, their bullpen walked three in the decisive seventh. The final one, issued by aspirin-throwing McGee, was to David Adams with the bases loaded and two outs to force in a run and cut the deficit to 5-4.
That’s when Girardi called for Wells to hit for Stewart.
The first four pitches to Wells were heaters clocked at 96, 97, 98 and 97 mph. According to Wells, McGee throws his fastball more than 90 percent of the time.
“You can’t ignore [non-fastballs], but it’s deeper in your mind than other guys because his fastball is so electric,’’ Wells said of the pitch he turned into a game-winning jolt.
Wells’ extended slump led Girardi to use Almonte in left field for the past two games with Wells on the bench.
“Thankfully, Joe allowed me to get in that situation,” Wells said of pinch-hitting. “Anytime you make the Stadium go crazy, it’s the fun part of being here.”