It was Old-Timers’ Day at Yankee Stadium yesterday, but it was one of the youngest members of the team who continued to make a big impact, despite a 3-1 loss to the Rays.
Left fielder Zoilo Almonte, went 2-for-4 and continued his hot start to his career, but the Yankees were unable to muster much offense scoring one run on seven hits, while stranding seven.
Almonte, 24, had a pair of doubles — the first two of his career — in the fourth and sixth innings, but his teammates were unable to advance him any farther than that.
“That’s stuff that happens in baseball,” Almonte said after the game through an interpreter. “There’s going to be days that they are able to drive me in, there’s going to be days they’re not going to be able to drive me in. That’s just baseball.”
Almonte, who was called up Tuesday and made his debut Wednesday night in the second game of a doubleheader against the Dodgers, is batting .583 (7-for-12) through five games.
“I’ve been pretty much seeing the ball well since I’ve been up here so it’s the same feeling that I had the past couple of days today,” he said.
In the ninth inning with the Yankees trailing 3-1, Almonte took a questionable called third strike with a full count.
“Obviously it didn’t feel good but that’s the way it was meant to be,” Almonte said. “Next time we’ll get it.”
Almonte had his first big league home run Friday night in the Yankees’ 6-2 win, and was responsible for driving in the first three Yankees runs in Saturday’s 7-5 win, with a two-RBI single and a bases loaded walk. So, it’s not surprising fans like what they have seen thus far.
“It means a lot. This is a team with a lot of tradition so it feels good when I am up here able to do what I’ve been able to do so far,” Almonte said. “I feel very happy. [The fans] have welcomed me with open hearts and hopefully we move forward together in a positive way.”
As a recent call up, Almonte has yet to familiarize himself with many pitchers, including Rays starter Chris Archer, who he said did a good job of mixing up his pitches and not allowing a runner past second base after the first inning.
“He was throwing everything pretty well, but especially his curve at the end. Everything was working for him,” he said. “He made pitches when he had to make pitches.”