Yankees rally in ninth for great comeback win over Mariners

After an impressive win in the series opener, the Yankees looked to beat the Mariners again Tuesday night. Masahiro Tanaka wasn’t perfect, but he did enough to keep the Yankees in the game. It looked as if the offense wouldn't be good enough to capitalize, but led by Gio Urshela, the bats came alive in the ninth to secure the win.

Photo Credit: Mike Stobe/Getty Images

The Mariners started the scoring in the top of the second inning. Domingo Santana led off with a walk, and Jay Bruce followed it up with a double to right field. Two batters later, after Gio Urshela threw out a runner at home, Ryon Healy hit a sac fly to deep center to give Seattle a 1-0 lead. 

The Yankees responded in the top of the third. Urshela started it off by lining a double into right field. Cameron Maybin then hit a fly ball deep enough to right field that Urshela was able to tag up and reach third. Then, even though the infield was in for Brett Gardner, a groundball to Dee Gordon at second was enough to get Gio home and tie the game at one. 

Masahiro Tanaka clearly did not have has best stuff tonight but found a way to get through the game without giving up too many runs. Most noticeably, the splitter was not good, which has been a trend throughout the season. The Mariners were 3-4 against the splitter tonight which raised his opponent’s average against that pitch this season to .417. Edwin Encarnacion was able to do some major damage to it when he lined his eleventh home run of the season to left in the top of the sixth to put Seattle on top 2-1. Tanaka was eventually removed after a rain delay. He ended up allowing two earned runs, gave up five hits, and walked two in his 6.1 innings of work. 

Clint Frazier had a rough night in right field in his second game back from the I.L. In the top of the fourth Jay Bruce hit a fly ball to right center, that looked like it was clearly Frazier’s. As it was getting closer to being caught Clint looked over at Gardner, and ended up letting the ball drop in. Later, in the top of the seventh, Tim Beckham hit a fly ball to right that Frazier just dropped. He has had some problems defensively this season before, but hopefully this is something Clint can figure out. 

Photo Credit: Mike Stobe/Getty Images

The Mariners added a couple unearned runs in the eighth against Tommy Kanhle. With one out, Kahnle allowed a very soft single against the shift to Mitch Hanniger, then Daniel Vogelbach hit an easy ground ball to Urshela, who couldn’t make the play. After recording another out, Domingo Santana singled to left which scored one, then Jay Bruce blooped one into the perfect spot in left field for another double, which gave the Mariners a 4-1 lead.

The Yankees threatened in the bottom of the seventh when Frazier and Gleyber Torres had back to back hits to start the inning, but a groundout by Urshela, and another by Maybin, which turned into a double play, ended the inning. In the eighth the Yankees again had runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs, and 1st and 3rd with one out. Brett Gardner ended up scoring on a wild pitch, making the score 4-2, but strikeouts by Gary Sanchez and Miguel Andujar limited the damage.

In the bottom of the ninth with one out Gleyber Torres lined a single into center field to bring up Urshela as the tying run. He took a fastball from Anthony Swarzak and launched it deep into center field to tie the game at four. The next batter, Cameron Maybin, singled into right, and got to second on a steal. After a Brett Gardner strikeout, DJ LeMahieu lined one into right and Maybin slid into home safely to give the Yankees a 5-4 lead, and a great comeback win.

Photo Credit: Mike Stobe/Getty Images

What’s Next?

The Yankees and Mariners will play the third game of a four game series Wednesday night at 6:35 on YES. Yusei Kikuchi (1-1, 3.98 ERA) will be on the mound for Seattle, while the Yankees will give the ball to Jonathon Loaisiga (1-0, 2.70 ERA).

Article by Chase Seibold

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