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Clint Frazier’s walk-off homer gives Yankees needed win

Clint Frazier's two-run walk-off homer in the 11th inning propelled the Yankees to a much-needed 5-3 victory over the Rays on Tuesday night in The Bronx.

For an offense that was already struggling mightily entering Tuesday, the prospect of facing Tyler Glasnow didn’t offer much comfort to the Yankees.

But they did just enough to hold serve against the Rays ace, then finally came through against the Tampa Bay bullpen at long last.

After the Yankees wasted quality scoring chances in four straight innings, Clint Frazier lifted them to a 5-3 win over the Rays with a walk-off, two-run home run in the 11th inning to snap a four-game losing streak.

The blast came three innings after Frazier ended a Rays threat with a diving catch in the eighth inning.

The Yankees, who entered the day scoring 3.74 runs per game (tied for fourth-worst in MLB), were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position before Frazier’s blast, which came off Andrew Kittredge with two outs in the 11th.

Luis Cessa threw a perfect top of the 11th inning to strand the Rays’ automatic runner on second and give the Yankees a chance to record their fifth walk-off in the bottom of the inning.

Clint Frazier (77) is mobbed by his teammates after his two-run walk-off homer in the 11th inning gave the Yankees a 5-3 win over the Rays.
AP

After Lucas Luetge threw a scoreless top of the 10th, DJ LeMahieu began the bottom of the inning on second and took third when Rougned Odor led off with a groundout. The Rays intentionally walked Aaron Judge to bring up Gio Urshela, who struck out for the second out. Gleyber Torres then pinch hit for Tyler Wade and drew a walk on a full count to load the bases.

Gary Sanchez walked to the plate and heard chants of, “Ga-ry, Ga-ry,” but they turned to boos when he struck out to end the inning.

It was the third straight inning the Yankees had left multiple runners on base. In the eighth, pinch-hitter Giancarlo Stanton grounded out with runners on first and second. In the ninth, LeMahieu lined out to second base in the same situation. The typically stoic LeMahieu showed his frustration after the out, slapping his hands together and later slamming his helmet in the dugout.

The Yankees also had a prime opportunity to break the 3-3 tie against Glasnow in the seventh inning. Sanchez led off with a double, but Miguel Andujar came up next and rolled a hard ground ball to shortstop. Sanchez took off for third and was eventually tagged out in a brief rundown — the Yankees’ league-leading 27th out on the bases this season.

Five pitches later, Glasnow was out of the inning with the tie intact.

The Yankees’ bullpen flirted with disaster by walking six of the 14 batters it faced through the eighth inning — two each by Wandy Peralta, Jonathan Loaisiga and Chad Green. But none allowed a run, with Green being saved by a diving catch from Frazier in right field to end the eighth inning with runners on the corners.

After giving up three hits, two of them homers, and two runs over 5 ²/₃ innings in his previous start, Domingo German was hurt by the long ball once again Tuesday. He gave up just three hits across five innings, but two were home runs, resulting in all three runs he allowed. Still, he exited in a 3-3 game.

Glasnow had cruised through the first two innings but briefly lost his control in the third, which helped gift the Yankees a pair of runs to tie it. After Frazier walked, LeMahieu and Odor hit back-to-back singles to load the bases with two outs. Glasnow walked Judge to force in one run before a slider squirted away from catcher Mike Zunino, allowing a heads-up LeMahieu to race home to tie the game 2-2.

The Yankees momentarily took the lead in the bottom of the fourth, when Andujar hit an opposite-field home run — his second in as many games — but Kevin Kiermaier answered with a solo shot of his own to tie it back up, 3-3.

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Greg Joyce

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