New York Yankees Game Recap: McCann Gives Yankees First Walk-Off Win of 2015

Friday’s matchup between the Yankees and the Rays had a lot attached to it: The news that Jacoby Ellsbury might make his return, the chance for both teams to take a share of first place in the American League East, and of course, the pitching match-up between Masahiro Tanaka and Chris Archer.

Unfortunately, GM Brian Cashman announced on Thursday that Ellsbury would not be returning for Friday’s game. He said Ellsbury is “working hard and will be back soon.”

Nevertheless, the Rays got off to a great start Friday evening. Doubles by Grady Sizemore and Evan Longoria, along with a sacrifice fly by James Loney, put the Rays out to an early 2-0 lead. With Rays ace Archer on the mound, the Yankees were quickly in a hole.

Acher, who entered the game with a career 1.91 ERA at Yankee Stadium, proved again to be dominant. He held the Yankees to just three hits over six and two-thirds, allowing no runs and striking out eight. He threw 122 pitches, a season high.

Tanaka entered the game with batters hitting .354 against him in his last two starts, and seemed to have gotten back on track. He pitched six innings, giving up three runs on six hits, walking one and striking out five.

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The Yankees were silent until the bottom of the eighth. Now down 3-0, singles by Chase Headley and Alex Rodriguez brought Mark Teixeira to the plate as the tying run. He scorched a 1-0 changeup from Jake McGee into the second porch in right field, tying the game at three.

The Rays looked well poised to take the lead in the top of the eleventh. Longoria found himself on second after hitting what appeared to be a double. The Yankees challenged, puzzling everyone in the stadium, until replays showed that, for a fraction of a second, Longoria pulled his foot off second base as Jose Pirela held the tag. The call was overturned and Longoria was called out.

The game took another turn in the top of the twelfth. After a leadoff walk and a sac bunt, Joe Girardi replaced Adam Warren with Chasen Schreve. Shreve, who had retired the last 17 batters he faced with runners in scoring position, surrendered two straight singles to give the Rays a 5-3 lead.

Brett Gardner led off the bottom of the twelfth with a walk against Steve Geltz, the seventh pitcher used by the Rays. After Headley struck out, Rodriguez hit a soft grounder two second. With the Rays employing the extreme shift, Rodriguez reached first and Gardner went to third, allowing Teixeira to come to the plate as the winning run.

A single from Teixeira scored Gardner, making it 5-4, and moving Gregorio Petit, who pinch-ran for A-Rod, into scoring position with one out. Brian McCann was next, and he drilled a 1-0 fastball into the seats in right for his 13th home run of the season, winning the game, 7-5.

With the win, the Yankees retook sole possession of first place for the first time since June 12. The win was the first walk-off win of the year for the Yankees, and only the second win of the year for the Yankees in extra-innings.

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